Tarboro, North Carolina

Area Profile

10,770 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Tarboro, in Edgecombe County.

45out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 6% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity3796th of 3,904 published cities24
Schools2555th of 2,668 published cities14
Growth1622nd of 2,973 published cities48
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 4,223 published cities87
ClimateTop 28% of 4,223 published cities75
Physical resilience3001st of 4,182 published cities36
Access3496th of 4,226 published cities76
Economic stability3920th of 4,226 published cities30
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.3% and the Opportunity signal places Tarboro in the bottom 3%.

In the public schools here, 19% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.6 students for every teacher.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, hurricane and strong wind.

At a glance

Population
10,770
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$49,796
Bottom 22% nationally
Density
955/sq mi
11.3 sq mi of land
Median age
51.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Edgecombe County
North Carolina
Metro area
Rocky Mount, NC
Nearest major airport
ISO
40 mi · Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings Fld
Median home value
$185,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.3% is lower than 16% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 2.1% over the past year, to 18,944 employed residents.

Median household income of $49,796 is below 78% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$13,723$49,796Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,375$35,098Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.5%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.5 minBottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.5%Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment18,944Bottom 23%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-3.0%Bottom 11%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.1%Bottom 16%June 2026
Labor force20,001Bottom 23%June 2026
Labor force participation52.4%Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$53,360Bottom 3%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$43,960Bottom 4%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.5%Bottom 17%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.3%Top 16%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202450k41k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $49,796 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Rocky Mount, NC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Cashiers1,630$26,610
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand1,440$36,550
Retail Salespersons1,380$28,830
Cooks, Fast Food1,260$23,710
Stockers and Order Fillers1,250$35,050
Registered Nurses1,180$82,300

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Edgecombe County, NC, which contains this city.

19% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 30% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.6 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
18.7%
Bottom 2% in North Carolina
Reading proficiency
30.4%
Bottom 7% in North Carolina
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
North East Carolina Prep · charterNorth East Carolina Preparatory School1,10714.021%38%
Martin Millennium AcademyEdgecombe County Public Schools54813.716%31%
Tarboro HighEdgecombe County Public Schools49619.8
Stocks ElementaryEdgecombe County Public Schools38916.214%15%
North Edgecombe HighEdgecombe County Public Schools35817.0
W A Pattillo MiddleEdgecombe County Public Schools28914.417%22%
Princeville ElementaryEdgecombe County Public Schools20515.822%32%
Edgecombe Early College HighEdgecombe County Public Schools17124.4

98.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against North Carolina’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $843 takes 20% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
20.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$843
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$185,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.73Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate57.2%Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3485,523Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$44$843Bottom 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$19,215$185,500Top 50%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income20.3%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.5%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
48/ 100
Ranks 1622 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing — 3 consecutive years, measured from 2022 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 10,954 in 2024.

Permit activity has fallen for 3 consecutive years.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
25
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Top 50% nationally
Year over year
+32%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202411k11k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.
Housing units permitted per year
20222023202420256627
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−59%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 31°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station ROCKY MT WILSON AP, 19.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index53.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation44.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 calendar year
Median air quality index37.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing38°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
37
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
53
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

36 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and strong wind.

Strong windHigh
HurricaneElevated
DroughtModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, tornado, heat wave, hail, earthquake, lightning, ice storm, wildfire, landslide, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Edgecombe County records 15.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 24.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 28.7 per 100,000 residents in Edgecombe County.

Homicide
15.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
24.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
28.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
16.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Edgecombe County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Tarboro rather than Tarboro itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 40 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Kinston Rgnl Jetport At Stallings FldISO40 mi11,498 ft
Raleigh-Durham IntlRDU69 mi10,000 ft
Newport News/Williamsburg IntlPHF103 mi8,003 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
45
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Other cities in Rocky Mount, NC

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Rocky MountNash County54,29745vs Tarboro

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Tarboro side by side with a similar place.

Tarboro vs SaksTarboro vs JacksonvilleTarboro vs NogalesTarboro vs Gadsden

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Tarboro

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
2788618,381$52,85046