Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Harrisburg grades A overall, 12th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. The median household earns $148K. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 90% of the country. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $492K for a typical one and 5.9 times the Charlotte metro’s $83K median household income. Harrisburg’s median rent is $2,640 a month, above both North Carolina’s towns ($1,084 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). On walkability, just 39 of North Carolina’s 450 towns do better. Rocky River Presbyterian Church is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Harrisburg beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Harrisburg | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9% | 13.9% |
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Hickory Ridge Elementary | K–5 | 927 |
| Harrisburg Elementary | PK–5 | 850 |
| A.C.E. Academy | K–8 | 421 |
Its founding year, 1732, comes before those of 99% of the North Carolina towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,433 in 1980, 18,967 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 2011 and 4 maps from 1949 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Harrisburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Harrisburg. Close and well known come first.
Big draw13 mi Stadium & arenaBank of America Stadium
22 mi Theme parkCarowinds
20 mi LakeLake Norman17 mi MuseumSullenberger Aviation Museum70K visitors a year
11 mi Stadium & arenaBojangles Coliseum4 mi TheatreTruliant AmphitheaterBank of America Stadium: HangingCurve, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Carowinds: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Norman: Prince Grobhelm, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bojangles Coliseum: James Willamor, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Harrisburg, 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 Harrisburg.
Harrisburg has less tooth loss than most of North Carolina and has household incomes well above the North Carolina norm, but it has property taxes 1.8 times the North Carolina norm.
7.5 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Harrisburg Municipal Park, at 45 acres with 1.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Harrisburg’s trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Harrisburg | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Harrisburg Municipal Park | 1.9 mi | 45 |
| 2. Pharr Mill Park | 1.3 mi | 35 |
| 3. Stallings Road Park | 0.4 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Cabarrus County Schools. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Hickory Ridge High, with 1,671 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory Ridge MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,057 | A |
| Hickory Ridge HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,671 | A |
| Harrisburg ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 850 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with North Carolina is tooth loss: 9% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 13.9% statewide. Against the 2,863 U.S. towns with household incomes like Harrisburg’s, it is healthier than 58%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
10% of adults report frequent physical distress in Harrisburg. Harrisburg beats the North Carolina average on 17 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 19% of adults get no exercise outside work in Harrisburg.
| Harrisburg | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 24% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Harrisburg | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults with COPD | 4.8% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median property tax bill is $3,391, against $1,896 across North Carolina, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
92% of Harrisburg households own their home. The typical Harrisburg home is worth about $492,000, down 0.6% in a year, 48% above the North Carolina typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jobs based here grew from 3,648 in 2013 to 6,565. 26.3% of workers work from home, against 16.3% across North Carolina.
Only 8 of the 290 North Carolina towns we compare have a higher median household income than Harrisburg. The average trip to work in Harrisburg is 30 minutes. Jobs based in Harrisburg grew to 6,565 in 2023, 2,917 more than in 2013.
| Harrisburg | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $148,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 26% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Harrisburg has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 31° and about 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 63 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Harrisburg.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
7 within 15 miles of the center of Harrisburg
About 7 of every 100 Harrisburg residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
11,526 counted in 2010 and 18,967 in 2020; an estimated 20,742 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 9.1% since 2020, after 64.6% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
3 notable people were born in Harrisburg.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Harrisburg is a town in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States. It is a northeastern suburb of Charlotte. In the 2020 census, the population was 18,967.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Harrisburg.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrisburg | #12 | A | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Concord | #59 | B | C− | B | B+ | B+ |
| Charlotte | #165 | C | C− | D | B− | A− |
Harrisburg reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Harrisburg with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Harrisburg grades A overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #12 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A for health and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
3 notable people were born here, including Jalen Brooks and Jeff McClure.
