DanaNC
A town of 4,147, settled in 1892.
Is Dana a good place to live?
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. The weak point is walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 92% of U.S. towns. Its best grade is for cost of living (A−): a typical home costs about $250K, 3.5 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income. Schools are another plus (B+) — its public schools beat 66% of North Carolina towns on state tests and graduation. Put together, the subjects come to a C+ overall, ranking 138th of 286 in North Carolina. Nationally, it does better than 37% of U.S. towns. Otto King House and Stepp's Mill is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · schools, state test and graduation results · 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.
Health in Dana trails 79% of U.S. towns
For adults in Dana, the share who worry about having enough food is 21%. Just over a quarter of Dana adults say their health is fair or poor, above both North Carolina’s towns (19%) and U.S. towns (19%). In Dana, 16% of adults report frequent physical distress, and 19% smoke cigarettes.
| 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
Dana earns a B+ for schools
Its public schools are run by the Henderson County Schools. 403 students attend Dana’s public school.
| 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 of Dana’s workers leave town for work
Dana has 314 jobs for its 1,595 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
25% of Dana residents live below the poverty line, against 13% in North Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Among working residents here, 1.4% work locally. The median commute is under 12 miles. Its mean commuting time comes in at 22 minutes.
| Dana | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 25% | 13% | 9.6% |
| 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
Four seasons and pleasant summers: that is Dana’s year
Dana’s typical July afternoon high is 83°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
In Dana, 2.8% of the land is conserved
Green River Game Land, at 143 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. In 2 parks and preserves, walkers have 2.0 miles of trail. Parks and preserves in Dana: 2, covering 147 acres.
| 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
Dana has a low natural-hazard risk, chiefly from inland flooding
Households in Dana have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2024. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 42% come from inland flooding and 31% from cold waves.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in Dana sells for about $511K at the median
In Dana, 84% of households live in a home they own.
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−.