Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hope Mills earns a D, ranked 227th of 286 in North Carolina. It also has a long history, with 4 places on the National Register. Hope Mills's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 95% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Big Rockfish Presbyterian Church and Devane-MacQueen House. Only 8 of the 290 North Carolina towns we compare have a higher July high than Hope Mills.
Where Hope Mills beats most towns.
Census counts: 456 in 1890, 17,808 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 2 maps from 1959 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Hope Mills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hope Mills, 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 Hope Mills.
Hope Mills is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has added half again as many jobs in ten years.
The typical Hope Mills home is worth about $261,000, up 0.6% in a year, 21% below the North Carolina typical home.
| Hope Mills | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 67% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,141 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Cumberland County Schools. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rockfish ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 682 | C+ |
| South View HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,461 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Hope Mills has mild winters and warm summers. At 33°F, Hope Mills’ January low is close to North Carolina’s towns (31°F) and above U.S. towns (22°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here grew from 3,353 in 2013 to 5,033.
Most working residents leave Hope Mills for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in Hope Mills grew to 5,033 in 2023, 1,680 more than in 2013. At 27 minutes, Hope Mills’ average trip to work is against 24 minutes in North Carolina’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns.
| Hope Mills | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 9.1% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Hope Mills's reported crime rate is well above North Carolina's. The property crime rate in Hope Mills is 35.9 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Hope Mills | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 35.9 per 1,000 residents | 25.9 | 13.1 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.8 |
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
Against the 10,065 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hope Mills’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
42% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Hope Mills. Hope Mills beats the North Carolina average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 16% of adults smoke cigarettes in Hope Mills.
| Hope Mills | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 33% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 36% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| What stands out | Hope Mills | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.3% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.5% | 6.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.0 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Hope Mills Golfview Greenway, at 71 acres.
| Hope Mills | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.4% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hope Mills Golfview Greenway | — | 71 |
| 2. Rockfish Road Park | — | 42 |
| 3. Hope Mills Lake | — | 18 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 55% of U.S. communities. Since 1999, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hope Mills.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hope Mills. Close and well known come first.
38 mi Theme parkSouth of the Border
7 mi MuseumAirborne & Special Operations Museum
12 mi Museum82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum
8 mi GardenCape Fear Botanical Garden
26 mi MuseumWeymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature PreserveSouth of the Border: Leonard J. DeFrancisci, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Airborne & Special Operations Museum: US Army, Public domain · 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum: Dragases (talk), Public domain · Cape Fear Botanical Garden: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve: Wyatt Greene, CC BY-SA 3.0
5 within 15 miles of the center of Hope Mills
About 8 of every 100 Hope Mills residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
15,176 counted in 2010 and 17,808 in 2020; an estimated 18,324 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
2 places in Hope Mills on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Hope Mills is a town in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Hope Mills had a population of 17,808.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Hope Mills.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hope Mills | #227 | D | C | — | C+ | C+ |
| Fayetteville | #245 | D | C | D | C+ | C+ |
Hope Mills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Hope Mills with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hope Mills grades D overall, better than 11% of U.S. towns and #227 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C+ for health and C+ for schools.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($61,763 across the Fayetteville, NC metro 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.
2 notable people were born here, including Jeremy Cox and Richard Holmes.
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