Glen AlpineNC
A town of 1,552, settled in 1880.
Is Glen Alpine a good place to live?
Glen Alpine’s best subject grade is an A− for cost of living; its weakest is a D for walkability. Only 4 of the 291 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Glen Alpine. 13% of residents are 65 or older in Glen Alpine, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 18% and U.S. towns at 18%. Glen Alpine has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
100% of working residents leave Glen Alpine for work
Where Glen Alpine’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Glen Alpine grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Glen Alpine is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Glen Alpine: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Glen Alpine, 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Glen Alpine.
Health in Glen Alpine trails 81% of U.S. towns
Glen Alpine beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 19% of adults smoke cigarettes in Glen Alpine, above both the North Carolina town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). 27% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Glen Alpine.
| Glen Alpine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Glen Alpine | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.3% | 7.1% |
| More smokers | 19.2% | 13.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.2% | 13.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On state tests, Glen Alpine’s schools beat 56% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Burke County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Alpine ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 295 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Glen Alpine’s workers commute out
Most working residents leave Glen Alpine for work: only 0% work in town. Since 2013, Glen Alpine has lost 56 jobs, to 102 in 2023. The top destinations are Morganton (35%), Charlotte (6%) and Marion (4%).
| Glen Alpine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 13% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Glen Alpine, expect mild winters and hot summers
Glen Alpine has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 28° and about 5 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Younger than North Carolina overall
People 65 and older are 13% of residents (17% statewide). 26% of Glen Alpine residents are under 18. 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across North Carolina.
| Glen Alpine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 26% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 36.6 years | 40.1 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 109 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1 point). Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Glen Alpine | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.8% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.8% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.3% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.7% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 17.2% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.2% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.2% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 3.9% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.6% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.7% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.5% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 19% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.5% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.7% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,600, single groups can be off by several points
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Glen Alpine
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 58% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Glen Alpine since 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Glen Alpine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Simpson Field | — | 18 |
| 2. Glen Alpine Downtown Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median home in Glen Alpine sells for about $340K
Glen Alpine’s median rent is $871 a month.
| Glen Alpine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $871 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mount Mitchell and 13 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Glen Alpine. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi MountainMount Mitchell
15 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
26 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain31 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad6 mi Ancient siteJoara
14 mi Park & preserveLinville Gorge WildernessPhoto credits
Mount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Grandfather Mountain: Original uploader was KyleAndMelissa22 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Linville Gorge Wilderness: No machine-readable author provided. Amcbride~commonswiki assumed (based on copy, Public domain
Everything we know about Glen Alpine
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Glen Alpine
About 4 of every 100 Glen Alpine residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About Glen Alpine
Town in North Carolina, United States
Glen Alpine ( GLEN AL-pən) is a town in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Glen Alpine had a population of 1,529. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,201 ft
- ZIP code
- 28628
- Area code
- 828
Glen Alpine’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Glen Alpine.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Alpine | — | — | A− | — | B | C− |
| Morganton | #216 | D | C+ | — | B | C− |
Glen Alpine has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Glen Alpine and Morganton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Glen Alpine with a neighbor →
Questions about Glen Alpine
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Glen Alpine, NC expensive?
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $173,000, 48% 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−.