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Towns / North Carolina

Richlands, North Carolina

Richlands is a small town of about 2,500 people in Onslow County, North Carolina. It has grown about 8% since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.8 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 89 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,485
up 8.5% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$248,800
Onslow County prices up 25% since 2022
Household income
$65,163
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Jacksonville area
92.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
13 miles
Jacksonville, NC
To Raleigh
89 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 3.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 7.2 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town4 public schools: 2 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byOnslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, about 13 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityRaleigh is about 89 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 Richlands 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
$248,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 25%Onslow County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$65,163U.S.: $80,734
Typical property tax bill
$1,479 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940
4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
32%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 Richlands 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
2,4852020: 2,291
Median age
29.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
7%U.S.: 17%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
14%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 (24%); government (13%)
Below the poverty line
11%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, about 13 miles away. 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

4 public schools in Richlands, run by Onslow 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
85%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
32°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
53 a year
Nights at or below freezing
69 a year
Rain and melted snow
55.9 inches a year
Snow
2 inches a year
Elevation
55 feet

Weather stations: Richlands (3 miles away) and Trenton (16 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: Onslow Memorial Hospital, Jacksonville, 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

4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Avirett-Stephens Plantation, the Richlands Historic District, the Taylor Farm and the Venters Farm Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Moores Creek National Battlefield44 miles
  • Cape Lookout National Seashore52 miles

Read about Richlands's history on Wikipedia.

Know Richlands?

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

  • Potters Hill, NC (unincorporated)595 people, 10 miles
  • Pumpkin Center, NC (unincorporated)1,636 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.