Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Chapel Hill grades B+ overall, 46th of 286 graded towns in North Carolina. It is among the most walkable places in the country. The median household earns $86K and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 88% of the country. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $622K for a typical one and 7.4 times the Durham metro’s $84K median household income. 77% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Chapel Hill, above both North Carolina’s towns (29%) and U.S. towns (29%). Its National Register listings include Playmakers Theatre and Chapel Hill Historic District. On civic life, just 10 of North Carolina’s 331 towns do better.
Where Chapel Hill beats most towns.
Old East, University of North Carolina
Old East, University of North Carolina is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 831 in 1880, 61,960 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1793 and 4 maps from 1946 on.
17 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Chapel Hill is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 2%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chapel Hill. Close and well known come first.
in town Stadium & arenaKenan Memorial Stadium
20 mi Stadium & arenaLenovo Center
in town Stadium & arenaDean Smith Center
20 mi Stadium & arenaCarter–Finley Stadium
8 mi LandmarkBennett Place State Historic Site
19 mi Stadium & arenaWakeMed Soccer ParkKenan Memorial Stadium: Yeungb, CC BY 3.0 · Lenovo Center: Edward T. Funkhouser, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dean Smith Center: No machine-readable author provided. Snargle~commonswiki assumed (based on copyr, Public domain · Carter–Finley Stadium: SMaloney, CC BY 3.0 · Bennett Place State Historic Site: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious), CC BY-SA 4.0 · WakeMed Soccer Park: Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chapel Hill, 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 Chapel Hill.
Chapel Hill is shaped by its college students, has schools in the top 5% of North Carolina and draws workers from Durham and beyond.
At 7.4 years of the Durham metro’s $84K median household income, the typical home (about $622K) costs more against local pay than in 93% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. The median property tax bill is $7,191, against $1,896 across North Carolina, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
For renter households in Chapel Hill, the share who spend 30% or more of their income on rent is 61%. Zillow values the typical Chapel Hill home at about $622,000, down 0.7% in a year, 87% above the North Carolina typical home. The going rate for rent for Chapel Hill comes to $1,613 a month.
| Chapel Hill | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 47% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,613 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 61% | 49% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A ranks #1 of the 290 North Carolina towns we grade for schools. Its A for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $622K.
Public schools: the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Below: Three of its 18 schools, each with why it was picked. 6 public schools serve Chapel Hill, with 2,639 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smith MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 763 | A |
| Chapel Hill HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,608 | A− |
| Glenwood ElementaryTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 390 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
At 3.6 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #3 of 174 North Carolina towns. Its A for the outdoors ranks #8 of 290 in North Carolina.
The biggest place to walk is Battle Park, 90 acres with 2.8 miles of trail. 78 miles of trail in 24 parks and preserves. Just over a tenth of the land in Chapel Hill is conserved.
| Chapel Hill | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 3.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 12% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Battle Park | 2.8 mi | 90 |
| 2. Cedar Falls Park | 2.6 mi | 74 |
| 3. Coker Pinetum | 1.4 mi | 35 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
50,889 jobs are based in Chapel Hill, 2.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 28.1% of workers work from home, against 16.3% across North Carolina.
The median commute is under 10 miles. Jobs based in Chapel Hill grew to 50,889 in 2023, 6,061 more than in 2013. Roughly one working resident in four has a job in Chapel Hill itself. 28% of Chapel Hill workers do their job from home.
| Chapel Hill | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 28% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with North Carolina is stroke: 2.1% of its 52,026 adults have had a stroke, against 3.6% statewide.
The share of adults in Chapel Hill who sleep under 7 hours: 30%. Only 7 of the 289 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Chapel Hill. CDC measures, 32 in all: Chapel Hill beats North Carolina on 17 and trails on 3.
| Chapel Hill | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 38% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.2% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.6% | 13% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 36% | 35% |
| What stands out | Chapel Hill | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.1% | 3.6% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.2% | 13.9% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 9.8% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 1,799 to 1,219 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Chapel Hill is 0.8 per 1,000 residents. Within North Carolina, it does better than 65% of towns.
| Chapel Hill | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.7 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
384 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 51 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 58% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims in Chapel Hill since 1978: 384. FEMA puts nearly two thirds of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 12% to tornadoes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Chapel Hill after 9 declared disasters, most recently in 2025.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
5 within 15 miles of the center of Chapel Hill
College town 35 of every 100 Chapel Hill residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
12% of the town is conserved land, across 24 parks and preserves.
17 places in Chapel Hill on the National Register of Historic Places.
38 notable people were born in Chapel Hill.
Town in the United States
Chapel Hill is an incorporated municipality in the counties of Orange and Durham, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-most populous municipality in the state. Chapel Hill and Durham make up the Durham–Chapel Hill, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 608,879 in 2023. When it is combined with Raleigh, the state capital, they make up the corners of the Research Triangle (officially the Raleigh–Durham–Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area), which had an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023. Chapel Hill was founded in 1793 and is centered on Franklin Street, covering 21.3 squar…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Chapel Hill.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapel Hill | #46 | B+ | D− | C | A | A |
| Carrboro | #57 | B | D− | C | A | A+ |
| Durham | #179 | C− | C− | D | C+ | A− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Chapel Hill grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #46 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A for health, C for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 65% of towns.
38 notable people were born here, including Loudon Wainwright III and Taylor Sheridan.
