Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 3,175: a town settled in 1913.
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Its strongest is walkability — it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns. Overall, Lake Junaluska earns a B−, better than 53% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 84th of 286 in North Carolina. Schools are another plus (A−): its public schools beat 78% of North Carolina towns on state tests and graduation. Where it falls short is cost of living (C): the typical home is worth about $444K, 7.2 years of the Waynesville area’s $62K median household income. The town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Lambeth Inn and Davis Family House. 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.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
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 that grade.
A home in Lake Junaluska typically sold within 102 days of listing. Homes locally are typically worth about $444,000, down 3% in a year, 34% above the North Carolina typical home. Sellers in Lake Junaluska got 96.3% of the asking price, typically.
| 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.
The top destinations are Asheville (15%), Waynesville (14%) and Sylva (3%). Jobs based in Lake Junaluska fell to 783 in 2023, 148 fewer than in 2013. Half the trips to work are shorter than 20 miles. Lake Junaluska: 2.8% of working residents work locally.
| Lake Junaluska | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| 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 January low in Lake Junaluska is 25°F. About 11 inches of snow falls in a winter. Expect chilly winters and pleasant summers locally, with plenty of rain.
| Lake Junaluska | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 83°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 25°F | 31°F | 22°F |
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.
Among adults in Lake Junaluska, 11% worry about having enough food. CDC measures, 32 in all: Lake Junaluska beats North Carolina on 11 and trails on 7. 43% of adults locally have high blood pressure; 13% binge drink.
| 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 damage from storms and floods is higher here than in 60% of U.S. communities. Federal aid has come to Lake Junaluska households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2024. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 61% come from inland flooding and 23% from cold waves.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · 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.
Lake Junaluska’s trail density comes in at 0.1 miles per square mile. Walkers can cover 0.4 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| 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.
