Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 18,670, settled in 1895.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Pinehurst grades A− overall, ranked 23rd of 286 in North Carolina. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 92% of U.S. towns. Residents are healthier than 91% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $532K for a typical one and 6.2 times the Pinehurst metro’s $86K median household income. 41% of residents are 65 or older in Pinehurst, above both the North Carolina town median (18%) and the median of U.S. towns (18%). Pinehurst has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Pinehurst Historic District and Pinehurst Race Track. Only one of the 153 North Carolina towns we compare has a lower rate of thefts and burglaries than Pinehurst.
Where Pinehurst beats most towns.
13,124 counted in 2010 and 17,581 in 2020; an estimated 18,670 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 6.2% since 2020, after 34% in the decade before.
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 Pinehurst is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Pinehurst Historic District is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,016 in 1950, 17,581 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 4 maps from 1948 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pinehurst, 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 Pinehurst.
Pinehurst draws workers from Southern Pines and beyond 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 6.2 years of the Pinehurst metro’s $86K median household income, the typical home (about $532K) costs more against local pay than in 87% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. Its typical home is the priciest on its borders; Southern Pines is next at $451K.
On the market in Pinehurst: a median 62 days to sell. Zillow values the typical Pinehurst home at about $532,000, about the same as a year ago, 60% above the North Carolina typical home. Also worth knowing: in Pinehurst, the typical rent is $1,664 a month.
| Pinehurst | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,664 a month | $1,084 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its one school is below. The public schools here belong to the Moore County Schools. Enrollment at Pinehurst’s public school: 584 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinehurst ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 584 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
13,022 jobs are based in Pinehurst, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 8,413 in 2013 to 13,022.
Jobs in Pinehurst grew by 4,609 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 13,022. Roughly one working resident in four has a job in Pinehurst itself. The income of the median household for Pinehurst comes to $110,000. For half of commuters, work is under 8 miles away.
| Pinehurst | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 23% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 24% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Median household income | $110,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 4.3% | 13% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime is rare: 10 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
Pinehurst’s violent crime rate is 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
26% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Pinehurst. Among 289 North Carolina towns, just 7 have a lower share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Pinehurst. CDC measures, 32 in all: Pinehurst beats North Carolina on 20 and trails on 4.
| Pinehurst | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 17% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 33% | 33% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.1% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Pinehurst | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.6% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.2% | 15.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 14.2% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Walkers can cover 7.7 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in Pinehurst is 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Pinehurst | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rassie Wicker Park | 0.4 mi | 12 |
| 2. Cannon Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
30 flood insurance claims have been paid in Pinehurst since 1998. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 64% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 54% come from inland flooding and 15% from hurricanes. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Pinehurst after 5 declared disasters, most recently in 2025.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Pinehurst
About 4 of every 100 Pinehurst residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Where Pinehurst’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Pinehurst on the National Register of Historic Places.
Village in North Carolina, United States
Pinehurst, officially The Village of Pinehurst, is a village in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,581, up from 13,124 in 2010. "Pinehurst" refers to both the village and the Pinehurst Resort, a golf resort, which has hosted multiple U.S. Open championships in the sport. A large portion of the central village, including the resort complexes, is a National Historic Landmark District, designated in 1996 for its landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted and its significance in the history of golf in the United States. Pinehurst has been designated as the "Home of American Golf" by the US Golf Association and by the state of North Carolina.…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Pinehurst.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinehurst | #23 | A− | C− | A | B+ | A |
| Southern Pines | #128 | C+ | C− | C− | B+ | A |
| Taylortown | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Aberdeen | #92 | B− | B | C− | B+ | A− |
Taylortown isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Pinehurst with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Pinehurst grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #23 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A for health, A for safety 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−.
