IcardNC
A town of 2,153, settled in 1898.
Is Icard a good place to live?
The best of Icard’s subject grades is an A for cost of living; the weakest is a D for incomes. Only 12 of North Carolina’s 450 towns score higher on cost of living. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Only 3 of the 291 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Icard. On the outdoors, just 15 of North Carolina’s 451 towns do worse. Icard has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Icard stand out
Where Icard beats most towns.
How Icard grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Icard is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Icard: who provides what
Icard is unincorporated, so Burke 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 Icard.
Icard’s public schools outperform 56% of North Carolina districts
Its public schools are run by the Burke County Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Burke MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 630 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
The typical home in Icard is valued at about $223K
The typical Icard home is worth about $223,000, up 4.2% in a year, 33% below the North Carolina typical home. Icard’s median rent is $842 a month, below both North Carolina’s towns ($1,085 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). 76% of Icard households own their home.
| Icard | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $842 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 67% | 73% |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
On CDC estimates, Icard is less healthy than 72% of U.S. towns
Icard beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 28% of Icard adults have been diagnosed with depression, above both the North Carolina town median (25%) and the median of U.S. towns (23%). 18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Icard.
| Icard | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Icard | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10% | 7.1% |
| More smokers | 17.5% | 13.5% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.5% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In Icard, expect mild winters and hot summers
Icard has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 29° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents commute out of Icard
Most working residents leave Icard for work: only 4% work in town. Icard’s median household income is $45,000. Since 2013, Icard has added 375 jobs, to 1,030 in 2023.
| Icard | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $45,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.3% | 6.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Moderate risk in Icard, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Blue Ridge Parkway and 14 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Icard. Close and well known come first.
30 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
34 mi LakeLake Norman
33 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain33 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad15 mi Ancient siteJoara40 mi Theme parkLand of OzPhoto credits
Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lake Norman: Prince Grobhelm, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grandfather Mountain: Original uploader was KyleAndMelissa22 at en.wikipedia, Public domain
Everything we know about Icard
Colleges nearby
4 within 15 miles of the center of Icard
About 1 of every 100 Icard residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About Icard
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Icard ( EYE-kurd) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Icard had a population of 2,452. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.8 sq mi
- Elevation
- 1,194 ft
- ZIP code
- 28666
- Area code
- 828
Icard’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Icard.
Icard and Hildebran have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Icard and Hildebran report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Icard with a neighbor →
Questions about Icard
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Icard, NC expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.