Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Kings Mountain grades D overall, ranked 253rd of 286 in North Carolina, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 89% of U.S. towns, with 62 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 88% of the country. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. 23% of residents live below the poverty line in Kings Mountain, against 13% in North Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include King Street Overhead Bridge and Southern Railway Company Overhead Bridge. Kings Mountain's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 84% of U.S. towns.
Where Kings Mountain beats most towns.
Census counts: 337 in 1880, 11,142 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1923 and 3 maps from 1908 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 Kings Mountain is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kings Mountain, 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 Kings Mountain.
Kings Mountain is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of North Carolina; it also has many renters stretched by housing costs.
Kings Mountain’s rate of reported violence stands at 5.2 per 1,000 residents. Within North Carolina, it does better than just over a third of towns.
| Kings Mountain | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.2 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 24.9 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Of its 8 schools, three are listed below, each with the reason. The public schools here belong to the Cleveland County Schools. Public school enrollment in Kings Mountain: 2,540 students across 6 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings Mountain MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 631 | B |
| Kings Mountain HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,305 | A |
| East ElementaryTop results in townGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 199 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Against the 5,629 U.S. towns with household incomes like Kings Mountain’s, it is less healthy than 69%, so that grade isn’t only a matter of income.
12% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Kings Mountain. In Kings Mountain, 25% of adults say their health is fair or poor, and 43% have high blood pressure.
| Kings Mountain | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 19% | 19% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Kings Mountain | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 22.1% | 13.9% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.5% | 7.1% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 22.3% | 15.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Kings Mountain has had 3 paid flood insurance claims since 1991. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in the town than in 76% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Kings Mountain break down as 53% from inland flooding and 17% from tornadoes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Kings Mountain after 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
70.3% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.9% across North Carolina.
A home in Kings Mountain typically sold within 103 days of listing. Its midpoint rent is $959 a month. In Kings Mountain, the typical sale closed at 96.5% of the list price.
| Kings Mountain | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 62% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $959 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Lincolnton 4 W weather station, 16 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 201 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 80% of North Carolina places with climate records.
Expect July afternoons of 89° and January nights of 30°, with about 6 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The biggest park or preserve is Deal Park, at 24 acres. 3.3 miles of trail wind through 4 parks and preserves. Also worth knowing: the concentration of trails for Kings Mountain comes to 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Kings Mountain | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.4% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Deal Park | 0.3 mi | 24 |
| 2. Moss Lake Park I (Eastside) | — | 13 |
| 3. Moss Lake Park II (Westside) | — | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For Kings Mountain, the income of the median household is $50,000. Most working residents leave Kings Mountain for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Gastonia (17%), Charlotte (11%) and Shelby (7%). The median commute is under 13 miles.
| Kings Mountain | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $50,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
2 within 15 miles of the center of Kings Mountain
About 5 of every 100 Kings Mountain residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
9 places in Kings Mountain on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Kings Mountain.
City in North Carolina, United States
Kings Mountain is a small suburban city within the Charlotte metropolitan area in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. Most of the city is in Cleveland County, with a small eastern portion in Gaston County. As of the 2020 census, Kings Mountain had a population of 11,142.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Kings Mountain.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kings Mountain | #253 | D | C+ | D | B− | D |
| Gastonia | #237 | D | C+ | D− | B− | C+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Kings Mountain grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #253 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades D for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 35% of towns.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($58,534 across the Shelby-Kings Mountain, 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+.
10 notable people were born here, including Madisyn Shipman and Tim Moore.
