These Are The 10 Richest Cities In North Carolina

Oak Ridge, Porters Neck, Summerfield: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in North Carolina. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Tar Heel State.

Oak Ridge in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $101,667 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 1.9%.

If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in North Carolina share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.

After analyzing Census data from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey for the 147 places in North Carolina with more than 5,000 people, we were left with this set of the ten richest places in the Tar Heel State:

1. Oak Ridge (Photos)
2. Porters Neck
3. Summerfield (Photos)
4. Holly Springs (Photos)
5. Pinehurst (Photos)
6. Morrisville (Photos)
7. Royal Pines
8. Apex (Photos)
9. Marvin (Photos)
10. Cary (Photos)

For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list. Oh, and the poorest place in North Carolina? That would be Roxboro.

How We Determined The Richest Places In North Carolina

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is simply how much people earn. After all, rich people have really high salaries.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey:

• Poverty Level
• Median Household Income
• Unemployment Rate

Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.

After we collected the data for all 147 places with more than 5,000 people in North Carolina, we ranked each place from 1 to 147 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Oak Ridge, crowned the “Richest Place In North Carolina”.

You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 147 places.

1. Oak Ridge

Population: 6,435
Median Income: $101,667
Poverty Level: 1.9%
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%

2. Porters Neck

Population: 6,476
Median Income: $102,083
Poverty Level: 3.5%
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%

3. Summerfield

Population: 10,477
Median Income: $102,713
Poverty Level: 2.6%
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%

4. Holly Springs

Population: 27,339
Median Income: $91,755
Poverty Level: 2.9%
Unemployment Rate: 5.4%

5. Pinehurst

Population: 15,052
Median Income: $75,284
Poverty Level: 3.2%
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%

6. Morrisville

Population: 20,728
Median Income: $84,301
Poverty Level: 3.9%
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%

7. Royal Pines

Population: 5,124
Median Income: $63,268
Poverty Level: 1.8%
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%

8. Apex

Population: 40,631
Median Income: $89,392
Poverty Level: 3.0%
Unemployment Rate: 6.4%

9. Marvin

Population: 5,806
Median Income: $158,246
Poverty Level: 4.3%
Unemployment Rate: 6.5%

10. Cary

Population: 146,041
Median Income: $91,481
Poverty Level: 6.4%
Unemployment Rate: 5.1%

There You Have It – The Richest Places In North Carolina

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in North Carolina, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in North Carolina. When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in NC, according to data:

Poorest: Roxboro
2nd Poorest: Boone
3rd Poorest: Selma
For more North Carolina reading , check out:

• 8 People Taste Test North Carolina Beers. Their Reactions Are Out Of Control
• These Are The 10 Best Cities For Hippies In North Carolina
• The 10 Bona Fide Happiest Cities In North Carolina

Detailed List Of Richest Places In North Carolina

City	Rank	Population	Median Income	Poverty Level	Unemployment Rate
Oak Ridge	1	6,435	$101,667	1.9%	2.8%
Porters Neck	2	6,476	$102,083	3.5%	2.5%
Summerfield	3	10,477	$102,713	2.6%	6.3%
Holly Springs	4	27,339	$91,755	2.9%	5.4%
Pinehurst	5	15,052	$75,284	3.2%	3.8%
Morrisville	6	20,728	$84,301	3.9%	5.0%
Royal Pines	7	5,124	$63,268	1.8%	4.5%
Apex	8	40,631	$89,392	3.0%	6.4%
Marvin	9	5,806	$158,246	4.3%	6.5%
Cary	10	146,041	$91,481	6.4%	5.1%
Weddington	11	9,906	$129,695	2.8%	7.2%
Knightdale	12	12,692	$72,591	6.1%	4.5%
Harrisburg	13	13,549	$82,135	6.5%	5.6%
Huntersville	14	49,279	$85,258	5.7%	6.6%
Davidson	15	11,492	$94,551	6.6%	6.9%
Unionville	16	6,180	$63,455	4.2%	5.9%
Wake Forest	17	33,319	$77,173	6.5%	6.5%
Clemmons	18	19,101	$66,680	7.8%	4.6%
Wesley Chapel	19	7,882	$91,463	3.6%	8.5%
Stallings	20	14,185	$77,374	7.5%	6.9%
Gibsonville	21	6,565	$56,961	7.6%	3.9%
Matthews	22	28,677	$71,361	5.7%	7.5%
Cornelius	23	26,246	$81,059	7.7%	7.0%
Lake Norman of Catawba	24	7,331	$67,897	3.7%	7.6%
Murraysville	25	14,305	$58,940	6.9%	6.3%
Mills River	26	6,917	$57,326	7.5%	5.3%
Mint Hill	27	23,934	$70,530	9.2%	6.5%
Myrtle Grove	28	9,030	$69,028	8.1%	7.6%
Stokesdale	29	5,177	$76,691	9.2%	8.2%
Indian Trail	30	34,950	$67,338	4.5%	9.0%
King	31	6,732	$55,325	6.5%	7.5%
Lewisville	32	13,037	$73,403	7.1%	9.0%
Kill Devil Hills	33	6,810	$54,861	10.0%	5.8%
Ogden	34	6,653	$70,192	10.0%	8.2%
Waxhaw	35	10,878	$74,650	5.8%	10.7%
Fletcher	36	7,320	$47,451	9.5%	5.9%
Clayton	37	17,274	$56,941	8.6%	8.3%
Wendell	38	6,085	$45,220	10.7%	5.1%
Carrboro	39	20,337	$51,310	15.6%	4.8%
Kernersville	40	23,522	$49,066	12.1%	6.4%
Leland	41	15,316	$61,823	11.5%	8.5%
Trinity	42	6,648	$47,878	14.6%	4.9%
Archdale	43	11,322	$51,418	9.3%	8.3%
Fuquay-Varina	44	20,246	$59,592	9.2%	9.7%
Mebane	45	12,509	$51,751	12.6%	7.2%
Garner	46	26,723	$58,107	10.7%	9.1%
Winterville	47	9,424	$58,801	10.0%	9.7%
Kings Grant	48	8,504	$53,070	9.2%	9.3%
Mooresville	49	34,466	$61,458	8.8%	11.9%
Raleigh	50	423,287	$54,581	15.4%	8.3%
Belmont	51	10,346	$51,167	12.1%	9.3%
Carolina Beach	52	5,888	$57,592	13.9%	9.8%
James City	53	5,635	$47,823	13.2%	8.6%
Hillsborough	54	6,256	$46,082	14.6%	7.8%
Hope Mills	55	16,024	$47,332	11.6%	9.8%
St. Stephens	56	9,052	$45,116	10.8%	10.0%
Mount Holly	57	13,815	$48,290	11.7%	10.8%
Concord	58	82,266	$52,901	12.5%	11.7%
Durham	59	240,107	$49,585	18.8%	8.3%
Oak Island	60	7,051	$47,761	10.2%	11.9%
Butner	61	7,661	$47,067	17.1%	8.7%
Charlotte	62	774,807	$53,274	15.8%	10.8%
Aberdeen	63	6,702	$38,721	15.9%	7.0%
Chapel Hill	64	58,379	$62,620	28.5%	7.0%
Wrightsboro	65	5,780	$40,067	10.9%	9.2%
Black Mountain	66	7,977	$40,185	16.3%	7.4%
Hickory	67	40,108	$42,393	17.4%	7.7%
Asheville	68	85,783	$44,077	18.9%	7.9%
Boiling Spring Lakes	69	5,529	$46,000	11.9%	11.8%
Brevard	70	7,651	$38,686	13.9%	9.1%
Waynesville	71	9,770	$35,708	18.2%	6.9%
Havelock	72	20,850	$44,258	13.6%	11.6%
Southern Pines	73	12,782	$46,385	15.9%	11.3%
Silver Lake	74	6,024	$48,261	18.3%	11.0%
Nashville	75	5,469	$48,375	14.7%	12.9%
Conover	76	8,200	$42,974	16.3%	10.3%
Jacksonville	77	69,300	$41,293	11.5%	13.0%
Etowah	78	6,862	$44,918	12.8%	13.8%
Cherryville	79	5,826	$40,980	10.9%	13.7%
Greensboro	80	276,225	$41,518	19.1%	10.0%
Half Moon	81	8,655	$50,056	15.7%	15.9%
Piney Green	82	13,701	$46,935	14.6%	15.5%
Burlington	83	51,740	$37,316	18.2%	10.6%
Monroe	84	33,588	$43,328	18.4%	12.3%
Elon	85	9,516	$42,545	28.6%	8.1%
Fayetteville	86	202,421	$44,514	16.3%	13.8%
High Point	87	106,797	$43,015	19.2%	12.6%
Kannapolis	88	43,865	$41,453	17.5%	13.2%
Morehead City	89	9,030	$38,508	23.6%	9.1%
Mocksville	90	5,086	$37,484	22.0%	10.2%
Sanford	91	28,798	$44,391	19.9%	12.9%
Pineville	92	7,855	$32,492	18.0%	10.3%
Winston-Salem	93	234,469	$40,480	22.3%	11.4%
Woodfin	94	6,167	$35,186	22.7%	9.4%
Reidsville	95	14,249	$36,900	21.3%	11.2%
Tarboro	96	11,323	$34,267	12.6%	13.8%
Wilmington	97	110,100	$42,130	24.9%	11.3%
New Bern	98	30,171	$41,238	18.7%	15.2%
Sawmills	99	5,164	$38,280	24.7%	10.6%
Roanoke Rapids	100	15,653	$36,477	23.6%	10.7%

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