Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sparta’s weakest subject grade is a D− for incomes. 27% of working residents work locally in Sparta, against 6.8% in North Carolina’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On incomes, just 14 of North Carolina’s 448 towns do worse. Sparta has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Brinegar Cabin and Alleghany County Courthouse. Sparta has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Sparta beats most towns.
Alleghany County CourthouseWhere Sparta’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Sparta is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 95 in 1890, a low of 95 in 1890, 1,834 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 4 maps from 1889 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sparta. Close and well known come first.
4 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
26 mi MountainMount Rogers
38 mi MountainPilot Mountain37 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad
24 mi State parkGrayson Highlands State Park
40 mi MuseumMoses H. Cone Memorial ParkBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Mount Rogers: USDA-FS, Public domain · Pilot Mountain: Berean Hunter, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Grayson Highlands State Park: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Moses H. Cone Memorial Park: Bill Russ photographer, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sparta, 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 Sparta.
About one in 4 of Sparta’s working residents works in town. Sparta’s average trip to work is 15 minutes, below both the North Carolina town median (24 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). 22% of Sparta residents live below the poverty line.
| Sparta | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 22% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $42,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Alleghany County Schools. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Alleghany High, with 395 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sparta ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 523 | C |
| Alleghany HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 395 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Sparta beats the North Carolina average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 17% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Sparta.
| Sparta | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Sparta | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.5% | 13.9% |
| More uninsured adults | 16.8% | 10.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.6% | 7.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median rent in Sparta is $563 a month. The typical Sparta home is worth about $245,000, about the same as a year ago, 26% below the North Carolina typical home.
| Sparta | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $563 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 58% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sparta.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Sparta’s July high is 80°F. Sparta has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Sparta | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Memorial Park | 0.4 mi | 10 |
| 2. Crouse Park | — | 5 |
| 3. Sam Brown Park | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Sparta; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Sparta residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Sparta is a town and the county seat of Alleghany County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 1,834.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
