Porters NeckNC
A town of 7,654.
What should you know before moving to Porters Neck?
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 95% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. Overall it grades C+, ranked 118th of 286 in North Carolina. Residents are healthier than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its weakest subject is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $570K, 7.4 years of the Wilmington metro’s $76K median household income. 33% of residents are 65 or older in Porters Neck, above both North Carolina’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (18%). Porters Neck has 1 place on the National Register. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 83% of U.S. towns.
What makes Porters Neck stand out
Where Porters Neck beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Porters Neck has grown 19% from 2010 to 2020
6,204 counted in 2010 and 7,397 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Porters Neck grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Porters Neck is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Porters Neck: who provides what
Porters Neck is unincorporated, so New Hanover 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 Porters Neck.
Porters Neck trades workers with Wilmington and other neighbors, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Carolina (mostly hurricanes) and has homes that cost more against local pay than most of North Carolina.
A smaller share of adults smoke cigarettes in Porters Neck than in most of North Carolina or the rest of the country
In Porters Neck, 10% of adults have diabetes. Among 289 North Carolina towns, just 7 have a lower share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Porters Neck. CDC measures, 32 in all: Porters Neck beats North Carolina on 22 and trails on 3.
| Porters Neck | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 17% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 34% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.2% | 14% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Porters Neck | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 4.9% | 15.2% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.7% | 13.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 13.9% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On state tests, Porters Neck’s schools beat 63% of North Carolina districts
Its two schools are below. The 2 public schools in Porters Neck teach 1,668 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porters Neck ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 666 | A |
| American Leadership Academy-CoastalLargest public high schoolGrades K–11 | Grades K–11 | 1,002 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Natural hazards: very high risk in Porters Neck, mostly hurricanes
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 88% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $1,857 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
Just over two thirds of Porters Neck’s expected losses from natural hazards come from hurricanes, followed by inland flooding at 20%. Flood insurance has paid out on 594 claims locally since 1981.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Conserved land covers 1.3% of Porters Neck
Just 48 of its 3,687 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Porters Neck itself; its outdoors grade is D.
1.9 miles of trail. Porters Neck’s density of trails stands at 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Porters Neck | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.3% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
In Porters Neck, expect mild winters and hot summers
Porters Neck’s peak summer temperature comes in at 89°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About two in five of Porters Neck’s working residents commute to Wilmington
Porters Neck has about as many jobs (2,751) as working residents, but only 176 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 1,604 in 2013 to 2,751.
The top destinations are Wilmington (41%), Murraysville (4%) and Charlotte (3%). Just 6% of Porters Neck’s working residents have a job in town. In Porters Neck, the typical household income is $120,000. Employers in Porters Neck added 1,147 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 2,751.
| Porters Neck | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $120,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.8% | 13% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The median home in Porters Neck sells for about $715K
At 7.4 years of the Wilmington metro’s $76K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 93% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
Homes sold in Porters Neck spent a median 45 days on the market. For Porters Neck, the going rate for rent is $1,503 a month. Sellers in Porters Neck got 98.6% of the asking price, typically.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Fort Fisher and 10 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Porters Neck. Close and well known come first.
24 mi LandmarkFort Fisher
19 mi GardenOrton Plantation
20 mi MuseumBrunswick Town6 mi GardenAirlie Gardens
22 mi National BattlefieldMoores Creek National Battlefield56K visitors a year
11 mi TheatreThalian HallPhoto credits
Fort Fisher: Eric T. Gunther, CC BY 3.0 · Orton Plantation: AgnosticPreachersKid., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Brunswick Town: Brunswick1726, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Moores Creek National Battlefield: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Thalian Hall: Sanfranman59, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Everything we know about Porters Neck
Colleges nearby
3 within 15 miles of the center of Porters Neck
About 4 of every 100 Porters Neck residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About Porters Neck
Unincorporated community in North Carolina, United States
Porters Neck is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Porters Neck had a population of 7,397.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 20 ft
Porters Neck’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Porters Neck.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porters Neck | #118 | C+ | C− | — | B | A+ |
| Bayshore | #62 | B | C− | — | B | A |
| Ogden | #64 | B | C− | — | B | A |
Porters Neck, Bayshore and Ogden report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Porters Neck with a neighbor →
Questions about Porters Neck
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Porters Neck, NC a good place to live?
Porters Neck grades C+ overall, better than 44% of U.S. towns and #118 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A+ for health and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Porters Neck, NC expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $570,000, 71% above the North Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.