Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Trash day: look up yoursBessemer City gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $238K, 2.9 years of the Charlotte metro’s $83K median household income. It grades C− overall, 193rd among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 90% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Bessemer City's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 97% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Central School and Bessemer City Downtown Historic District. Bessemer City’s violent crime rate is 4.6 per 1,000 residents, against 3.1 in North Carolina’s towns and 1.7 across U.S. towns.
Where Bessemer City beats most towns.
Central School
Its founding year, 1756, comes before those of 96% of the North Carolina towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 68 in 1880, 5,428 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 5 maps from 1909 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Bessemer City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bessemer City, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Bessemer City.
Bessemer City has homes that are cheap against local pay and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of North Carolina; it also has seen reported crime rise by about half.
Among adults in Bessemer City, 41% have high blood pressure. Only 10 of the 289 North Carolina towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Bessemer City. Just over a quarter of adults in Bessemer City say their health is fair or poor; 17% report frequent physical distress.
| Bessemer City | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Bessemer City | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.6% | 13.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 11% | 7.1% |
| More smokers | 20.6% | 13.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Of its 4 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The largest public high school is Bessemer City High, with 590 students. The public schools here belong to the Gaston County Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer City MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 497 | C |
| Bessemer City HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 590 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Of the losses FEMA expects in Bessemer City, 54% come from inland flooding and 18% from tornadoes. Compared with 79% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage locally is lower. Households in the town have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2024.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
For most workers, Bessemer City is a place to come home to: only 4% work in town. Bessemer City’s average commute comes in at 28 minutes. Also worth knowing: jobs based in Bessemer City grew to 1,933 in 2023, 428 more than in 2013. In Bessemer City, 16% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Bessemer City | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 7.1% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 2.9 years of the Charlotte metro’s $83K median household income, the typical home (about $238K) costs less against local pay than in 90% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to that grade.
On the market in Bessemer City: a median 62 days to sell. Zillow values the typical Bessemer City home at about $238,000, about the same as a year ago, 29% below the North Carolina typical home. Homes in Bessemer City sold for 98.8% of their list price on average.
| Bessemer City | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,053 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Reported crimes rose from 60 to 104 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 70% of towns. Bessemer City’s rate of thefts and burglaries is 15 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
The Lincolnton 4 W weather station, 12 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 201 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 80% of North Carolina places with climate records.
Expect July afternoons of 89° and January nights of 30°, with about 6 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest park or preserve is Stinger Park, at 32 acres. Trails run 0.3 miles in 7 parks and preserves. The trail network density for Bessemer City comes to 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Bessemer City | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.9% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bessemer City Park | 0.3 mi | 6 |
| 2. Stinger Park | — | 32 |
| 3. Kevin Millwood Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Bessemer City
About 3 of every 100 Bessemer City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Where Bessemer City’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Bessemer City on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Bessemer City.
City in North Carolina, United States
Bessemer City is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bessemer City had a population of 5,428. The city is approximately 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Gastonia and 25 miles (40 km) west of Charlotte. It was settled in 1756 and founded in 1893.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Bessemer City.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer City | #193 | C− | B+ | C | B− | D |
| Gastonia | #237 | D | C+ | D− | B− | C+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bessemer City grades C− overall, better than 20% of U.S. towns and #193 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades D for health, C for safety and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 70% of towns.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
3 notable people were born here, including James Ijames and Phil Crosby.
