Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Henderson grades D− overall, 280th of 286 graded towns in North Carolina, mostly because of safety and health. Its police reported 157 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 99% of U.S. towns. Residents are less healthy than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in Henderson, against 13% in North Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. On incomes, just 43 of North Carolina’s 448 towns do worse. Henderson has 9 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them St. John's Episcopal Church and Mistletoe Villa.
Where Henderson beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
St. John's Episcopal Church
Census counts: 186 in 1860, 15,060 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 3 maps from 1970 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Henderson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Henderson, 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 Henderson.
Henderson is healthier than towns with similar incomes and trades workers with Raleigh and other neighbors, but it reports violent crime at 3 times the North Carolina rate.
Violent crime runs at 10.6 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the North Carolina rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 48.7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the North Carolina rate, most of it theft.
Henderson reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 99% report less. Henderson’s violent crime rate is 10.6 per 1,000 residents. Only 7 of the 153 North Carolina towns we compare have a higher property crime rate than Henderson.
| Henderson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.6 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 48.7 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Henderson Collegiate, with 1,334 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| E M Rollins ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 322 | D |
| Henderson CollegiateLargest public high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 1,334 | B |
| Vance Charter SchoolTop results in townGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 956 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Against the 2,385 U.S. towns with household incomes like Henderson’s, it is less healthy than 68%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
32% of Henderson adults worry about having enough food. Henderson beats the North Carolina average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 22. 19% of Henderson adults have diabetes.
| Henderson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 49% | 38% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 15% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 16% |
| What stands out | Henderson | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 10.6% | 14.7% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.4% | 76.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 17.9% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Henderson home is worth about $177,000, down 0.8% in a year, 47% below the North Carolina typical home. 39% of households own their home in Henderson.
| Henderson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 39% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $848 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 2002, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Henderson.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
January nights average 28.2°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 84% of North Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 89.1°.
Henderson has mild winters and warm summers. About 2 inches of snow falls in a winter. The January low in Henderson is 28°F.
| Henderson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 28°F | 31°F | 22°F |
| July high | 89°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Henderson has about as many jobs (7,155) as working residents, but only 1,011 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Henderson for work: only 17% work in town. Jobs based in Henderson fell to 7,155 in 2023, 851 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Raleigh (11%), Durham (8%) and Oxford (6%).
| Henderson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $40,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 6.1% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Just 52 of its 5,499 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Henderson itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
0.4 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Henderson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.9% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chestnut Street Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Henderson
About 6 of every 100 Henderson residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
9 places in Henderson on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in North Carolina, United States
Henderson is a city in and the county seat of Vance County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,060 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Henderson.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henderson | #280 | D− | C+ | D− | D | D |
| South Henderson | — | — | — | — | — | — |
South Henderson isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Henderson with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Henderson grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #280 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades D for health, D− for safety and D for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.5 years of the area's median household income ($50,465 across the Henderson, 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 C+.
