Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,306, chartered in 1773. A regional job hub with 3,043 jobs.
Trash day: look up yoursElizabethtown grades D− overall, 273rd among North Carolina's 286 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 96% of U.S. towns, with 23 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: it has 14 miles of trail. 33% of residents live below the poverty line in Elizabethtown, above both the North Carolina town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 2 of the 290 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower typical household income than Elizabethtown. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 85% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top.
Where Elizabethtown beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 62 in 1870, a low of 62 in 1870, 3,296 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1928 and 2 maps from 1955 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Elizabethtown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Elizabethtown, 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 Elizabethtown.
Elizabethtown draws workers from Fayetteville and beyond, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Carolina (mostly hurricanes) and reports violent crime at about twice the North Carolina rate.
The biggest place to walk is Browns Creek Park, 185 acres with 12.9 miles of trail. 6% of the land in Elizabethtown is conserved. This North Carolina town has 3 parks and preserves, 214 acres in all.
| Elizabethtown | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.7 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Browns Creek Park | 12.9 mi | 185 |
| 2. Wrc Cape Fear Access Area | — | 27 |
| 3. Quail Circle Mini-Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Below: Two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked. 3 public schools serve Elizabethtown, with 1,311 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emereau: BladenLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 629 | C+ |
| Paul R. Brown Leadership AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 199 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the North Carolina rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on that grade. At 69.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 84% of North Carolina’s graded towns.
Among 153 North Carolina towns, just 9 have a higher rate of thefts and burglaries than Elizabethtown. In Elizabethtown, the violent crime rate is 7 per 1,000 residents.
| Elizabethtown | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 46.9 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 502 U.S. towns with household incomes like Elizabethtown’s, it is healthier than 55%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
83% of Elizabethtown adults had a checkup this year. Among 289 North Carolina towns, just 5 have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Elizabethtown. Against the North Carolina average, Elizabethtown comes out ahead on 3 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 20.
| Elizabethtown | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 19% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 24% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 51% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Elizabethtown | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 10.7% | 14.7% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 82.3% | 76.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 28.8% | 13.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3,043 jobs are based in Elizabethtown, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 17.6 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
In Elizabethtown, the average trip to work is 18 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 30 miles. The top destinations are Fayetteville (6%), Wilmington (5%) and Lumberton (4%).
| Elizabethtown | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The share of households in Elizabethtown who live in a home they own: 47%.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 81% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $1,208 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Elizabethtown after 8 declared disasters, most recently in 2019. 62% of Elizabethtown’s expected losses from natural hazards come from hurricanes, followed by inland flooding at 16%. This North Carolina town has had 5 paid flood insurance claims since 2005.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Expect July afternoons of 91° and January nights of 33°, with about 1 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Elizabethtown
About 2 of every 100 Elizabethtown residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
6% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
2 places in Elizabethtown on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Elizabethtown.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Elizabethtown is a town in and the county seat of Bladen County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,296 at the 2020 census. Elizabethtown was chartered in 1773 on the west banks of the Cape Fear River, approximately halfway between Fayetteville and Wilmington, North Carolina. Tory Hole Park in downtown Elizabethtown was the site of the Battle of Elizabethtown, a pivotal victory for the Patriots in the American Revolutionary War that ended Loyalist control of the region. A former river port that primarily exported Naval stores and lumber, Elizabethtown is now a regional industrial and manufacturing hub centered around the Elizabethtown Airport Industrial Park, with many natu…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Elizabethtown grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #273 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($42,422 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
Elizabethtown was chartered in 1773 and has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places. 8 notable people were born here, including Curtis Brown and James Iver McKay.
