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Jacksonville, North Carolina

Jacksonville is a small city of about 73,000 people in Onslow County, North Carolina. It's the county seat. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.6 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, Raleigh, is about 104 miles away as the crow flies.

County seatSmall city

Population
72,732
down 0.6% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$210,100
Onslow County prices up 25% since 2022
Household income
$57,697
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Jacksonville area
92.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Onslow Memorial Hospital
To Raleigh
104 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 7.9% below the U.S. average in the Jacksonville 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 neighborhood160 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 17.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town22 public schools: 12 elementary, 5 middle and 5 high schools.
  • A hospital close byOnslow Memorial Hospital is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRaleigh is about 104 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 Jacksonville 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
$210,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 25%Onslow County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,321 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$57,697U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
39%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,870 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940
1%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
23%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
92.1U.S. average = 100 (the Jacksonville 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 25% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Jacksonville metro area, not Jacksonville 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
72,7322020: 73,158
Median age
23.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
8%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
19%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
26%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
20%U.S.: 6%
College students
8%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 (23%); retail (16%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (15%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
15 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
13%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
13%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Onslow Memorial Hospital, Jacksonville, NC, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 1 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

22 public schools in Jacksonville, run by Onslow County Schools and Z.E.C.A. School of Arts and Technology.

Colleges in or next to town: Coastal Carolina 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
81%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
94%U.S.: 91%

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
35°F
July average high
89°F
Days 90°F or hotter
44 a year
Nights at or below freezing
43 a year
Rain and melted snow
56.5 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
2 feet

Weather station: New River Mcaf (2 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: Wilmington, Raleigh.

Onslow 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

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Bank of Onslow and Jacksonville Masonic Temple, the Mill Avenue Historic District and Pelletier House and Wantland Spring.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Cape Lookout National Seashore42 miles
  • Moores Creek National Battlefield45 miles

Read about Jacksonville's history on Wikipedia.

Know Jacksonville?

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

  • Pumpkin Center, NC (unincorporated)1,636 people, 4 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.