Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Rutherford College’s best subject grade is an A for cost of living; its weakest is a C− for walkability. On hazard risk, just 19 of North Carolina’s 451 towns do better. Rutherford College's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 93% of U.S. towns. Rutherford College has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Rutherford College beats most towns.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Rutherford College is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 229 in 1910, 1,226 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2021 and 2 maps from 1905 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rutherford College, 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 Rutherford College.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 80% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christ Classical Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 264 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Rutherford College beats the North Carolina average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 30% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Rutherford College, below both North Carolina’s towns (34%) and U.S. towns (36%). 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in Rutherford College.
| Rutherford College | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 80% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 33% |
| What stands out | Rutherford College | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.1% | 12.2% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.4% | 8.1% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Rutherford College has mild winters and warm summers. Rutherford College’s July high is 88°F, near the North Carolina town median (89°F) and above the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Rutherford College for work: only 1% work in town. Since 2013, Rutherford College has lost 185 jobs, to 540 in 2023. 7.7% of Rutherford College residents live below the poverty line.
| Rutherford College | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.7% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the North Carolina average. 26% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across North Carolina.
| Rutherford College | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 41.2 years | 40.1 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.1 points. Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Rutherford College | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.3% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.4% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.5% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 6.3% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 21.6% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.8% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.9% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.9% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.4% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.5% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.2% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.1% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,200, single groups can be off by several points
| Rutherford College | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.1% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Municipal Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rutherford College. Close and well known come first.
26 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
38 mi LakeLake Norman
30 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain30 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad11 mi Ancient siteJoara
24 mi Park & preserveLinville Gorge WildernessBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lake Norman: Prince Grobhelm, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grandfather Mountain: Original uploader was KyleAndMelissa22 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Linville Gorge Wilderness: No machine-readable author provided. Amcbride~commonswiki assumed (based on copy, Public domain
4 within 15 miles of the center of Rutherford College
About 6 of every 100 Rutherford College residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Rutherford College is a town in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Rutherford College had a population of 1,226. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton metropolitan area. There are multiple exclaves of the town in Caldwell County, North Carolina.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $186,000, 44% below 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 A.
2 notable people were born here, including Arthur Talmage Abernethy and Razor Ledbetter.
