Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Oak Ridge grades B+ overall, ranked 38th of 286 in North Carolina. The median household earns $155K. Residents are healthier than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $605K for a typical one and 9.2 times the Greensboro metro’s $66K median household income. Oak Ridge’s median household income is $155,000, above both North Carolina’s towns ($69,000) and U.S. towns ($80,000). Oak Ridge has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Charles Benbow House and Oak Ridge Military Academy Historic District.
Where Oak Ridge beats most towns.
6,185 counted in 2010 and 7,474 in 2020; an estimated 7,896 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Oak Ridge is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 161 in 1900, 7,474 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2017 and 3 maps from 1969 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Oak Ridge. Close and well known come first.
15 mi Stadium & arenaAllegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium
15 mi MuseumOld Salem
29 mi MountainPilot Mountain
40 mi Zoo & aquariumNorth Carolina Zoo700K visitors a year
17 mi MuseumReynolda House Museum of American Art
21 mi State parkHanging Rock State ParkAllegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium: BobHWS, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Old Salem: David Bjorgen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pilot Mountain: Berean Hunter, CC BY-SA 2.5 · North Carolina Zoo: Diane Villa, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Reynolda House Museum of American Art: Zsrarticle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hanging Rock State Park: Jacalyn Engler from Greensboro, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Oak Ridge, 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 Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge has less food insecurity than most of North Carolina and has household incomes well above the North Carolina norm, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of North Carolina.
At 9.2 years of the Greensboro metro’s $66K median household income, the typical home (about $605K) costs more against local pay than in 98% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Summerfield is next at $518K.
92% of households own their home in Oak Ridge. The typical Oak Ridge home is worth about $605,000, up 0.7% in a year, 82% above the North Carolina typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Guilford County Schools. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Ridge ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 712 | A+ |
| Oak Ridge Military Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 93 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with North Carolina is food insecurity: 7% of its 5,518 adults worry about having enough food, against 15.2% statewide. Against the 2,425 U.S. towns with household incomes like Oak Ridge’s, it is healthier than 68%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
14% of Oak Ridge adults report frequent mental distress. Oak Ridge beats the North Carolina average on 18 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 10% of Oak Ridge adults report frequent physical distress.
| Oak Ridge | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 13% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 24% | 25% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Oak Ridge | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7% | 15.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.8% | 13.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 8.9% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
29.3% of workers work from home, against 16.3% across North Carolina.
Most working residents leave Oak Ridge for work: only 2% work in town. Since 2013, Oak Ridge has added 281 jobs, to 1,407 in 2023. The average trip to work in Oak Ridge is 21 minutes.
| Oak Ridge | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 29% | 12% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 3.6% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
4.0 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Cascades Preserve, 126 acres with 2.1 miles of trail.
| Oak Ridge | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.7% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cascades Preserve | 2.1 mi | 126 |
| 2. Oak Ridge Town Park | 0.9 mi | 75 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities. Since 2006, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Oak Ridge.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Oak Ridge has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 29° and about 7 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
11 within 15 miles of the center of Oak Ridge
About 5 of every 100 Oak Ridge residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
Where Oak Ridge’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Oak Ridge on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Oak Ridge is a town in northwestern Guilford County, North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, Oak Ridge had a population of 7,474. Oak Ridge is 15 miles (24 km) northwest of the center of Greensboro, North Carolina's third-largest city, and it is a part of the Piedmont Triad urban area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Oak Ridge.
It grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Stokesdale (B+) comes closest.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Ridge | #38 | B+ | C− | — | B− | A |
| Stokesdale | #43 | B+ | C | — | B− | A− |
| Summerfield | #54 | B | C− | — | B− | A |
| Greensboro | #215 | D | C− | D− | B− | B− |
Oak Ridge, Stokesdale and Summerfield report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Oak Ridge with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Oak Ridge grades B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns and #38 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A for health and B− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
