Neuse ForestNC
A town of 2,671.
Is Neuse Forest a good place to live?
Neuse Forest gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $310K, 4.8 years of the New Bern area’s $64K median household income. It grades B overall, 74th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. On the plus side, residents are healthier than 79% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 42% of the land in Neuse Forest is conserved, against 3.4% in North Carolina’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 93% of U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 1 of North Carolina’s 451 towns do better.
What makes Neuse Forest stand out
Where Neuse Forest beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
99% of working residents leave Neuse Forest for work
Where Neuse Forest’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Neuse Forest grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Neuse Forest is from typical.
Its grades run from A for cost of living (better than 86% of comparable towns) to D− for hazard risk (better than 1%), so the B overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Neuse Forest: who provides what
Neuse Forest is unincorporated, so Craven 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Neuse Forest.
Neuse Forest keeps more of its land conserved than most of North Carolina and has less food insecurity than most of North Carolina, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Carolina (mostly hurricanes).
Protected land: nearly a third of Neuse Forest
Its 855 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 98% of North Carolina towns. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #2 of 290 in North Carolina.
In Neuse Forest, the trail network density is 0.7 miles per square mile, where North Carolina’s towns sit at 0.2 and U.S. towns at 0.4. There are 2.1 miles of trail across 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Neuse River/Flanners Beach Complex, at 347 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Neuse River/Flanners Beach Complex | 0.8 mi | 347 |
| 2. Croatan National Forest | — | 347 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Neuse Forest has a very high natural-hazard risk, chiefly from hurricanes
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 96% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $2,039 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA puts 78% of Neuse Forest’s expected hazard losses down to hurricanes, and 11% to inland flooding. Flood insurance has paid out on 7 claims here since 2010.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Neuse Forest earns an A− for health
Its widest gap with North Carolina is food insecurity: 9.4% of its 1,622 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.2% statewide.
This North Carolina town beats the North Carolina average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. In Neuse Forest, 15% of adults binge drink. Among adults in the town, 15% report frequent mental distress and 9.4% worry about having enough food.
| Neuse Forest | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Neuse Forest | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.4% | 15.2% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.2% | 12.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Few of Neuse Forest’s working residents work in town
Neuse Forest has 47 jobs for its 655 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
The mean commuting time for Neuse Forest comes to 21 minutes. Jobs here fell by 22 from 2013 to 2023, to 47. The share of residents in Neuse Forest who live below the poverty line: 4.6%. The top destinations are New Bern (23%), Havelock (12%) and Morehead City (5%).
| Neuse Forest | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.6% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expect mild winters and hot summers in Neuse Forest
July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 35° and snow is almost unheard of.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
More children than North Carolina overall
The age of the median resident in Neuse Forest is 36.2 years. Children under 18 are 30% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 33% of residents (38% statewide). The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 31%, against 36% across North Carolina.
| Neuse Forest | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36.2 years | 40.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 31% | 29% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
Somewhere between 26% and 54% women
The Census survey reached too few of Neuse Forest’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±14.1 points. Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Neuse Forest | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.7% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 16.1% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.3% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 16.9% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 7.6% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 8.8% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 28.6% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.6% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.4% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,700, single groups can be off by several points
Neuse Forest earns an A for cost of living
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 2.6%. Four in five households live in a home they own in Neuse Forest.
Typical home value
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Neuse Forest
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Neuse Forest
About 10 of every 100 Neuse Forest residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About Neuse Forest
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Neuse Forest is a census-designated place (CDP) in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Neuse Forest had a population of 2,110. It is part of the New Bern, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.2 sq mi
- Elevation
- 30 ft
Questions about Neuse Forest
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Neuse Forest, NC a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Neuse Forest grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #74 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A− for health and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Neuse Forest, NC expensive?
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.