Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 19,929, settled in 1850. A regional job hub with 14,249 jobs.
Trash day: look up yoursBoone's standout: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades B−, better than 49% of U.S. towns. Its public schools beat 80% of North Carolina towns on state tests and graduation and it has 15 miles of trail. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $484K, 9.4 years of the Boone area’s $52K median household income. Boone is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among North Carolina’s towns. 51% of residents live below the poverty line in Boone, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. No town among the 290 in North Carolina we compare has a lower July high than Boone. Boone is home to Appalachian State University.
Where Boone beats most towns.
12.9% of the town is conserved land, across 11 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Boone is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 6%), so the B− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 167 in 1880, 19,092 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1925 and 5 maps from 1934 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Boone. Close and well known come first.
3 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year3 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad
11 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain
32 mi MountainMount Rogers12 mi Theme parkLand of Oz
12 mi Ski areaSugar Mountain Resort26 runs · 1,171 ft verticalBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Grandfather Mountain: Original uploader was KyleAndMelissa22 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Mount Rogers: USDA-FS, Public domain · Sugar Mountain Resort: Mark Clifton, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Boone, 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 Boone.
Boone fares better on crime within North Carolina than nationally, is shaped by its college students and draws workers from Charlotte and beyond.
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $484K.
Its public schools are run by the Watauga County Schools. Three of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Watauga High, with 1,289 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardin Park ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 854 | B+ |
| Watauga HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,289 | A |
| Watauga Innovation AcademyTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 292 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Its A for the outdoors ranks #7 of 290 in North Carolina.
Boone’s trail density is 2.4 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Boone Greenway, 277 acres with 5.3 miles of trail. 15 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Boone Greenway | 5.3 mi | 277 |
| 2. Arborcrest Gardens | 2 mi | 24 |
| 3. Appalachian State University Nature Preserve | 1.7 mi | 97 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
14,249 jobs are based in Boone, 2.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 15.8 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
The median household income in Boone is $30,000. Among 290 North Carolina towns, just 5 have a lower average trip to work than Boone. 37% of Boone working residents work locally.
| Boone | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 37% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $30,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 10% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 9.4 years of the Boone area’s $52K median household income, the typical home (about $484K) costs more against local pay than in 99% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. 78.8% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.9% across North Carolina.
26% of households own their home in Boone. The typical Boone home is worth about $484,000, up 1% in a year, 46% above the North Carolina typical home.
| Boone | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 26% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,111 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 115 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Boone.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 572 U.S. towns with household incomes like Boone’s, it is healthier than 99%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Boone beats the North Carolina average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. Among 289 North Carolina towns, just 1 have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Boone.
| Boone | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 5.4% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 17% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 25% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Boone | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.1% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 5.4% | 12% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 16.4% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Boone has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. No town among the 290 in North Carolina we compare has a lower January low than Boone.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 14.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 90% of North Carolina’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
3 within 15 miles of the center of Boone
College town 66 of every 100 Boone residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
5 places in Boone on the National Register of Historic Places.
18 notable people were born in Boone.
Town in the United States
Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters of the disaster and medical relief organization Samaritan's Purse. The population was 19,092 at the 2020 census. The town is named for famous American pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone, and every summer since 1952 the town has hosted an outdoor amphitheatre drama, Horn in the West, portraying the British settlement of the area during the American Revolutionary War and featuring the contributions of its namesake. It is the largest community and the economic hub of the seve…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Boone grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns. Boone is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among North Carolina’s towns. It grades B+ for health, B for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
18 notable people were born here, including Daniel P. Driscoll and James E. Holshouser Jr..
