Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,117. More miles of trail than almost any town in North Carolina.
Trash & recyclingNags Head's standout: it has 26 miles of trail and 32% conserved land. Overall it grades B−, ranked 89th of 286 in North Carolina. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 83% of the country and the median household earns $91K. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 98% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. 32% of the land in Nags Head is conserved, above both North Carolina’s towns (3.4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 23 of North Carolina’s 331 towns score higher on civic life. Nags Head has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Nags Head Beach Cottages Historic District and U-85 (submarine) shipwreck and remains.
Where Nags Head beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
31.6% of the town is conserved land, across 10 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Nags Head is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 414 in 1970, 3,168 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 2 maps from 1943 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Nags Head. Close and well known come first.
5 mi National MemorialWright Brothers National Memorial342K visitors a year
3 mi National SeashoreCape Hatteras National Seashore2.7M visitors a year
in town State parkJockey's Ridge State Park
5 mi National Historic SiteFort Raleigh National Historic Site267K visitors a year
9 mi LighthouseBodie Island Light
26 mi MuseumChicamacomico Life-Saving StationWright Brothers National Memorial: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Cape Hatteras National Seashore: Vbofficial, Public domain · Jockey's Ridge State Park: Zach Rudisin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Raleigh National Historic Site: Sarah Stierch, CC BY 4.0 · Bodie Island Light: RyanGRodgers, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station: Elizabeth from burlington, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Nags Head, 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 Nags Head.
Nags Head has more trail for its size than nearly any town in North Carolina and is a second-home town, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Carolina (mostly hurricanes).
At 8 years of the Kill Devil Hills area’s $89K median household income, the typical home (about $711K) costs more against local pay than in 97% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living. 64% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.9% across North Carolina.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Dare County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nags Head Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 484 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
At 3.9 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #2 of 174 North Carolina towns. Its 1,348 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 96% of North Carolina towns.
Nags Head’s trail density is 3.9 miles per square mile, above both the North Carolina town median (0.2) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is Nags Head Woods Preserve, 738 acres with 2.2 miles of trail. 26 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jockey's Ridge State Park | 8.6 mi | 410 |
| 2. Nags Head Woods Preserve | 2.2 mi | 738 |
| 3. Nags Head Town Park | 1.6 mi | 204 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3,198 jobs are based in Nags Head, 2.4 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 4 of Nags Head’s working residents works in town. 2.4% of Nags Head residents live below the poverty line. Jobs based in Nags Head grew to 3,198 in 2023, 288 more than in 2013.
| Nags Head | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 27% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.4% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 93% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $4,109 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on. 2,116 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 191 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1980, 2,116 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Nags Head.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Reported crimes fell from 145 to 82 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Nags Head’s property crime rate is 24.6 per 1,000 residents. Within North Carolina, it does better than 36% of towns.
| Nags Head | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 24.6 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.9 per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with North Carolina is tooth loss: 6.1% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 13.9% statewide.
26% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Nags Head. Nags Head beats the North Carolina average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 20% of adults get no exercise outside work in Nags Head.
| Nags Head | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Nags Head | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.1% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 6.3% | 12.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.9% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Nags Head has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 35° and about 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Nags Head; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Nags Head residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
2,757 counted in 2010 and 3,168 in 2020; an estimated 3,117 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
4 places in Nags Head on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Nags Head is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It is a busy vacation spot because of its beaches and sand dunes of Jockey's Ridge. The population was 3,146 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Nags Head.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nags Head | #89 | B− | B− | D | B+ | A− |
| Kill Devil Hills | #93 | B− | C− | — | B+ | A |
Kill Devil Hills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Nags Head with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Nags Head grades B− overall, better than 52% of U.S. towns and #89 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A− for health, D for safety and B+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 36% of towns.
That is 8 years of the area's median household income ($88,994 across the Kill Devil Hills, 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 B−.
