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

The book's checklist

Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.6% below the U.S. average in the Greenville metro area.
More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.2 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 Grifton 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 town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Ayden-Grifton High, about 4 miles away.
A hospital close byUNC Lenoir Health Care in Kinston, about 10 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
Within reach of a big cityRaleigh is about 74 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 Grifton 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: $152,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then: Up 18%Pitt County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income: $36,794U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them: 38%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill: $1,284 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940: 4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010: 5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes: 2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices: 88.4U.S. average = 100 (the Greenville 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 18% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Greenville metro area, not Grifton 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: 2,5392020: 2,444
Median age: 35.6 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older: 18%U.S.: 17%
Under 18: 23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more: 15%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year: 8%U.S.: 6%
College students: 7%share of all residents

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 (31%); retail (18%)
Unemployment rate: 18%U.S.: 5%
Work from home: 1%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line: 33%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: UNC Lenoir Health Care, Kinston, NC, about 10 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 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

1 public school in Grifton, run by Pitt County Schools. The nearest public high school is Ayden-Grifton High, about 4 miles away.

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.

Weather

January average low: 35°F
July average high: 91°F
Days 90°F or hotter: 62 a year
Nights at or below freezing: 45 a year
Rain and melted snow: 52.9 inches a year
Snow: 1 inches a year
Elevation: 31 feet

Weather station: Kinston Ag Rsch (9 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

UNC Lenoir Health CareEmergency room10

Greenville, NCCity of 96,00015

Raleigh, NCMetro of 1.6 million74

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: UNC Lenoir Health Care, Greenville, Raleigh.

Pitt County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

Read about Grifton's history on Wikipedia.

Know Grifton?

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

Ayden, NC5,300 people, 6 miles
Winterville, NC11,000 people, 11 miles
Kinston, NC19,700 people, 11 miles
Snow Hill, NC1,600 people, 14 miles
Farmville, NC4,600 people, 17 miles
La Grange, NC2,900 people, 20 miles

Smaller places

Hookerton, NC419 people, 9 miles
Maury, NC (unincorporated)1,339 people, 11 miles
Dover, NC351 people, 11 miles
Cove City, NC381 people, 15 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.