Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Dunn gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $224K for a typical one, or 3.1 years of the Anderson Creek area’s $71K median household income. It grades C− overall, 210th of 286 graded towns in North Carolina. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its crime rate is higher than 97% of U.S. towns, with 38 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 77% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Dunn’s property crime rate is 42.4 per 1,000 residents, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 21.8 and U.S. towns at 9.9. Dunn has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Kenneth L. Howard House and Gen. William C. Lee House. Dunn is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 71% of U.S. towns.
Where Dunn beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Dunn is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 419 in 1890, 8,446 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1956 and 3 maps from 1973 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dunn, 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 Dunn.
Dunn trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports property crime at about twice the North Carolina rate.
Property crime runs at 42.4 per 1,000 residents, about twice the North Carolina rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 543 to 413 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Dunn’s violent crime rate is 4.3 per 1,000 residents. Dunn reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Harnett County Schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunn ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 813 | D |
| Harnett County Early CollegeLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 185 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Against the 4,591 U.S. towns with household incomes like Dunn’s, it is healthier than 61%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
47% of Dunn adults have high blood pressure. Dunn beats the North Carolina average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 16% of Dunn adults have diabetes.
| Dunn | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 38% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 16% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Dunn | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.2% | 76.7% |
| More adults getting a yearly checkup | 83.2% | 80% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.3% | 13.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes are within reach (about $224K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 27 miles.
54% of households own their home in Dunn. The typical Dunn home is worth about $224,000, up 1.8% in a year, 33% below the North Carolina typical home. The median rent in Dunn is $788 a month.
| Dunn | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $788 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 72% of U.S. communities. Since 1996, 20 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dunn.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Dunn has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 91°, January nights drop to 32° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Dunn for work: only 12% work in town. Since 2013, Dunn has lost 1,215 jobs, to 5,107 in 2023. The top destinations are Raleigh (12%), Fayetteville (7%) and Lillington (3%).
| Dunn | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
0.1 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Clarence Lee Tart Memorial Park, at 36 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Clarence Lee Tart Memorial Park | — | 36 |
| 2. Tyler Park | — | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Dunn
About 5 of every 100 Dunn residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
4 places in Dunn on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Dunn.
City in North Carolina, United States
Dunn is the most populous city of Harnett County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,446 at the 2020 census. It is, along with Harnett County, part of the Anderson Creek, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Dunn.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Dunn grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #210 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−.
Not for the 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+.
8 notable people were born here, including Link Wray and Debbi Morgan.
