Is Buies Creek a good place to live?
Buies Creek’s overall grade is C, better than just over a third of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $362K, 5.1 years of the Anderson Creek area’s $71K median household income. Schools are weaker too: its public schools trail 64% of North Carolina towns on state tests and graduation. It does especially well on health (A−): it is healthier than 80% of U.S. towns. Walkability is a strength too — it is more walkable than just over four fifths of U.S. towns. The town is home to Campbell University. Only 2 of the 290 North Carolina towns we compare have a higher share of residents below the poverty line than Buies Creek. James Archibald Campbell House is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · National Register of Historic Places. Buies Creek is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among North Carolina’s towns.
How Buies Creek grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Buies Creek is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Buies Creek stand out
Where Buies Creek beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Buies Creek | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.5% | 7.9% |
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Campbell University | 4,333 |
57% of Buies Creek is in college
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Buies Creek.
Buies Creek is shaped by its college students and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has little public open land.
Buies Creek’s grade for schools is a C+
The Harnett County Schools runs its public schools. Its one school is below. 267 students attend Buies Creek’s public school.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buies Creek ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 267 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Buies Creek stands out in North Carolina and nationally: a smaller share of its adults have diabetes
Against the 7,097 U.S. towns with household incomes like Buies Creek’s, it is healthier than 98%, so its A− isn’t only a matter of income. Its widest gap with North Carolina is cancer: 3.5% of its 2,994 adults have had cancer, against 7.9% statewide.
Nearly three quarters of Buies Creek adults had a checkup this year. Buies Creek: nearly a third of adults have been diagnosed with depression, above both the North Carolina town median (25%) and the median of U.S. towns (23%). Among 289 North Carolina towns, just 2 have a lower share of adults who have high blood pressure than Buies Creek.
| Buies Creek | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 5.5% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 17% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 25% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Buies Creek | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.5% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 5.5% | 12% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 23.4% | 16.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
A larger share of residents live below the poverty line in Buies Creek than in most of North Carolina or the rest of the country
Buies Creek has 197 jobs for its 1,036 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 1,433 in 2013 to 197.
Buies Creek: 1% of working residents work locally, against 6.8% in North Carolina’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its middle household income comes in at $54,000. Jobs based in the town fell to 197 in 2023, 1,236 fewer than in 2013. Half commute less than 25 miles.
| Buies Creek | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 41% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $54,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 6.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Buies Creek has mild winters and hot summers
Buies Creek’s typical July afternoon high comes in at 91°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Buies Creek has a moderate natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
For Buies Creek, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 58 of 100. Expected losses in Buies Creek break down as 57% from inland flooding and 16% from hurricanes. Also worth knowing: the national flood insurance program has paid 4 claims in the town since 1996.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Buies Creek keeps 0.1% of its land conserved
Just 1 of its 1,959 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Buies Creek itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
2 parks and preserves cover 17 acres in Buies Creek.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Intramural Fields | — | 13 |
| 2. Saylor Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
A home in Buies Creek sells for about $426K at the median
63.7% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.9% across North Carolina.
For households in Buies Creek, the share who own their home is 33%. The going rate for rent here is $1,223 a month.
| Buies Creek | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 33% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,223 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Buies Creek
Moving to Buies Creek: who provides what
Buies Creek is unincorporated, so Harnett County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Buies Creek has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
2,942 counted in 2010 and 3,253 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Buies Creek
College town 57 of every 100 Buies Creek residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About Buies Creek
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Buies Creek ( BOO-eez) is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Neills Creek Township of Harnett County, North Carolina, United States. It is the home of Campbell University. The population was 3,253 at the 2020 census, up from 2,942 in 2010. Buies Creek is a part of the Dunn Micropolitan Area, which is also a part of the greater Raleigh–Durham–Cary Combined Statistical Area (CSA) as defined by the United States Census Bureau.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.3 sq mi
- Elevation
- 213 ft
- ZIP code
- 27506
Questions about Buies Creek
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Buies Creek, NC a good place to live?
Buies Creek grades C overall, better than 34% of U.S. towns. Buies Creek is a college campus (most residents are students), so it isn’t ranked among North Carolina’s towns. It grades A− for health and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Buies Creek, NC expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $362,000, 9% above the North Carolina typical home. 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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