Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,252, settled in 1923.
Spring Lake earns a D, 224th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns, mostly because of safety and incomes. Its police reported 58 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 91% of U.S. towns. The median household income is $52K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: it has 46 miles of trail and 82% conserved land. 82% of the land in Spring Lake is conserved, above both North Carolina’s towns (3.4%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Spring Lake's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 92% of U.S. towns. Among 290 North Carolina towns, just 1 have a lower share of households owning their home than Spring Lake.
Where Spring Lake beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
81.9% of the town is conserved land, across 5 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Spring Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,110 in 1960, 11,660 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2014 and 5 maps from 1948 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Spring Lake, 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 Spring Lake.
Spring Lake keeps more of its land conserved than most of North Carolina, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and trades workers with Fayetteville and other neighbors.
Its 12,432 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other North Carolina town.
46 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. At 2.0 miles per square mile, Spring Lake’s trail density is above both the North Carolina town median (0.2) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest park or preserve is Mendoza Park, at 33 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Air Park | 0.9 mi | 5 |
| 2. Mendoza Park | — | 33 |
| 3. Spring Lake Park Site 3 | — | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Cumberland County Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 500 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Spring Lake’s violent crime rate is 5 per 1,000 residents. Spring Lake reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 91% report less. Spring Lake’s property crime rate is 26.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Spring Lake | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 26.6 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Spring Lake home is worth about $257,000, about the same as a year ago, 23% below the North Carolina typical home. The median rent in Spring Lake is $1,351 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Spring Lake has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 91°, January nights drop to 32° and about 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Spring Lake has about as many jobs (2,735) as working residents, but only 177 people both live and work here. The average commute takes 18.9 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
Most working residents leave Spring Lake for work: only 6% work in town. 3.3% of Spring Lake workers work from home. Since 2013, Spring Lake has lost 252 jobs, to 2,735 in 2023.
| Spring Lake | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 3.3% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 6,450 U.S. towns with household incomes like Spring Lake’s, it is healthier than 80%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
40% of adults feel lonely in Spring Lake. Only 7 of the 289 North Carolina towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent mental distress than Spring Lake. 12% of adults report frequent physical distress in Spring Lake.
| Spring Lake | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 34% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 17% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Spring Lake | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 3.8% | 7.9% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.4% | 6.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 13.2% | 8.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 2016, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Spring Lake.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Spring Lake. Close and well known come first.
3 mi Museum82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum
11 mi MuseumAirborne & Special Operations Museum37 mi Zoo & aquariumCarolina Tiger Rescue
21 mi MuseumWeymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve
12 mi GardenCape Fear Botanical Garden
38 mi MuseumHarper House82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum: Dragases (talk), Public domain · Airborne & Special Operations Museum: US Army, Public domain · Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve: Wyatt Greene, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cape Fear Botanical Garden: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Harper House: Bentonvilleshs, CC BY-SA 4.0
5 within 15 miles of the center of Spring Lake
About 10 of every 100 Spring Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
3 notable people were born in Spring Lake.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Spring Lake is a town in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Spring Lake had a population of 11,660.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Spring Lake.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake | #224 | D | C | D | C+ | C+ |
| Fayetteville | #245 | D | C | D | C+ | C+ |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Spring Lake grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #224 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 31% of towns.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($61,763 across the Fayetteville, 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 C.
3 notable people were born here, including Harold Landry and Marvin W. Lucas.
