East Flat RockNC
A town of 6,323, settled in 1908.
Is East Flat Rock a good place to live?
East Flat Rock gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $288K for a typical one, or 4 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income. It grades B overall, 55th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Only 7 of the 290 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower July high than East Flat Rock. East Flat Rock is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns.
What makes East Flat Rock stand out
Where East Flat Rock beats most towns.
East Flat Rock has grown 15% from 2010 to 2020
4,995 counted in 2010 and 5,757 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How East Flat Rock grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far East Flat Rock is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to East Flat Rock: who provides what
East Flat Rock 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 East Flat Rock.
East Flat Rock carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of North Carolina (mostly inland flooding), is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has commutes shorter than most of North Carolina.
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in East Flat Rock
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 97% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $100 per resident a year; that rating is what its A for hazard risk is built on.
East Flat Rock’s FEMA risk score is 14 of 100, against 47 of 100 in North Carolina’s towns and 44 of 100 across U.S. towns. Since 2024, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in East Flat Rock.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On state tests, East Flat Rock’s schools beat 66% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Henderson County Schools. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is East Henderson High, with 932 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat Rock MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 748 | C+ |
| East Henderson HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 932 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
A larger share of adults 18 to 64 in East Flat Rock have no health insurance than in the typical North Carolina or U.S. town
Against the 8,795 U.S. towns with household incomes like East Flat Rock’s, it is healthier than 53%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
19% of East Flat Rock adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 10% and U.S. towns at 8.1%. 78% of East Flat Rock adults had a checkup this year. East Flat Rock beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13.
| East Flat Rock | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | East Flat Rock | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 19% | 10.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 21.5% | 15.2% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 16.3% | 12.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in East Flat Rock
East Flat Rock has mild winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 29° and about 7 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most of East Flat Rock’s workers commute out: the town has 0.8 jobs for each of them
The average commute for its 2,091 working residents takes 17.7 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
Most working residents leave East Flat Rock for work: only 6% work in town. The average trip to work in East Flat Rock is 18 minutes. The top destinations are Hendersonville (21%), Asheville (12%) and Charlotte (5%).
| East Flat Rock | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.8% | 6.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
East Flat Rock’s grade for cost of living is a B+
The typical East Flat Rock home is worth about $288,000, down 4% in a year, 13% below the North Carolina typical home.
| East Flat Rock | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,015 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mount Mitchell and 26 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around East Flat Rock. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi MountainMount Mitchell
17 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
22 mi National forestPisgah National Forest
2 mi National Historic SiteCarl Sandburg Home National Historic Site95K visitors a year
36 mi LakeLake Jocassee
14 mi State parkChimney Rock State ParkPhoto credits
Mount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Pisgah National Forest: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site: Victoria Stauffenberg, Public domain · Lake Jocassee: Clemson3564, Public domain · Chimney Rock State Park: Jmturner, Public domain
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Everything we know about East Flat Rock
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of East Flat Rock
About 3 of every 100 East Flat Rock residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About East Flat Rock
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
East Flat Rock is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, East Flat Rock had a population of 5,757. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 4.3 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,201 ft
- ZIP code
- 28726
- Area code
- 828
East Flat Rock’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with East Flat Rock.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Flat Rock | #55 | B | B+ | — | B+ | C |
| Flat Rock | #69 | B | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Hendersonville | #182 | C− | C− | C− | B+ | B− |
| Barker Heights | — | — | A+ | — | B+ | C |
Barker Heights has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. East Flat Rock, Flat Rock and Barker Heights report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare East Flat Rock with a neighbor →
Questions about East Flat Rock
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is East Flat Rock, NC a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. East Flat Rock grades B overall, better than 64% of U.S. towns and #55 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C for health and B+ for schools.
Is East Flat Rock, NC expensive?
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+.