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Towns / North Carolina

Pilot Mountain, North Carolina

Pilot Mountain is a small town of about 1,400 people in Surry County, North Carolina. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.1 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, Charlotte, is about 84 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,437
up 0.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$203,600
Surry County prices up 23% since 2022
Household income
$49,200
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural North Carolina
88.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Mount Airy, NC
To Charlotte
84 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 4.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.7 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 24.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byNorthern Regional Hospital in Mount Airy, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityCharlotte is about 84 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 Pilot Mountain 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
$203,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 23%Surry County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$969 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$49,200U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
56%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,563 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940
13%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%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 23% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of North Carolina outside metro areas, not Pilot Mountain 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
1,4372020: 1,434
Median age
42 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
16%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
18%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
24%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
13%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
Retail (22%); schools, health care and social services (20%); manufacturing (15%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
26 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
8%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
12%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Northern Regional Hospital, Mount Airy, NC, about 11 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

4 public schools in Pilot Mountain, run by Surry 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
83%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%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
25°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
24 a year
Nights at or below freezing
111 a year
Rain and melted snow
47.2 inches a year
Snow
6 inches a year
Elevation
1,112 feet

Weather stations: Mt Airy 2 W (13 miles away) and King (9 miles away, rain and snow). 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: Northern Regional Hospital, Winston-Salem, Charlotte.

Surry County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, 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 the Pilot Mountain Downtown Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Blue Ridge Parkway18 miles
  • Guilford Courthouse National Military Park39 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail58 miles

Read about Pilot Mountain's history on Wikipedia.

Know Pilot Mountain?

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

  • Pinnacle, NC (unincorporated)540 people, 5 miles
  • Flat Rock, NC (unincorporated)1,062 people, 10 miles
  • White Plains, NC (unincorporated)795 people, 11 miles
  • East Bend, NC646 people, 12 miles
  • Smithtown, NC (unincorporated)211 people, 12 miles
  • Toast, NC (unincorporated)893 people, 12 miles
  • Danbury, NC187 people, 15 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.