Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A regional job hub with 3,158 jobs.
Louisburg earns a D, ranked 235th of 286 in North Carolina, mostly because of safety and incomes. Its police reported 19 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 97% of U.S. towns. The median household income is $38K, and 34% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 18 places on the National Register. 34% of residents live below the poverty line in Louisburg, above both the North Carolina town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 8 of North Carolina’s 451 towns score higher on history. Louisburg is home to Louisburg College.
Where Louisburg beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Person Place
Census counts: 750 in 1870, 3,064 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1896 and 3 maps from 1978 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Louisburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Louisburg, 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 Louisburg.
Louisburg trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Raleigh and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Property crime runs at 54.8 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the North Carolina rate, most of it theft.
The property crime rate in Louisburg is 54.8 per 1,000 residents. Louisburg reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less. The violent crime rate in Louisburg is 5.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Louisburg | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 54.8 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.4 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Franklin County Schools. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Louisburg Magnet High, with 630 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terrell Lane MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 403 | C |
| Louisburg Magnet HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 630 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
3,158 jobs are based in Louisburg, 2.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Louisburg’s average trip to work is 31 minutes. The top destinations are Raleigh (18%), Durham (5%) and Cary (4%).
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 1,889 U.S. towns with household incomes like Louisburg’s, it is healthier than 69%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Louisburg beats the North Carolina average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 16% of Louisburg adults have diabetes. Among 289 North Carolina towns, just 10 have a higher share of adults who feel lonely than Louisburg.
| Louisburg | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 19% | 19% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Louisburg | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.9% | 14.7% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.2% | 76.7% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 5.8% | 3.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Louisburg weather station 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.
Louisburg has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 29° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 12 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Louisburg.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Joyner Park | — | 16 |
| 2. River Bend Park | — | 9 |
| 3. Baseball Diamond | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes are within reach (about $305K for the typical one, B+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 29 miles. 74.8% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.9% across North Carolina.
The typical Louisburg home is worth about $305,000, about the same as a year ago, 8% below the North Carolina typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Louisburg
College town 16 of every 100 Louisburg residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Where Louisburg’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
10 places in Louisburg on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Louisburg.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Louisburg is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,064. The town is located approximately 29 miles northeast of the state capital, Raleigh, and located about 31 miles south of the Virginia border. It is also the home of Louisburg College, the oldest two-year coeducational college in the United States.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Louisburg grades D overall, better than 10% of U.S. towns and #235 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C− for health, D− for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 3.1 years of the area's median household income ($100,103 across the Raleigh-Cary, 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+.
8 notable people were born here, including Francine Everett and Joseph Jonathan Davis.
