Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,175, settled in 1913.
Lake Junaluska grades B− overall, 84th of 286 graded towns in North Carolina, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Its public schools beat 78% of North Carolina towns on state tests and graduation and it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on health: residents are healthier than 64% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $444K, 7.2 years of the Waynesville area’s $62K median household income. Lake Junaluska’s average trip to work is 14 minutes, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 24 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Only 2 of the 290 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower January low than Lake Junaluska.
Where Lake Junaluska beats most towns.
2,734 counted in 2010 and 3,219 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Lake Junaluska is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1923 and 4 maps from 1935 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Junaluska. Close and well known come first.
Big draw6 mi National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park11.5M visitors a year
Big draw36 mi Theme parkDollywood3.1M visitors a year
7 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi MountainKuwohi7 mi Theme parkGhost Town in the Sky
16 mi National forestPisgah National ForestGreat Smoky Mountains National Park: Scott Basford, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dollywood: Brian Stansberry (photographer), CC BY 2.5 · Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Kuwohi: C. Kenneth Dodd, Jr., Public domain · Pisgah National Forest: Ken Thomas, Public domain
Lake Junaluska is unincorporated, so Haywood 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.
Ordered by what stands out in Lake Junaluska.
Lake Junaluska is a second-home town and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of North Carolina.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Ridge Adventist Christian School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades 3–8 | Grades 3–8 | 5 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
At 7.2 years of the Waynesville area’s $62K median household income, the typical home (about $444K) costs more against local pay than in 92% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The typical Lake Junaluska home is worth about $444,000, down 3% in a year, 34% above the North Carolina typical home.
| Lake Junaluska | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 75% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,137 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The average commute for its 1,286 working residents takes 14.1 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
Most working residents leave Lake Junaluska for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in Lake Junaluska fell to 783 in 2023, 148 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Asheville (15%), Waynesville (14%) and Sylva (3%).
| Lake Junaluska | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.8% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 9.4% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
January nights average 24.7°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 97% of North Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 82.6°.
The July high in Lake Junaluska is 83°F. Lake Junaluska has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. About 11 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 10,116 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lake Junaluska’s, it is healthier than 84%, so its B isn’t only a matter of income.
29% of Lake Junaluska adults sleep under 7 hours. Lake Junaluska beats the North Carolina average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 43% of Lake Junaluska adults have high blood pressure.
| Lake Junaluska | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Lake Junaluska | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.6% | 12.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.3% | 8.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.6% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 18 of its 3,571 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Lake Junaluska itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.4 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Lake Junaluska’s trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Lake Junaluska | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Junaluska Playground | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Junaluska
About 5 of every 100 Lake Junaluska residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
Where Lake Junaluska’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Lake Junaluska on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Lake Junaluska is a census-designated place (CDP) in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States, and an artificial lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Junaluska is named after nearby Mount Junaluska (now North Eaglenest Mountain), which was named after a Cherokee leader in the early nineteenth century. As of the 2020 census, Lake Junaluska had a population of 3,219. The 200-acre (81 ha) manmade lake of the same name is surrounded by private residences and the Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. The lake is fed primarily from Richland Creek and discharges into the creek, maintaining an approximately constant lake leve…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Lake Junaluska.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Junaluska | #84 | B− | C | — | A− | B |
| Waynesville | #183 | C− | C− | D | A− | B− |
Lake Junaluska reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Lake Junaluska with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lake Junaluska grades B− overall, better than 53% of U.S. towns and #84 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades B for health and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
