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Towns / North Carolina

Clyde, North Carolina

Clyde is a small town of about 1,400 people in Haywood County, North Carolina. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.5 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Greenville, is about 57 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,355
down 0.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$200,000
Haywood County prices up 15% since 2022
Household income
$56,406
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural North Carolina
88.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
2 miles
Clyde, NC
To Greenville
57 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.6% below the U.S. average in the parts of North Carolina outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.5 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Clyde itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byHaywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, about 2 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityGreenville is about 57 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 Clyde 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
$200,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 15%Haywood County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,033 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,406U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$1,440 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940
11%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
15%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.4U.S. average = 100 (the parts of North Carolina outside metro areas)

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 15% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of North Carolina outside metro areas, not Clyde 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
1,3552020: 1,367
Median age
43.9 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
22%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%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
Schools, health care and social services (19%); retail (14%)
Unemployment rate
0%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
4%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
8%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Haywood Regional Medical Center, Clyde, NC, about 2 miles away. It's a general hospital. 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

3 public schools in Clyde, run by Haywood County Schools.

Colleges in or next to town: Haywood Community College (1,000 to 4,999 students).

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
56%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
24°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
3 a year
Nights at or below freezing
120 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.2 inches a year
Snow
11 inches a year
Elevation
2,538 feet

Weather station: Waynesville 1 E (5 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

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: Haywood Regional Medical Center, Asheville, Greenville.

Haywood County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park9 miles
  • Blue Ridge Parkway9 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail17 miles
  • Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site31 miles
  • Andrew Johnson National Historic Site43 miles

Read about Clyde's history on Wikipedia.

Know Clyde?

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

Smaller places

  • West Canton, NC (unincorporated)1,412 people, 3 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

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.