Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Four Oaks gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $306K, 3.1 years of the Raleigh metro’s $100K median household income. It grades B− overall, 100th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $73K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. Four Oaks’ average trip to work is 44 minutes, above both the North Carolina town median (24 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Four Oaks's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 93% of U.S. towns. Four Oaks Commercial Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Four Oaks beats most towns.
1,921 counted in 2010 and 2,158 in 2020; an estimated 2,978 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 33.3% since 2020, after 12.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Four Oaks is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 62 in 1890, 2,158 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 3 maps from 1908 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Four Oaks, 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 Four Oaks.
Four Oaks fares better on crime within North Carolina than nationally, trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of North Carolina (mostly inland flooding).
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 97% of North Carolina towns; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Four Oaks’ FEMA risk score is 14 of 100. Since 2016, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Four Oaks.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Johnston County Public Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four Oaks ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 1,051 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
The average commute for its 964 working residents takes 43.5 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
Most working residents leave Four Oaks for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Four Oaks has lost 75 jobs, to 582 in 2023. The top destinations are Raleigh (17%), Smithfield (13%) and Charlotte (3%).
| Four Oaks | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 3.3% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Four Oaks beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 14% of Four Oaks adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Four Oaks | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 16% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Four Oaks | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.7% | 13.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 13.9% | 10.4% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 18.7% | 15.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Four Oaks has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Four Oaks is 90°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes are within reach (about $306K for the typical one, A− for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 27 miles.
50% of households own their home in Four Oaks. The typical Four Oaks home is worth about $306,000, up 1.5% in a year, 8% below the North Carolina typical home.
| Four Oaks | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,081 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 17.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 83% of North Carolina’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 9 to 61 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Just 3 of its 1,977 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Four Oaks itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.2 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Four Oaks | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.2% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barbour's Grove Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Four Oaks
About 6 of every 100 Four Oaks residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
Where Four Oaks’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in North Carolina, United States
Four Oaks is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Four Oaks had a population of 2,158.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Four Oaks grades B− overall, better than 49% of U.S. towns and #100 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C for health, B− for safety and B+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a C−.
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 A−.