Moving to Fairplains
Wilkes County gains about 7.1 residents per 1,000 a year to moves between counties.
Where people come from and where they go, top counties
Within North Carolina, other states or abroad
Income per tax return
People on tax returns who moved between counties, from IRS migration data, 2022 to 2023. Figures are for all of Wilkes County; flows under 20 returns are not published.
- Who moves here
- 1.7% of residents arrived from another county in the past year, 0.5% from another state. County figure.
- Who arrives and who leaves
- Households moving into Wilkes County report $62,600 a year in income on average; those leaving, $51,200, so newcomers earn more than leavers.
- Income you would need
- $26,100 a year to rent the median home at the 30% line. From your city
- Rent or buy
- Median rent is $653 a month; owners with a mortgage pay $859 a month including taxes and insurance, on a median home of $140,200.
- Getting to work
- 25 minutes each way on average; 9.1% work from home.
- If it is close but not quite
- Louisville, MS matches it on character. Compare the two
All 5 moving measures
| Measure | Fairplains | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moved here in the past year1County figure | 1.7% | 70% below | |
| Moved from another state1County figure | 0.5% | 73% below | |
| Net movers per 1,000 people6County figure | 7.1 | above (median -0.6) | |
| Income of households moving in6County figure | $62,555 | 11% below | |
| Income of households moving out6County figure | $51,226 | 27% below |
What it costs to live here
Owner costs with a mortgage is $859, 54% below the median place.
Could you afford it?
Uses the median rent in Fairplains, $653 a month. It runs in your browser and stores nothing.
Like Fairplains, but easier on the budget
Close matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, where rent takes a clearly smaller share of income.
Moving from somewhere else? Work out the salary you would need in Fairplains.
All 15 cost and housing measures
| Measure | Fairplains | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median gross rent1 | $653 | 52% below | |
| Rent to income1 | 20.3% | 0% below | |
| Property tax rate1 | 0.5% | 47% below | |
| Home price to income1 | 3.6x | 4% below | |
| Fair market rent, 2 bedrooms2County figure | $1,012 | 37% below | |
| HUD area median income3County figure | $67,400 | 37% below | |
| Property tax paid (median)1 | $678 | 79% below | |
| Median home value1 | $140,200 | 56% below | |
| Home prices, 1-year change4County figure | 4.3% | 36% above | |
| Home prices, 5-year change4County figure | 66.0% | 28% above | |
| Homeownership1 | 61.8% | 7% below | |
| Renters paying 30%+1 | 40.8% | 19% below | |
| Owner costs with a mortgage1 | $859 | 54% below | |
| Vacant homes1County figure | 14.8% | 110% above | |
| Median year built1 | 1972 | 0% below |
Work and pay
Poverty rate is 36.3%, 237% above the median place.
All 9 work and pay measures
| Measure | Fairplains | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income1 | $38,585 | 52% below | |
| Income per person1 | $19,124 | 52% below | |
| Unemployment1County figure | 5.0% | 3% above | |
| Average annual pay5County figure | $51,964 | 21% below | |
| Pay growth, 1 year5County figure | 8.3% | 124% above | |
| Jobs5County figure | 18,897 | 87% below | |
| Poverty rate1 | 36.3% | 237% above | |
| Mean commute1 | 25 min | 0% above | |
| Works from home1County figure | 9.1% | 27% below |
Who lives here
High school or higher is 76.9%, 17% below the median place.
More about who lives here, against the typical place
All 8 people measures
| Measure | Fairplains | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population1 | 1,803 | 6646th largest | |
| Median age1 | 43.4 | 11% above | |
| Bachelor's or higher1 | 13.6% | 57% below | |
| High school or higher1 | 76.9% | 17% below | |
| Household size1 | 2.4 | 6% below | |
| Born abroad1County figure | 3.7% | 58% below | |
| No health insurance1 | 12.5% | 95% above | |
| Homes with broadband1 | 87.5% | 5% below |
Life in Fairplains
24 sites are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Out the door, against the typical place
Mapped by volunteers in OpenStreetMap inside the city limits (Census boundaries), so coverage is fuller in some places than others. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Businesses per 10,000 residents (county figures)
Counts businesses with paid staff, so small owner-run shops are not included.
All 16 schools and local life measures
| Measure | Fairplains | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public schools10County figure | 22 | 144% above | |
| Public school students10County figure | 8,547 | 75% above | |
| Students per teacher10County figure | 15.6 | 1% above | |
| Restaurants and bars per 10k7County figure | 14.0 | 33% below | |
| Shops per 10k7County figure | 33.4 | 10% above | |
| Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k7County figure | 2.6 | 37% below | |
| Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k7County figure | 10.6 | 48% below | |
| Child care centers per 10k7County figure | 1.7 | 26% below | |
| Parks per 10k8 | 0.0 | below (median 10.2) | |
| Playgrounds per 10k8 | 0.0 | below (median 9.4) | |
| Grocery stores per 10k8 | 11.1 | above (median 2.1) | |
| Restaurants, cafes and bars per 10k8 | 5.5 | 50% below | |
| Libraries per 10k8 | 0.0 | below (median 0.9) | |
| Named paths and bike trails8 | 0.0 | below (median 2.0) | |
| Transit stops per sq mi8 | 0.0 | below (median 0.2) | |
| National Register listings9County figure | 24 | 85% above |
Safety, weather and risk
Heat wave risk is 28.0, 69% below the median place.
No crime figure yet. Either the city police department did not report to the FBI for the latest year, or our monthly fetch has not reached Fairplains. Larger places are fetched first.
All 9 weather and risk measures
| Measure | Fairplains | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| July average high11County figure | 86°F | 0% below | |
| January average low11County figure | 27°F | 8% above | |
| Average temperature11County figure | 57°F | 3% above | |
| Annual precipitation11County figure | 51.0 in | 16% above | |
| Natural hazard risk12County figure | 82.6 | 11% below | |
| Hurricane risk12County figure | 75.4 | 7% above | |
| Tornado risk12County figure | 72.5 | 11% below | |
| Wildfire risk12County figure | 52.7 | 14% below | |
| Heat wave risk12County figure | 28.0 | 69% below |
How it is changing
Five-year survey estimates, one point per release.
Median gross rent
Median household income
Median home value
Citytistics measures
Measures only Citytistics publishes, built from the figures on this page. Scores of 100 beat every place we track. Formulas
Fairplains in 2030: where the trends point
If recent trends hold, the median rent will take about 21% of the median income in 2030, up from 20% now.
Citytistics projections to 2030: each figure's own trend, blended with the typical trend across the places we rate, eased toward long-run US growth and carried forward from the latest release. The range is where 80% of places landed when we tested the same method on past releases.
| Measure | Latest | 2030 projection | Likely range | Avg. per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $653/mo (2024) | $820/mo | $670 to $1,000/mo | +3.9% |
| Median household income | $38,585 (2024) | $47,500 | $40,000 to $56,000 | +3.4% |
| Median home value | $140,200 (2024) | $198,000 | $144,000 to $273,000 | +5.9% |
The median home would be worth 4.2 years of the median income in 2030, against 3.6 now.
A projection of recent trends, not a prediction of the economy or advice to buy or sell. How we project.
Places like Fairplains
The closest matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, and the places nearby.
| Place | Rent | Income | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville, MS | $617 | $36,985 | Compare |
| Russellville, KY | $738 | $45,484 | Compare |
| Leitchfield, KY | $621 | $44,347 | Compare |
| Atmore, AL | $777 | $38,862 | Compare |
Nearby
- Lenoir, NC29 mi
- Boone, NC29 mi
- St. Stephens, NC32 mi
- Sawmills, NC32 mi
- Statesville, NC32 mi
- Hickory, NC33 mi
Compare Fairplains with
Common questions
Is Fairplains a good place to live?
It depends on what you need, so here is what the numbers say. 36.3% of residents live below the poverty line, more than in 98% of the 2,082 places under 10,000 people we track. It is the 3rd-highest of 146 North Carolina places. Median rent is $653 a month, lower than in 98% of places its size. It is the 2nd-lowest of 161 North Carolina places. On cost, space and class size it scores 21 out of 100 for families. See how it ranks with your own weights.
Is Fairplains expensive to live in?
The median rent takes 20.3% of the median household income, against 20.4% in the typical place we track. Housing is a lighter load here than usual. The median home is valued at $140,200.
What salary do you need to live in Fairplains?
To rent the median home without spending more than 30% of income on rent, a household needs about $26,120 a year. Work it out from your current city.
What places are similar to Fairplains?
On income, rent, home value, education and age, the closest matches are Louisville, MS, Russellville, KY, Leitchfield, KY and Atmore, AL.
Sources and methods
The small numbers beside each measure point here. Every dataset is public; links go to the publisher.
- American Community Survey 5-year estimates · US Census Bureau · 2020 to 2024 estimatesTables B01002, B01003, B05002, B07003, B08013, B08301, B15003, B17001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25010, B25035, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25088, B25103, B28002, S2701
- Fair Market Rents · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2027
- Income Limits · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2026
- House Price Index · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025 annual averages
- SOI Tax Stats, county-to-county migration · Internal Revenue Service · Tax years 2022 to 2023Counts tax returns and the people on them; flows under 20 returns are suppressed.
- County Business Patterns · US Census Bureau · 2023 data
- OpenStreetMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) · Map data as of 2026-11
- National Register of Historic Places · National Park Service · Listings through 2026-05-22
- Common Core of Data · National Center for Education Statistics · 2024 release
- 1991-2020 climate normals · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · Series updated 2026-11-05Averages for 1991 to 2020 computed from NOAA's county climate series (nClimDiv).nClimDiv county series
- National Risk Index · Federal Emergency Management Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14NRI data and maps
Derived by Citytistics from the tables above: rent to income (B25064, B19013); property tax rate (B25103, B25077); home price to income (B25077, B19013).
What stands out compares Fairplains with places of a similar size, using only figures measured for Fairplains itself; county and metro figures never count. Survey figures are estimates with margins of error. Formulas and definitions: methodology. API: /api/v1/places/fairplains-north-carolina
Citytistics. “Fairplains, North Carolina.” Data as of 2026-11-14. https://www.citytistics.com/city/fairplains-north-carolina/
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.