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Tryon, North Carolina

Tryon is a small town of about 1,600 people in Polk County, North Carolina. It has grown about 5% since 2020. A typical home costs about 5.3 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, Greenville, is about 27 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,634
up 5.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$306,900
Polk County prices up 28% since 2022
Household income
$57,721
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural North Carolina
88.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
3 miles
Columbus, NC
To Greenville
27 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 5.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 1.2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 9.2 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Polk County Early College, about 5 miles away.
  • A hospital close byAdvent Health Polk in Columbus, about 3 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityGreenville is about 27 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 Tryon 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
$306,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 28%Polk County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,288 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$57,721U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
56%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,142 a yearNorth Carolina: $1,896
Homes built before 1940
20%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%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 28% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of North Carolina outside metro areas, not Tryon 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
1,6342020: 1,550
Median age
58.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
38%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
9%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
51%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
18%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 (17%); professional and business services (9%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Advent Health Polk, Columbus, NC, about 3 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Pardee Hospital Henderson County, Hendersonville, NC, about 15 miles away. Medicare gives it 5 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 Tryon, run by Polk County Schools. The nearest public high school is Polk County Early College, about 5 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
32°F
July average high
86°F
Days 90°F or hotter
33 a year
Nights at or below freezing
51 a year
Rain and melted snow
64.3 inches a year
Snow
5 inches a year
Elevation
1,064 feet

Weather station: Tryon (1 mile 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: Advent Health Polk, Greer, Greenville.

Polk County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

15 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Downtown Tryon Historic District, the Lynncote Historic District, The Cotton Patch and Tryon Country Club.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site12 miles
  • Cowpens National Battlefield24 miles
  • Blue Ridge Parkway27 miles
  • Kings Mountain National Military Park46 miles
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park53 miles

Read about Tryon's history on Wikipedia.

Know Tryon?

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

  • Saluda, NC671 people, 6 miles
  • Campobello, SC782 people, 8 miles
  • The Cliffs Valley, SC (unincorporated)789 people, 12 miles
  • Tigerville, SC (unincorporated)1,880 people, 12 miles
  • Barker Heights, NC (unincorporated)1,074 people, 13 miles
  • Inman Mills, SC (unincorporated)923 people, 14 miles
  • Fingerville, SC (unincorporated)204 people, 14 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.