Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Burlington earns a D, 249th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns, mostly because of safety. Its police reported 397 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 95% of U.S. towns. In its favor, natural-hazard risk is low. Burlington’s violent crime rate is 6.4 per 1,000 residents, against 3.1 in North Carolina’s towns and 1.6 across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Allen House and Menagerie Carousel. Burlington's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 87% of U.S. towns.
Where Burlington beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Allen House
Census counts: 817 in 1880, 57,303 in 2020. The archive holds 9 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 2 maps from 1969 on.
28 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Burlington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Burlington, 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 Burlington.
Burlington is healthier than towns with similar incomes and costs less than Haw River or any other town next door, but it reports more crime than Haw River and its other graded neighbors.
Each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Haw River (C−) to Elon (A). At 63.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 81% of North Carolina’s graded towns.
Burlington’s property crime rate is 26.3 per 1,000 residents. Burlington reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 95% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Alamance-Burlington Schools. Two of its 17 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turrentine MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 739 | C− |
| Walter M Williams HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,206 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Against the 7,981 U.S. towns with household incomes like Burlington’s, it is healthier than 50%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Burlington beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 22% of Burlington adults worry about having enough food.
| Burlington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 14% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 36% | 35% |
| What stands out | Burlington | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing food insecurity | 22.2% | 15.2% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11.7% | 8.1% |
| More uninsured adults | 14.8% | 10.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Haw River is next at $286K.
The typical Burlington home is worth about $253,000, up 0.9% in a year, 24% below the North Carolina typical home. 54% of households own their home in Burlington.
| Burlington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,051 a month | $1,086 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 70% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 52 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Burlington.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Burlington has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 30° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 4 of Burlington’s working residents works in town. The median household income in Burlington is $57,000. Since 2013, Burlington has added 2,803 jobs, to 35,551 in 2023.
| Burlington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 26% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9.8% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
6.6 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. Burlington City Park, at 87 acres with 2.2 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Burlington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.1% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Burlington City Park | 2.2 mi | 87 |
| 2. Fairchild Park | 1 mi | 40 |
| 3. Joe Davidson Park | 1 mi | 38 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Burlington has grown 7.2% since 2020, to 61,496 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 30% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across North Carolina.
| Burlington | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 24% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 30% | 29% | 29% |
53% women, 47% men
About 91 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.3 points). Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 42.3, men 37.3.
| Burlington | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.7% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.8% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.9% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.7% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.5% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.7% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.7% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.1% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 13.8% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.2% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.1% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.4% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.1% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.4% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Burlington. Close and well known come first.
26 mi Stadium & arenaKenan Memorial Stadium
35 mi Zoo & aquariumNorth Carolina Zoo700K visitors a year
27 mi Stadium & arenaDean Smith Center
28 mi LandmarkBennett Place State Historic Site9 mi MuseumPalmer Memorial Institute
21 mi National Military ParkGuilford Courthouse National Military Park450K visitors a yearKenan Memorial Stadium: Yeungb, CC BY 3.0 · North Carolina Zoo: Diane Villa, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dean Smith Center: No machine-readable author provided. Snargle~commonswiki assumed (based on copyr, Public domain · Bennett Place State Historic Site: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious), CC BY-SA 4.0 · Guilford Courthouse National Military Park: National Park Service Digital Image Archives, Public domain
2 within 15 miles of the center of Burlington
About 4 of every 100 Burlington residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
49,963 counted in 2010 and 57,303 in 2020; an estimated 61,496 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 7.2% since 2020, after 14.7% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
28 places in Burlington on the National Register of Historic Places.
33 notable people were born in Burlington.
City in North Carolina, United States
Burlington is a city in predominantly Alamance County (with western outskirts of the city in Guilford County) in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city is located in the Piedmont Triad, where it is the principal city of the Burlington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, located directly east of the Greensboro-High Point Metropolitan Area. The population of the city of Burlington was 57,303 at the 2020 census, which makes Burlington the 18th-most populous city in North Carolina.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Burlington.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Graham (D) is closest.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | #249 | D | B− | D | C | C |
| Glen Raven | #168 | C | B+ | — | C | C− |
| Graham | #222 | D | C+ | C | C | C+ |
| Elon | #49 | B | D | A | C | A |
| Gibsonville | #63 | B | C+ | B | B− | B+ |
| Haw River | — | — | B− | C− | C | D |
| Whitsett | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Haw River has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Glen Raven reports no FBI crime data of its own. Whitsett isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Burlington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Burlington grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #249 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.8 years of the area's median household income ($65,651 across the Burlington, 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 B−.
33 notable people were born here, including Tequan Richmond and Harold Covington.
