Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Spruce Pine’s best subject grade is a B for the outdoors; its weakest is a C− for incomes. Only 1 of the 291 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower July high than Spruce Pine. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 76% of U.S. towns. Only 3 of the 291 North Carolina towns we compare have a lower January low than Spruce Pine. Spruce Pine has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Henry Willis House and Church of the Resurrection. Spruce Pine has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Spruce Pine beats most towns.
Where Spruce Pine’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 Spruce Pine is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 717 in 1920, 2,194 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 4 maps from 1934 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Spruce Pine. Close and well known come first.
3 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
Big draw15 mi MountainMount Mitchell
20 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain
9 mi Park & preserveLinville Gorge Wilderness30 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad
8 mi WaterfallLinville FallsBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Mount Mitchell: Unknown, Public domain · 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 · Linville Falls: Ken Thomas, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Spruce Pine, 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 Spruce Pine.
Most working residents leave Spruce Pine for work: only 16% work in town. 23% of residents live below the poverty line in Spruce Pine, above both the North Carolina town median (13%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). The median household income in Spruce Pine is $42,000.
| Spruce Pine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 23% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $42,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spruce Pine Montessori School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 55 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
The typical Spruce Pine home is worth about $253,000, up 2.6% in a year, 24% below the North Carolina typical home. Spruce Pine’s median rent is $837 a month, against $1,085 a month in North Carolina’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns.
| Spruce Pine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $837 a month | $1,085 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 64% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Spruce Pine has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 25° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Spruce Pine's reported crime rate is below North Carolina's. Spruce Pine’s violent crime rate is 0.9 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Spruce Pine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.9 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.7 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 15.1 per 1,000 residents | 24 | 11.5 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 54% of U.S. communities. Since 1987, 6 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Spruce Pine.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1.5 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Brad Regan Memorial Park, at 22 acres.
| Spruce Pine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 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. Brad Regan Memorial Park | — | 22 |
| 2. Riverside Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Spruce Pine beats the North Carolina average on 3 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 32% of Spruce Pine adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Spruce Pine | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 25% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Spruce Pine | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.9% | 13.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 9.9% | 12.2% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.3% | 7.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Spruce Pine
About 5 of every 100 Spruce Pine residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
2 places in Spruce Pine on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in the United States
Spruce Pine is the largest town in Mitchell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. The Spruce Pine Mining District is one of the only places in the world where high-purity quartz can be found.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.4 years of the area's median household income ($57,602 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
2 notable people were born here, including Claude "Hoot" Gibson and Gerri Willis.
