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Towns / North Carolina

Ranlo, North Carolina

Ranlo is a suburb of about 4,800 people in Gaston County, North Carolina, in the Gastonia area. It has grown about 7% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.6 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, Charlotte, is about 18 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Gastonia

Population
4,848
up 7.3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$200,200
Gaston County prices up 16% since 2022
Household income
$78,033
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Charlotte area
97.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Caromont Regional Medical Center
To Charlotte
18 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 2.7% below the U.S. average in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood8 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.7 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 5.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Ashbrook High, about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close byCaromont Regional Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityCharlotte is about 18 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 Ranlo 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.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Ranlo runs into the built-up area around Gastonia (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$200,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 16%Gaston County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,811 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$78,033U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
62%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,865 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940
11%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
22%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
97.3U.S. average = 100 (the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia 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 16% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area, not Ranlo 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
4,8482020: 4,518
Median age
35 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
20%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
1%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%); manufacturing (19%); professional and business services (13%)
Unemployment rate
6%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
21 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
11%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
6%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Caromont Regional Medical Center, Gastonia, NC, in town. 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 Ranlo, run by Gaston County Schools. The nearest public high school is Ashbrook High, about 3 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.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
80%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
95%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
31°F
July average high
91°F
Days 90°F or hotter
49 a year
Nights at or below freezing
61 a year
Rain and melted snow
44 inches a year
Snow
1 inches a year
Elevation
806 feet

Weather station: Gastonia (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: Gastonia, Charlotte.

Gaston County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Kings Mountain National Military Park16 miles
  • Cowpens National Battlefield39 miles

Read about Ranlo's history on Wikipedia.

Know Ranlo?

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

  • Springdale, NC (unincorporated)1,075 people, 1 mile
  • McAdenville, NC960 people, 3 miles
  • Alexis, NC (unincorporated)635 people, 7 miles
  • High Shoals, NC637 people, 8 miles
  • Iron Station, NC (unincorporated)934 people, 11 miles
  • Crouse, NC (unincorporated)408 people, 13 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.