Living in Burgaw, North Carolina: homes, schools and costs

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 3.6% below the U.S. average in the Wilmington metro area.
More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
A safer neighborhood10 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 18.2 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
Schools in town4 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 2 high schools.
A hospital close byPender Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityRaleigh is about 97 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Burgaw meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024: $242,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 20%Pender County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities: $943 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income: $67,853U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $1,668 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940: 15%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 18%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 96.4U.S. average = 100 (the Wilmington metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 20% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Wilmington metro area, not Burgaw alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate: 3,9032020: 3,735
Median age: 44.8 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more: 17%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year: 14%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work: Professional and business services (19%); manufacturing (16%); schools, health care and social services (16%)
Average commute: 27 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home: 10%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 20%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Pender Memorial Hospital, Burgaw, NC, in town. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, NC, about 24 miles away. Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

4 public schools in Burgaw, run by Pender County Schools.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on North Carolina's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet: 90%U.S.: 76%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low: 32°F
July average high: 89°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 60 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 49 a year
Rain and melted snow: 55.9 inches a year
Snow: 1 inches a year
Elevation: 41 feet

Weather station: Willard 4 SW (10 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Wilmington, NCCity of 127,00024

Raleigh, NCMetro of 1.6 million97

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Wilmington, Raleigh.

Pender County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

5 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Burgaw Historic District and the Shelter Neck Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

Moores Creek National Battlefield12 miles

Read about Burgaw's history on Wikipedia.

Know Burgaw?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Wallace, NC3,600 people, 13 miles
Skippers Corner, NC3,800 people, 16 miles
Hampstead, NC9,300 people, 16 miles
Northchase, NC5,900 people, 17 miles
Wrightsboro, NC6,300 people, 18 miles
Murraysville, NC16,300 people, 19 miles

Smaller places

St. Helena, NC434 people, 2 miles
Watha, NC226 people, 7 miles
Rocky Point, NC (unincorporated)1,020 people, 8 miles
Long Creek, NC (unincorporated)206 people, 10 miles
Castle Hayne, NC (unincorporated)897 people, 14 miles
Atkinson, NC357 people, 14 miles

Sources

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.