Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Liberty grades D overall, ranked 217th of 286 in North Carolina, mostly because of health and incomes. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 94% of the country. The median household income is $40K, and 17% of residents live below the poverty line. In its favor, natural-hazard risk is low. 11% of the land in Liberty is conserved, above both the North Carolina town median (3.4%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). A. L. Spoon House and Liberty Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. Among 290 North Carolina towns, just 6 have a lower share of adults with a bachelor’s degree than Liberty.
Where Liberty beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Liberty is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 366 in 1890, 2,655 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper and 2 maps from 1974 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Liberty, 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 Liberty.
Liberty trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and trades workers with Greensboro and other neighbors.
Against the 2,287 U.S. towns with household incomes like Liberty’s, it is less healthy than 64%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
28% of Liberty adults say their health is fair or poor, above both North Carolina’s towns (19%) and U.S. towns (19%). 34% of adults get no exercise outside work in Liberty. Liberty beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20.
| Liberty | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 24% | 25% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 36% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Liberty | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 24.3% | 13.9% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 24.4% | 15.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 11% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by Randolph County School System. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 411 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 83% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Liberty has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 30° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Liberty has about as many jobs (997) as working residents, but only 63 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Liberty for work: only 6% work in town. Since 2013, Liberty has lost 96 jobs, to 997 in 2023. The top destinations are Greensboro (20%), Asheboro (6%) and Charlotte (5%).
| Liberty | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.3% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Homes are within reach (about $278K for the typical one, B for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 21 miles.
The typical Liberty home is worth about $278,000, up 2.9% in a year, 16% below the North Carolina typical home. 44% of Liberty households own their home.
| Liberty | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 44% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $742 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
0.6 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Freedom Park, at 24 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Freedom Park | 0.5 mi | 24 |
| 2. Paul Henry Smith Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Liberty's reported crime rate is below North Carolina's. The property crime rate in Liberty is 15 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Liberty | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 15 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Liberty. Close and well known come first.
19 mi Zoo & aquariumNorth Carolina Zoo700K visitors a year
29 mi Stadium & arenaKenan Memorial Stadium
30 mi Stadium & arenaDean Smith Center
35 mi LandmarkBennett Place State Historic Site
39 mi National forestUwharrie National Forest15 mi MuseumPalmer Memorial InstituteNorth Carolina Zoo: Diane Villa, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kenan Memorial Stadium: Yeungb, CC BY 3.0 · Dean Smith Center: No machine-readable author provided. Snargle~commonswiki assumed (based on copyr, Public domain · Bennett Place State Historic Site: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious), CC BY-SA 4.0 · Uwharrie National Forest: U.S. Forest Service, Public domain
None within 15 miles of Liberty; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Liberty residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Liberty is a town in Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Liberty had a population of 2,655.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Liberty grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #217 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades D for health and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($65,565 across the Greensboro-High Point, 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 B.
2 notable people were born here, including Joe Frazier and Tim Murchison.
