The 10 Richest Cities In North Carolina For 2023


We analyzed 132 places in North Carolina to determine where the 1% live.

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We’re just going to leave this right here: if you’re the home to many, many old tobacco farms and factories, you better believe you house some crazy rich cities. And, yes, we’re talking about you North Carolina.

Now, not every city on our top ten richest cities in North Carolina for 2023 can compare to Beverly Hills, CA, there are a ton of wealthy North Carolina gems on this list that definitely know how to roll out the bourgeois southern charm.

To create this list, we asked ourselves, what is important to rich people? Besides the obvious: high paying jobs, safe cities and neighborhoods, gold star schools, and high-end amenities, we know that the ‘one percent’ like to be catered to on a different level. There are North Carolina cities on our richest cities list that do just that. Cities on our list like Apex and Cary are the playground of North Carolina’s rich and famous with great parks, amazing schools, and posh shopping. And if you live in Pinehurst, your friends will think that you are super rich with 20 golf courses to show off within ten minutes of your house.

Now, it’s not lost on us that there are multiple cities on our ten best places to live in North Carolina for 2023 that are also on our richest list. Wealthy cities tend to have it all. To see which cities make the dolla’ holla’ on our top ten richest cities in North Carolina for 2023, take a look at the list below.

Here are the 10 richest places in North Carolina for 2023:

  1. Weddington
  2. Wesley Chapel
  3. St. James
  4. Harrisburg
  5. Oak Ridge
  6. Summerfield
  7. Waxhaw
  8. Davidson
  9. Morrisville
  10. Marvin

How does one get their hand on one of these super rich, Tar Heel cities? Well, a couple of things have to fall into place for you.

First off, you need to find a job that pays on average $100,000/year. Might we suggest a job in real estate in our number one richest city? The average median home price in this wealthy city is close to $500,000. Secondly, you have to be a hard worker. Unemployment rates and poverty rates in these North Carolina cities are all below 4%.

So what city in North Carolina is the wealthiest? That would be Weddington according to the most recent Census data we analyzed.

So, if you care about living where there are great jobs and wealthy people, take a look the list below. The state where the North meets the South is calling.

Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about North Carolina:

The 10 Richest Cities In North Carolina For 2023

1. Weddington

Weddington, NC

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 12,851
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $152,377
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.1%
More on Weddington: Real Estate | Photos

2. Wesley Chapel

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 8,661
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $124,716
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on Wesley Chapel: Real Estate

3. St. James

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,199
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $115,040
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%
Poverty Rate: 2.8%
More on St. James: Real Estate

4. Harrisburg

Harrisburg, NC

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 18,415
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Median Income: $124,090
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 2.8%
More on Harrisburg: Real Estate | Photos

5. Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, NC

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,461
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $132,298
Unemployment Rate: 3.0%
Poverty Rate: 3.8%
More on Oak Ridge: Real Estate | Photos

6. Summerfield

Summerfield, NC

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 11,026
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 3)
Median Income: $127,661
Unemployment Rate: 1.8%
Poverty Rate: 7.4%
More on Summerfield: Real Estate | Photos

7. Waxhaw

Waxhaw, NC

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 19,645
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $123,370
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.6%
More on Waxhaw: Real Estate | Photos

8. Davidson

Davidson, NC

Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 14,644
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 2)
Median Income: $141,845
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 6.5%
More on Davidson: Real Estate | Photos

9. Morrisville

Morrisville, NC

Source: Town of Morrisville
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 28,824
Rank Last Year: 17 (Up 8)
Median Income: $106,891
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%
Poverty Rate: 4.1%
More on Morrisville: Real Estate | Photos

10. Marvin

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,326
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 5)
Median Income: $221,350
Unemployment Rate: 4.5%
Poverty Rate: 3.0%
More on Marvin: Real Estate

Methodology: How We Determined The Richest Places In North Carolina For 2023

Map Of The Richest Places To Live In North Carolina
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.

However, we don’t believe 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 newly released 2017-2021 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 136 places with more than 5,000 people in North Carolina, we ranked each place from 1 to 136 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, Weddington, crowned the “Richest City In North Carolina For 2023”. You can download the data here.

You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 136 places.

Summary: The Wealthiest Places In North Carolina For 2023

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 North Carolina, according to data:

Poorest: Boone
2nd Poorest: Wadesboro
3rd Poorest: Forest City

For more North Carolina reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In North Carolina

Rank City RichScore Median Income
1 Weddington 3.67 $152,377
2 Wesley Chapel 6.67 $124,716
3 St. James 8.0 $115,040
4 Harrisburg 10.67 $124,090
5 Oak Ridge 11.0 $132,298
6 Summerfield 13.67 $127,661
7 Waxhaw 14.33 $123,370
8 Davidson 15.33 $141,845
9 Morrisville 17.33 $106,891
10 Marvin 18.67 $221,350
11 Matthews 18.67 $96,195
12 Huntersville 20.0 $102,335
13 Apex 21.0 $121,313
14 Holly Springs 21.67 $120,229
15 Cramerton 23.0 $82,974
16 Black Mountain 23.0 $68,333
17 Cary 23.0 $113,782
18 Wake Forest 24.33 $104,006
19 Rolesville 25.67 $127,575
20 Gibsonville 26.33 $89,073
21 Stokesdale 27.0 $97,337
22 Wendell 30.67 $67,321
23 Leland 30.67 $78,884
24 Aberdeen 31.0 $62,264
25 Unionville 31.33 $85,477
26 Cornelius 31.33 $95,147
27 Clayton 32.67 $63,166
28 Pinehurst 32.67 $92,342
29 Stallings 33.33 $97,630
30 Indian Trail 33.67 $88,673
31 Knightdale 34.33 $72,118
32 King 34.67 $59,286
33 Mooresville 35.0 $75,141
34 Lewisville 36.0 $85,660
35 Winterville 37.33 $80,199
36 Mint Hill 37.33 $84,468
37 Fuquay-Varina 38.0 $85,047
38 Fletcher 38.33 $64,478
39 Concord 41.0 $78,775
40 Clemmons 41.67 $76,250
41 Trinity 41.67 $64,676
42 Archdale 42.0 $59,338
43 Angier 46.67 $56,277
44 Mills River 47.0 $68,735
45 Walke 48.33 $52,321
46 Oak Island 48.67 $85,802
47 Kernersville 49.33 $60,718
48 Raleigh 50.0 $72,996
49 Carrboro 50.33 $76,599
50 Belmont 51.0 $76,156
51 Mebane 52.33 $69,947
52 Asheville 53.0 $58,193
53 Charlotte 53.67 $68,367
54 Hillsborough 54.0 $77,114
55 Woodfin 54.0 $52,732
56 Garner 55.0 $70,007
57 Cherryville 55.67 $51,938
58 Hendersonville 56.33 $46,309
59 Durham 57.33 $66,623
60 Pineville 57.33 $53,199
61 Morehead City 58.33 $47,058
62 Southern Pines 58.33 $69,792
63 Boiling Spring Lakes 60.33 $53,956
64 Kill Devil Hills 61.33 $62,721
65 Carolina Beach 61.67 $78,670
66 Newton 64.0 $55,391
67 Mount Holly 64.33 $64,742
68 Elon 66.33 $68,031
69 Conover 68.33 $47,923
70 Chapel Hill 69.33 $77,037
71 Havelock 70.33 $53,344
72 Dallas 71.67 $51,136
73 Waynesville 71.67 $41,131
74 Butner 72.33 $63,548
75 Wilmington 73.67 $54,066
76 Gastonia 73.67 $52,990
77 Monroe 74.67 $58,180
78 High Point 77.33 $54,331
79 Brevard 77.33 $46,058
80 Kannapolis 79.0 $58,084
81 Sanford 80.67 $51,311
82 Winston-Salem 82.0 $50,204
83 Greensboro 82.0 $51,667
84 Burlington 83.33 $47,158
85 New Bern 85.0 $45,829
86 Hickory 86.0 $53,117
87 Bessemer City 86.33 $41,558
88 Shelby 87.33 $41,565
89 Zebulon 87.67 $44,389
90 Dunn 88.67 $37,409
91 Hope Mills 90.33 $49,802
92 Morganton 91.67 $43,103
93 Sawmills 91.67 $61,973
94 Nashville 93.0 $56,359
95 Tarboro 93.67 $41,281
96 Roanoke Rapids 93.67 $43,704
97 Fayetteville 96.33 $48,923
98 Thomasville 97.0 $45,610
99 Graham 97.0 $45,152
100 Lenoir 97.0 $42,411

How Is The Area In ?

Editor’s Note: Data has been updated for 2023. This is our tenth time ranking the richest cities in North Carolina.

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.