Royal PinesNC
A town of 4,325.
Is Royal Pines a good place to live?
Royal Pines grades B+ overall, 29th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is healthier than 93% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $108K. It also does better than most on schools: its schools outperform 62% of the state's. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $400K, 5.6 years of the Asheville metro’s $72K median household income. 57% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Royal Pines, above both the North Carolina town median (29%) and the median of U.S. towns (29%). Only 23 of North Carolina’s 451 towns score higher on hazard risk. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns.
What makes Royal Pines stand out
Where Royal Pines beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Royal Pines for work
Where Royal Pines’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Royal Pines grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Royal Pines is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Blue Ridge Parkway and 19 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Royal Pines. Close and well known come first.
3 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
Big draw24 mi MountainMount Mitchell
Big draw30 mi National ParkGreat Smoky Mountains National Park11.5M visitors a year
18 mi National forestPisgah National Forest34 mi Theme parkGhost Town in the Sky
15 mi State parkChimney Rock State ParkPhoto credits
Blue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Mount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Scott Basford, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pisgah National Forest: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Chimney Rock State Park: Jmturner, Public domain
Moving to Royal Pines: who provides what
Royal Pines is unincorporated, so Buncombe 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 Royal Pines.
Royal Pines has less tooth loss than most of North Carolina, sends most of its workers to Asheville and beyond and has milder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of North Carolina.
Royal Pines’ grade for health is an A
Its widest gap with North Carolina is tooth loss: 6.1% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 13.9% statewide.
27% of Royal Pines adults sleep under 7 hours. Royal Pines beats the North Carolina average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 28% of Royal Pines adults feel lonely.
| Royal Pines | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 17% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Royal Pines | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.1% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.4% | 15.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Royal Pines’ grade for schools is a B
Its public schools are run by the Buncombe County Schools. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Arden ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 505 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Royal Pines faces a very low natural-hazard risk, led by inland flooding
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 82% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Royal Pines.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Royal Pines stands out in North Carolina and nationally: a smaller share of its residents live below the poverty line
Royal Pines has 263 jobs for its 1,800 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. 28.5% of workers work from home, against 16.3% across North Carolina.
1.5% of residents live below the poverty line in Royal Pines. Most working residents leave Royal Pines for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Asheville (43%), Charlotte (5%) and Hendersonville (4%).
| Royal Pines | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 1.5% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $108,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In Royal Pines, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
January nights average 27°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 92% of North Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 83.7°.
Royal Pines has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. Royal Pines’ July high is 84°F. About 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Royal Pines | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 84°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 27°F | 31°F | 22°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Conserved land covers 3.1% of Royal Pines
0.2 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Collier Cove Nature Preserve, at 29 acres. The trail density in Royal Pines is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Royal Pines | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.1% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Collier Cove Nature Preserve | — | 29 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes in Royal Pines sell for about $495K
The median sale price was $495,000 in May 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Royal Pines
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Royal Pines
About 4 of every 100 Royal Pines residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
About Royal Pines
Census-designated place in North Carolina, United States
Royal Pines is a census-designated place (CDP) in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Royal Pines had a population of 4,127. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.7 sq mi
- Elevation
- 2,283 ft
- Area code
- 828
Royal Pines’s neighbors
One town shares a border with Royal Pines.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Pines | #29 | B+ | C | — | B | A |
| Asheville | #164 | C | D | D− | B | A− |
Royal Pines reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Royal Pines with a neighbor →
Questions about Royal Pines
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Royal Pines, NC a good place to live?
By most measures, yes. Royal Pines grades B+ overall, better than 74% of U.S. towns and #29 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades A for health and B for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Royal Pines, NC expensive?
The typical home is worth about $400,000, 20% 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.