If your city is home to many old tobacco farms and factories, you better believe you house some crazy rich cities. And, yes, we’re talking about you, North Carolina.
Not every city on our top ten wealthiest cities in North Carolina for 2026 can compare to Beverly Hills, CA, but there are a ton of wealthy North Carolina gems with bourgeois Southern charm.
To create this list, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the latest Census and Zillow data on incomes and home prices. We limited the analysis to 216 North Carolina cities with more than 3,000 residents.
Cities on our list like Apex and Cary are the playground of North Carolina’s rich and famous with great parks, schools, and 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.
$250,001 median income · 7.6% poverty · #1 income in North Carolina
Located in
Union County, North Carolina
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$190,766 median income · 4.0% poverty · #2 income in North Carolina
Located in
Union County, North Carolina
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$166,556 median income · 7.0% poverty · #3 income in North Carolina
Located in
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Davidson is a lakeside town on Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 10,944 at the 2010 census. It is home to Davidson College. The town is centered on the college from which it takes its name.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$131,429 median income · 0.6% poverty · #13 income in North Carolina
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$132,188 median income · 4.5% poverty · #11 income in North Carolina
Located in
Union County, North Carolina
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$155,385 median income · 3.6% poverty · #5 income in North Carolina
Located in
Guilford County, North Carolina
Oak Ridge is a town in northwestern Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,185 at the 2010 census, up from 3,988 at the 2000 census. As of 2015 the population had risen to an estimated 6,671. Oak Ridge is 15 miles northwest of the center of Greensboro, North Carolina’s third-largest city, and it is a part of the Piedmont Triad urban area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$134,905 median income · 5.7% poverty · #10 income in North Carolina
Located in
Wake County, North Carolina
Cary is the seventh-largest municipality in North Carolina. Cary is predominantly in Wake, with a small area in Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the county’s second-largest municipality and the third-largest municipality in The Triangle after Raleigh and Durham. The town’s population was 135,234 as of the 2010 census, making it the largest town and seventh-largest municipality statewide. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the town’s population to be 159,769 as of July 1, 2015. Cary is the second most populous incorporated town in the United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
$131,894 median income · 4.5% poverty · #12 income in North Carolina
Located in
Union County, North Carolina
Waxhaw is a town located in Union County, North Carolina. The population was 9,859 according to the 2010 Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$144,135 median income · 2.2% poverty · #8 income in North Carolina
Located in
Wake County, North Carolina
Apex is a town in Wake County, North Carolina and a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the town’s population to be 43,907 as of July 1, 2014.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$116,383 median income · 4.3% poverty · #19 income in North Carolina
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is North Carolina’s statewide median.
North Carolina statewide median: $72,388
North Carolina statewide median: $336,408
North Carolina statewide median: 13.0%
North Carolina statewide median: 4.7%
On the map
Where the money lives in North Carolina
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the richest places in North Carolina for 2026
The first thing most people reach for is personal income. After all, rich people have really high salaries. But one statistic doesn’t capture what it means to be one of the “richest places,” so we applied Saturday Night Science to two measures from the 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Median household income
- Median home value
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place is, and home values are a measure of accumulated wealth. The two combine to define a “Rich City.”
After collecting the data for all 216 places in North Carolina with more than 3,000 people, we ranked each place from 1 to 216 on both criteria, then averaged the two ranks into a “Rich Score.” The place with the lowest Rich Score, Marvin, is crowned the richest city in North Carolina for 2026. The median North Carolina home is 33 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
All 100 richest cities in North Carolina, ranked
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Rich Score | Population | Median income | Median home value | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marvin | 1.00 | 6,692 | $250,001 | $1,251,047 | 7.6% | 4.0% |
| 2 | Weddington | 2.00 | 13,805 | $190,766 | $1,074,644 | 4.0% | 1.8% |
| 3 | Davidson | 5.50 | 15,660 | $166,556 | $655,968 | 7.0% | 4.1% |
| 4 | Southern Shores | 8.00 | 3,139 | $131,429 | $803,113 | 0.6% | 13.2% |
| 5 | Wesley Chapel | 9.00 | 9,090 | $132,188 | $659,096 | 4.5% | 3.8% |
| 6 | Oak Ridge | 10.00 | 7,744 | $155,385 | $599,278 | 3.6% | 2.5% |
| 7 | Cary | 11.00 | 179,306 | $134,905 | $626,396 | 5.7% | 3.5% |
| 8 | Waxhaw | 11.50 | 22,275 | $131,894 | $628,812 | 4.5% | 4.9% |
| 9 | Apex | 12.00 | 70,630 | $144,135 | $599,085 | 2.2% | 3.8% |
| 10 | St. James | 12.50 | 7,072 | $116,383 | $694,377 | 4.3% | 6.2% |
| 11 | Holly Springs | 13.00 | 45,248 | $135,578 | $579,090 | 4.8% | 3.4% |
| 12 | Summerfield | 16.00 | 11,116 | $160,275 | $519,610 | 7.1% | 2.1% |
| 13 | Whispering Pines | 18.50 | 5,211 | $126,450 | $529,288 | 5.3% | 3.3% |
| 14 | Huntersville | 18.50 | 63,969 | $120,516 | $550,755 | 3.1% | 3.2% |
| 15 | Rolesville | 19.00 | 10,766 | $149,565 | $497,996 | 1.1% | 3.7% |
| 16 | Harrisburg | 20.00 | 19,633 | $148,254 | $494,884 | 3.7% | 3.0% |
| 17 | Pinehurst | 22.50 | 18,256 | $109,802 | $535,650 | 4.3% | 5.2% |
| 18 | Fuquay-Varina | 23.00 | 40,485 | $115,497 | $525,746 | 8.2% | 3.6% |
| 19 | Wake Forest | 23.00 | 52,844 | $123,802 | $512,161 | 4.5% | 4.0% |
| 20 | Cornelius | 23.50 | 32,783 | $113,767 | $527,117 | 5.4% | 2.4% |
| 21 | Mills River | 25.00 | 7,281 | $105,398 | $530,766 | 2.6% | 2.8% |
| 22 | Morrisville | 25.50 | 31,422 | $125,396 | $480,926 | 3.1% | 3.3% |
| 23 | Kitty Hawk | 26.00 | 3,724 | $94,450 | $645,915 | 4.7% | 8.9% |
| 24 | Nags Head | 26.00 | 3,160 | $91,264 | $720,239 | 2.4% | 1.0% |
| 25 | Emerald Isle | 27.75 | 3,934 | $89,773 | $748,242 | 4.9% | 1.2% |
| 26 | Matthews | 28.00 | 30,577 | $108,611 | $501,848 | 3.7% | 2.1% |
| 27 | Carolina Beach | 29.00 | 6,745 | $94,398 | $606,035 | 6.0% | 7.8% |
| 28 | Fairview | 30.50 | 3,619 | $98,808 | $524,192 | 1.8% | 1.8% |
| 29 | Stallings | 31.00 | 16,886 | $115,974 | $461,633 | 4.8% | 5.3% |
| 30 | Mint Hill | 31.50 | 27,556 | $100,860 | $513,193 | 8.4% | 4.1% |
| 31 | Chapel Hill | 36.50 | 61,607 | $85,989 | $631,167 | 18.6% | 4.5% |
| 32 | Hillsborough | 37.00 | 9,724 | $98,163 | $472,962 | 8.0% | 4.1% |
| 33 | Kill Devil Hills | 39.25 | 7,761 | $89,773 | $521,722 | 9.1% | 7.1% |
| 34 | Indian Trail | 40.50 | 42,036 | $108,483 | $419,103 | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| 35 | Flat Rock | 40.50 | 3,530 | $95,098 | $464,129 | 7.6% | 5.1% |
| 36 | Oak Island | 41.00 | 9,030 | $85,872 | $568,672 | 8.7% | 3.0% |
| 37 | Midland | 42.50 | 4,860 | $101,477 | $424,408 | 4.1% | 1.8% |
| 38 | Stokesdale | 43.50 | 6,004 | $121,071 | $386,451 | 5.6% | 1.9% |
| 39 | Mooresville | 44.00 | 52,381 | $89,647 | $482,315 | 7.3% | 4.4% |
| 40 | Belmont | 45.00 | 15,546 | $94,883 | $432,565 | 7.9% | 4.0% |
| 41 | Unionville | 46.00 | 6,954 | $96,028 | $419,701 | 9.4% | 4.1% |
| 42 | Surf City | 47.00 | 4,396 | $81,433 | $621,962 | 5.5% | 2.8% |
| 43 | Weaverville | 47.50 | 4,687 | $88,221 | $468,960 | 4.2% | 3.4% |
| 44 | Mineral Springs | 47.50 | 3,314 | $91,500 | $432,122 | 4.2% | 2.1% |
| 45 | Lewisville | 48.00 | 13,828 | $100,917 | $404,564 | 10.2% | 1.9% |
| 46 | Southern Pines | 49.00 | 16,420 | $88,535 | $456,116 | 9.6% | 6.7% |
| 47 | Pittsboro | 49.50 | 4,752 | $81,639 | $548,636 | 11.7% | 1.1% |
| 48 | Trent Woods | 50.00 | 4,032 | $107,802 | $383,828 | 3.5% | 3.1% |
| 49 | Jame | 52.00 | 3,708 | $104,844 | $380,540 | 2.5% | 0.7% |
| 50 | Troutman | 52.00 | 3,995 | $98,462 | $396,169 | 6.1% | 3.4% |
| 51 | Swansboro | 55.00 | 3,997 | $114,425 | $351,711 | 14.1% | 2.7% |
| 52 | Knightdale | 55.00 | 20,214 | $103,220 | $370,204 | 5.3% | 3.4% |
| 53 | Raleigh | 56.50 | 481,031 | $85,395 | $433,996 | 11.9% | 4.4% |
| 54 | Carrboro | 57.50 | 21,204 | $85,743 | $429,675 | 12.2% | 3.6% |
| 55 | Southport | 59.50 | 4,205 | $87,641 | $410,516 | 6.4% | 0.0% |
| 56 | Holly Ridge | 60.00 | 4,904 | $104,788 | $344,569 | 0.8% | 1.6% |
| 57 | Wallburg | 60.00 | 3,150 | $88,406 | $400,219 | 2.4% | 4.8% |
| 58 | Wendell | 60.00 | 13,064 | $95,787 | $369,603 | 3.2% | 1.3% |
| 59 | Youngsville | 60.00 | 3,011 | $86,528 | $410,704 | 14.3% | 1.5% |
| 60 | Leland | 61.00 | 29,607 | $91,977 | $376,599 | 6.1% | 4.7% |
| 61 | Sunset Beach | 61.50 | 4,351 | $81,976 | $440,728 | 5.7% | 0.7% |
| 62 | Archer Lodge | 62.00 | 5,186 | $91,188 | $377,862 | 17.4% | 0.0% |
| 63 | Clemmons | 64.00 | 21,871 | $87,655 | $387,814 | 6.5% | 4.5% |
| 64 | Black Mountain | 64.50 | 8,513 | $77,042 | $463,739 | 5.9% | 3.9% |
| 65 | Concord | 67.50 | 108,719 | $86,921 | $382,592 | 9.6% | 5.5% |
| 66 | Fletcher | 69.00 | 8,098 | $75,272 | $446,279 | 7.6% | 3.0% |
| 67 | Mars Hill | 69.50 | 3,025 | $81,429 | $415,655 | 3.3% | 4.5% |
| 68 | Charlotte | 71.00 | 903,844 | $82,068 | $397,125 | 11.7% | 4.6% |
| 69 | Red Oak | 71.50 | 3,405 | $90,214 | $337,136 | 2.2% | 0.0% |
| 70 | Gibsonville | 72.00 | 9,467 | $95,861 | $307,075 | 5.8% | 3.3% |
| 71 | Asheville | 72.00 | 94,535 | $71,102 | $460,994 | 14.3% | 5.1% |
| 72 | Durham | 73.50 | 291,467 | $81,619 | $396,395 | 11.7% | 3.8% |
| 73 | Woodfin | 75.50 | 8,048 | $71,384 | $427,001 | 14.1% | 3.0% |
| 74 | Shallotte | 76.50 | 4,639 | $88,367 | $320,250 | 10.3% | 3.1% |
| 75 | Mebane | 78.50 | 19,538 | $83,174 | $353,221 | 7.2% | 3.9% |
| 76 | Elon | 78.50 | 11,032 | $84,773 | $350,880 | 20.0% | 5.1% |
| 77 | Garner | 79.00 | 34,473 | $78,756 | $384,100 | 8.4% | 6.2% |
| 78 | Locust | 80.00 | 5,840 | $76,504 | $384,686 | 8.7% | 3.6% |
| 79 | Pleasant Garden | 80.00 | 5,060 | $88,204 | $315,482 | 9.7% | 1.9% |
| 80 | Creedmoor | 81.50 | 4,997 | $82,961 | $342,137 | 18.2% | 8.2% |
| 81 | Wilmington | 82.50 | 120,805 | $66,738 | $416,159 | 16.0% | 4.3% |
| 82 | Mount Holly | 83.00 | 18,208 | $79,385 | $360,773 | 8.2% | 5.5% |
| 83 | Clayton | 83.00 | 29,320 | $78,822 | $364,742 | 5.9% | 2.8% |
| 84 | Midway | 84.00 | 4,897 | $83,446 | $319,174 | 5.0% | 2.7% |
| 85 | Bermuda Run | 84.00 | 3,211 | $69,301 | $404,761 | 4.6% | 0.0% |
| 86 | Pineville | 84.50 | 11,055 | $69,354 | $403,663 | 13.8% | 5.2% |
| 87 | Stanley | 87.00 | 4,069 | $75,461 | $364,171 | 8.1% | 5.8% |
| 88 | Zebulon | 88.50 | 8,711 | $79,112 | $341,721 | 9.0% | 7.1% |
| 89 | Aberdeen | 90.50 | 9,228 | $75,078 | $352,796 | 10.5% | 3.7% |
| 90 | Cramerton | 90.50 | 5,450 | $82,160 | $305,443 | 6.2% | 3.5% |
| 91 | Monroe | 91.00 | 36,759 | $72,540 | $356,520 | 13.3% | 4.6% |
| 92 | Brevard | 92.50 | 7,897 | $54,103 | $464,518 | 15.1% | 3.6% |
| 93 | Lake Park | 94.00 | 3,431 | $66,411 | $375,232 | 8.0% | 3.5% |
| 94 | Carolina Shores | 94.00 | 5,017 | $76,087 | $319,366 | 3.9% | 3.9% |
| 95 | Eastover | 94.50 | 3,666 | $85,156 | $281,330 | 13.4% | 6.9% |
| 96 | Trinity | 96.00 | 7,111 | $82,664 | $287,548 | 11.6% | 3.2% |
| 97 | Kernersville | 97.50 | 27,830 | $71,918 | $322,447 | 12.6% | 2.7% |
| 98 | Lillington | 97.50 | 4,709 | $81,760 | $290,910 | 4.9% | 3.9% |
| 99 | Winterville | 98.50 | 10,725 | $83,193 | $278,291 | 9.8% | 5.4% |
| 100 | Maiden | 99.00 | 3,788 | $75,511 | $303,776 | 19.7% | 2.6% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, Zillow research. 216 cities with more than 3,000 residents.
Marvin is the richest place in North Carolina for 2026
When we set out to identify the richest places in North Carolina, we weren’t sure what we’d find, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in the state. The richest cities in North Carolina are Marvin, Weddington, and Davidson, and when you look at the data they sit at the very top of the income ladder for everyone who lives there.
Breaking into the top ten takes a median household income of at least $116,383. If you’re curious about the other end of the ledger, the poorest places are listed to the right. Not sold on North Carolina? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Richest Cities In North Carolina FAQs
What is the richest city in North Carolina?
Marvin is the richest city in North Carolina for 2026. The median household income in Marvin is $250,001, the median home value is $1,251,047, and the poverty rate sits at 7.6%. Weddington and Davidson round out the top three.
Where do the richest people live in North Carolina?
The richest people in North Carolina live in Marvin, Weddington, and Davidson, based on income and home value data from the American Community Survey. Every place in the top ten posts a median household income of at least $116,383.
How much money do you need to be considered rich in North Carolina?
You need a household income around $116,383 to keep up in the ten richest places in North Carolina. That is the lowest median income in the top ten; the highest is $250,001. The statewide median is $72,388.
How expensive are homes in the richest cities in North Carolina?
The median home value across the ten richest cities in North Carolina is $657,532, compared to $336,408 statewide. In Marvin, the typical home runs $1,251,047.
What is the poorest city in North Carolina?
Red Springs is the poorest city in North Carolina. It ranks last of the 216 places we analyzed on income and home value.
