Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. Overall it grades C, ranked 167th of 286 in North Carolina. It has 21 miles of trail and 46% conserved land. 46% of the land in Boiling Spring Lakes is conserved, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 3.4% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. No town in North Carolina scores lower than Boiling Spring Lakes on history. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 75% of U.S. towns.
Where Boiling Spring Lakes beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
5,372 counted in 2010 and 5,943 in 2020; an estimated 6,875 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 15.8% since 2020, after 10.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Boiling Spring Lakes is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 245 in 1970, 5,943 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2022 and 2 maps from 1943 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Boiling Spring Lakes. Close and well known come first.
11 mi LandmarkFort Fisher
8 mi GardenOrton Plantation
8 mi MuseumBrunswick Town
29 mi National BattlefieldMoores Creek National Battlefield56K visitors a year19 mi GardenAirlie Gardens
16 mi TheatreThalian HallFort Fisher: Eric T. Gunther, CC BY 3.0 · Orton Plantation: AgnosticPreachersKid., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Brunswick Town: Brunswick1726, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Moores Creek National Battlefield: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Thalian Hall: Sanfranman59, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Boiling Spring Lakes, 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 Boiling Spring Lakes.
Boiling Spring Lakes keeps more of its land conserved than most of North Carolina and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Carolina (mostly hurricanes).
Its 7,072 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of North Carolina towns.
21 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. Boiling Spring Lakes’ trail density is 0.9 miles per square mile, against 0.2 in North Carolina’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. North Carolina Coastal Land Trust: Orton Plantation Holdings, LLC | — | 4 |
| 2. Robert Muse Memorial Park | — | 1 |
| 3. Mirror Lake Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Brunswick County Schools. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is South Brunswick High, with 1,154 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Brunswick MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 585 | B− |
| South Brunswick HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,154 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $753 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1996, 86 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Boiling Spring Lakes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here grew from 417 in 2013 to 846.
Most working residents leave Boiling Spring Lakes for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Boiling Spring Lakes grew to 846 in 2023, 429 more than in 2013. 17% of workers work from home in Boiling Spring Lakes.
| Boiling Spring Lakes | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 17% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.5% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $63,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.9% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Boiling Spring Lakes has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Boiling Spring Lakes’ July high is 90°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,547 U.S. towns with household incomes like Boiling Spring Lakes’s, it is healthier than 87%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
Boiling Spring Lakes beats the North Carolina average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 30% of Boiling Spring Lakes adults feel lonely.
| Boiling Spring Lakes | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 33% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 24% | 25% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Boiling Spring Lakes | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.5% | 15.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.3% | 12.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The property crime rate in Boiling Spring Lakes is 10.2 per 1,000 residents. Within North Carolina, it does better than 78% of towns.
| Boiling Spring Lakes | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.2 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Boiling Spring Lakes home is worth about $315,000, about the same as a year ago, 5% below the North Carolina typical home.
| Boiling Spring Lakes | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 82% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,385 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Boiling Spring Lakes
About 4 of every 100 Boiling Spring Lakes residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
45.6% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
City in North Carolina, United States
Boiling Spring Lakes is a city in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,943 at the 2020 census, up from 5,372 in 2010.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Boiling Spring Lakes.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boiling Spring Lakes | #167 | C | C+ | B− | B− | B |
| Oak Island | #145 | C | C− | — | B− | A− |
Oak Island reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Boiling Spring Lakes with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Boiling Spring Lakes grades C overall, better than 26% of U.S. towns and #167 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades B for health, B− for safety and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 78% of towns.
That is 4.1 years of the area's median household income ($76,471 across the Wilmington, NC metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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