Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rocky Mount grades D− overall, ranked 267th of 286 in North Carolina, mostly because of safety and health. It reports more crime per resident than 96% of U.S. towns, including 366 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 86% of the country. It also has a long history, with 20 places on the National Register. 33% of working residents work locally in Rocky Mount, above both North Carolina’s towns (6.8%) and U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Stonewall and St. John's Episcopal Church. Rocky Mount is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 72% of U.S. towns.
Where Rocky Mount beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Rocky Mount Mills
Thelonious Monk
Census counts: 357 in 1870, 54,341 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1902 on.
19 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Rocky Mount is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rocky Mount, 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 Rocky Mount.
Rocky Mount reports violent crime at about twice the North Carolina rate, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Violent crime runs at 6.7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the North Carolina rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. At 66.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 84% of North Carolina’s graded towns.
Rocky Mount’s violent crime rate is 6.7 per 1,000 residents. Rocky Mount reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 96% report less. Rocky Mount’s property crime rate is 33.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Rocky Mount | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.7 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 33.6 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Nash County Public Schools. Two of its 18 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Mount MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 692 | D |
| Rocky Mount HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,023 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
18% of adults have diabetes in Rocky Mount. Rocky Mount beats the North Carolina average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 47% of adults have high blood pressure in Rocky Mount.
| Rocky Mount | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 16% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rocky Mount | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.4% | 14.7% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.1% | 7.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 15.1% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
22 miles of trail in 20 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Rocky Mount Sports Complex, 127 acres with 2.5 miles of trail.
| Rocky Mount | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.3% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Battle Park | 3 mi | 54 |
| 2. Rocky Mount Sports Complex | 2.5 mi | 127 |
| 3. Stith-Talbert Park | 0.2 mi | 34 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Rocky Mount home is worth about $187,000, about the same as a year ago, 44% below the North Carolina typical home. 49% of Rocky Mount households own their home.
| Rocky Mount | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 67% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 42% | 49% | 48% |
| Median rent | $957 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
830 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 55 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 830 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rocky Mount.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Rocky Mount has mild winters and warm summers. The July high in Rocky Mount is 90°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 3 of Rocky Mount’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Rocky Mount fell to 27,433 in 2023, 3,413 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Raleigh (7%), Wilson (6%) and Tarboro (4%).
| Rocky Mount | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.6% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
3 within 15 miles of the center of Rocky Mount
About 7 of every 100 Rocky Mount residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
19 places in Rocky Mount on the National Register of Historic Places.
55 notable people were born in Rocky Mount.
City in northeast North Carolina
Rocky Mount is a city in Nash and Edgecombe counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 census, making it the 20th-most populous city in North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area—often called the "Twin Counties"—which had an estimated population of 145,383 in 2023. Rocky Mount is also an anchor city of the Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke Rapids, NC Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 288,366 in 2023. English and Scots traders encountered the indigenous people in this area of the falls of the Tar River beginning in the mid-1700s. Incorporated in 1867, the community continued to develo…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Rocky Mount.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Mount | #267 | D− | B− | D− | C− | D |
| Dortches | — | — | B− | — | C− | B− |
Dortches has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Dortches reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Rocky Mount with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Rocky Mount grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #267 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades D for health, D− for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 3.1 years of the area's median household income ($59,636 across the Rocky Mount, NC metro 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−.
55 notable people were born here, including Thelonious Monk and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
