Harkers IslandNC
Public schools that outperform most of North Carolina. Home to 1,060 people, the town was settled in 1904.
Is Harkers Island a good place to live?
Harkers Island’s best subject grades are a B+ for schools and the outdoors; its weakest is a D− for hazard risk. 12% of residents are under 18 in Harkers Island, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 22% and U.S. towns at 22%. Only 3 of North Carolina’s 451 towns score lower on hazard risk. The median household income is $60K, and 10% of residents live below the poverty line. Harkers Island has 3 places on the National Register. Harkers Island has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Harkers Island stand out
Where Harkers Island beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
1,060 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Harkers Island grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Harkers Island is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Harkers Island: who provides what
Harkers Island is unincorporated, so Carteret 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 Harkers Island.
Natural hazards: very high risk in Harkers Island, mostly hurricanes
Federal aid has come to Harkers Island households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2018. FEMA expects more storm and flood damage locally than in 99% of U.S. communities.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Public schools in Harkers Island beat 70% of North Carolina districts
The Carteret County Public Schools runs its public schools. Its one school is below. Harkers Island’s only public school teaches 95 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harkers Island ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 95 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Most of Harkers Island’s workers commute out: the town has 0.5 jobs for each of them
Most people who work leave Harkers Island to do it: just 16% work in town. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs locally rose by 37, to 227. The mean commuting time for Harkers Island comes to 30 minutes. Half the trips to work are shorter than 13 miles.
| Harkers Island | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A home in Harkers Island is worth about $402K, on Zillow’s estimate
Home values are up 7.5% over the year to September 2026. 89% of Harkers Island households live in a home they own. Its midpoint rent is $1,125 a month.
| Harkers Island | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 89% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,125 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mild winters and hot summers in Harkers Island
July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 37° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Protected land: 5.6% of Harkers Island
There are 0.9 miles of trail across 1 park or preserve. Parks and preserves in Harkers Island: one, of 3 acres. For Harkers Island, the trail network density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Harkers Island | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.6% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Manley Gaskill Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Harkers Island ranks healthier than 51% of the country’s towns
The share of adults in Harkers Island who feel lonely: 29%. On the CDC’s 32 measures, Harkers Island is ahead of North Carolina on 10 and behind on 8.
| Harkers Island | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 38% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 80% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Harkers Island | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 4.7% | 8.1% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.1% | 12.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.9% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Queen Anne's Revenge and 6 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Harkers Island. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi Ancient siteQueen Anne's Revenge
9 mi State parkFort Macon State Park
5 mi LighthouseCape Lookout Lighthouse
in town National SeashoreCape Lookout National Seashore513K visitors a year
39 mi National SeashoreCape Hatteras National Seashore2.7M visitors a year
8 mi MuseumNorth Carolina Maritime MuseumPhoto credits
Queen Anne's Revenge: Joseph Nicholls, Public domain · Fort Macon State Park: Kevinbercaw, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cape Lookout Lighthouse: United States Coast Guard, Public domain · Cape Lookout National Seashore: Jarek Tuszyński, CC BY 3.0 · Cape Hatteras National Seashore: Vbofficial, Public domain · North Carolina Maritime Museum: Kd5463, CC BY-SA 3.0
Everything we know about Harkers Island
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Harkers Island
About 7 of every 100 Harkers Island residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
84% of working residents leave Harkers Island for work
Where Harkers Island’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Questions about Harkers Island
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Harkers Island, NC a good place to live?
Public schools that outperform most of North Carolina.
Is Harkers Island, NC expensive?
Not for the area. That is 5.6 years of the area's median household income ($72,322 across the Morehead City, NC 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+.