DanaNC
A town of 4,147, settled in 1892.
Is Dana a good place to live?
Dana gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $250K, 3.5 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 138th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $60K, and 25% of residents live below the poverty line, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 79% of the country. 25% of residents live below the poverty line in Dana, against 13% in North Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Otto King House and Stepp's Mill is on the National Register of Historic Places.
What makes Dana stand out
Where Dana beats most towns.
Dana has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
3,329 counted in 2010 and 3,683 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Dana grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Dana is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Dana: who provides what
Dana is unincorporated, so Henderson 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Dana.
Dana sends most of its workers to Hendersonville and beyond, but it has poverty well above the North Carolina rate.
Dana earns a C− for health
17% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Dana. Dana beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 26% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Dana.
| Dana | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 19% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Dana | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 17.3% | 10.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21% | 13.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.5% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On state tests, Dana’s schools beat 66% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Henderson County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dana ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 403 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Most working residents commute out of Dana
Dana has 314 jobs for its 1,595 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Dana for work: only 1% work in town. Jobs based in Dana grew to 314 in 2023, 38 more than in 2013. The average trip to work in Dana is 22 minutes.
| Dana | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.4% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Dana has four seasons and pleasant summers
Dana has mild winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Dana’s July high is 83°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Dana has set aside 2.8% of its land for conservation
2.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Green River Game Land, at 143 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Dana | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.8% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Green River Game Land | 1 mi | 143 |
| 2. Dana Park | 0.1 mi | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Low risk in Dana, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in Dana sells for about $511K at the median
84% of Dana households own their home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mount Mitchell and 24 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dana. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi MountainMount Mitchell
16 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
25 mi National forestPisgah National Forest
10 mi State parkChimney Rock State Park
6 mi National Historic SiteCarl Sandburg Home National Historic Site95K visitors a year
16 mi Park & preserveDuPont State ForestPhoto credits
Mount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Pisgah National Forest: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Chimney Rock State Park: Jmturner, Public domain · Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: Victoria Stauffenberg, Public domain · DuPont State Forest: Ccalvin, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Everything we know about Dana
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Dana
About 4 of every 100 Dana residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
99% of working residents leave Dana for work
Where Dana’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Dana
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Dana is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Dana had a population of 3,683.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 8.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,251 ft
- ZIP code
- 28724
Questions about Dana
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Dana, NC a good place to live?
Dana grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #138 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C− for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Dana, NC expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $250,000, 25% below 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 A−.