EmmaNC
A town of 2,657, settled in 1880.
Is Emma a good place to live?
Emma gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $92K, 1.3 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income. It grades A− overall, 16th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. On the plus side, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 98% of U.S. towns. On hazard risk, just 27 of North Carolina’s 451 towns do better. 30% of residents are under 18 in Emma, above both North Carolina’s towns (22%) and U.S. towns (22%). Only 11 of North Carolina’s 451 towns score lower on the outdoors.
What makes Emma stand out
Where Emma beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Emma for work
Where Emma’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Emma grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Emma is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Blue Ridge Parkway and 17 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Emma. Close and well known come first.
6 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
Big draw22 mi MountainMount Mitchell
Big draw23 mi National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park11.5M visitors a year
20 mi National forestPisgah National Forest29 mi Theme parkGhost Town in the Sky
23 mi State parkChimney Rock State ParkPhoto credits
Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Mount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Scott Basford, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pisgah National Forest: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Chimney Rock State Park: Jmturner, Public domain
Moving to Emma: who provides what
Emma is unincorporated, so Buncombe 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 Emma.
Emma is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has homes that are cheap against local pay and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of North Carolina.
Low risk in Emma, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Emma’s public schools outperform 62% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Buncombe County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emma ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 277 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
About two in five of Emma’s working residents commute to Asheville
Most working residents leave Emma for work: only 1% work in town. The median household income in Emma is $44,000. Jobs based in Emma grew to 542 in 2023, 104 more than in 2013.
| Emma | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $44,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.1% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 13% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Compared with most of North Carolina and the rest of the country, more of Emma’s adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance
Against the 3,645 U.S. towns with household incomes like Emma’s, it is healthier than 75%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
21% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Emma. Among 289 North Carolina towns, just 4 have a lower share of adults who had a checkup this year than Emma. 24% of adults worry about having enough food in Emma.
| Emma | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 15% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 80% | 79% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Emma | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.2% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 23.8% | 26.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 20.5% | 10.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Emma
The Asheville weather station records that the frost-free season runs about 205 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 76% of North Carolina places with climate records. January nights average 27°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 92% of North Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 85°.
Emma has chilly winters and warm summers. Emma’s July high is 85°F. About 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Emma | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 85°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 27°F | 31°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes in Emma sell for about $245K
At 1.3 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in any other North Carolina town; that ratio is one input to its A+ for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $518, against $1,896 across North Carolina, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Emma
Colleges nearby
5 within 15 miles of the center of Emma
About 12 of every 100 Emma residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About Emma
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Emma is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 2,174. The community is in central Buncombe County, bordered to the east and south by the city of Asheville, the county seat, and to the north by Woodfin.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,178 ft
Emma’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Emma.
Emma reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Emma with a neighbor →
Questions about Emma
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Emma, NC a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Emma grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #16 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C for health and B for schools.
Is Emma, NC expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $92,000, 72% 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+.