Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Burnsville’s best subject grade is an A− for history; its weakest is a D− for incomes. 26% of residents live below the poverty line in Burnsville, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 13% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. On incomes, just 12 of North Carolina’s 448 towns do worse. Burnsville is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns. Burnsville has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Belgrade and St. David's Church and Yancey County Courthouse. Burnsville has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Burnsville beats most towns.
Census counts: 207 in 1900, 1,614 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1913 and 3 maps from 1935 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Burnsville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Burnsville, 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 Burnsville.
Most working residents leave Burnsville for work: only 11% work in town. In Burnsville, the mean commuting time is 28 minutes. The top destinations are Spruce Pine (6%), Asheville (4%) and Charlotte (3%). For half of commuters, work is under 14 miles away.
| Burnsville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $51,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 11% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Burnsville brings chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 24° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For Burnsville, the FEMA hazard score is 33 of 100. FEMA puts 52% of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 21% to cold waves. Since 1983, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in the town.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Burnsville's reported crime rate is well below North Carolina's. The level of property crime locally is 10.4 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Burnsville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.4 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The share of adults in Burnsville who have diabetes: 14%. Against the North Carolina average, Burnsville comes out ahead on 3 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 8. Two figures for adults in the town: 31% sleep under 7 hours, 15% report frequent physical distress.
| Burnsville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Burnsville | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.7% | 12.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 6.5% | 8.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.5% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Burnsville: nearly half of households are owner-occupiers. The rent at the middle of the market for Burnsville comes to $862 a month.
| Burnsville | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $862 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 parks and preserves cover 5 acres in Burnsville.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ray–Cort Recreation Park | — | 4 |
| 2. Burnsville Town Square | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Burnsville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi MountainMount Mitchell
11 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
30 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain30 mi Theme parkLand of Oz
22 mi Park & preserveLinville Gorge Wilderness34 mi Park & preserveGray Fossil SiteMount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Grandfather Mountain: Original uploader was KyleAndMelissa22 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Linville Gorge Wilderness: No machine-readable author provided. Amcbride~commonswiki assumed (based on copy, Public domain
None within 15 miles of Burnsville; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Burnsville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Where Burnsville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
6 places in Burnsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Burnsville.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Burnsville is a town that serves as the county seat of Yancey County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, it sits in the shadow of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the Eastern Continental United States. The population was 1,612 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 5.3 years of the area's median household income ($58,709 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
3 notable people were born here, including Glenn Gardner and Ken Holcombe.
