Photo: User:Dincher · CC BY-SA 3.0Living in Tar Heel, NC: what to set up and who to call
Power in Tar Heel comes from Four County Elec Member, a cooperative utility rather than a private company. Brightspeed and Spectrum wire most of Tar Heel, and 98% of addresses can get fiber.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Tar Heel, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Tar Heel.
Power comes from Four County Elec Member
Four County Elec Member (Four County Elec Member Corp), a cooperative utility, serves all of Tar Heel. Its homes paid an average of 15.1¢ per kWh in 2025, about $193 a month (its average across North Carolina).
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from Bladen Co Wtr Dist-West Bladen
Bladen Co Wtr Dist-West Bladen supplies Tar Heel: about 15% of residents live in its service area. About 85% of homes are outside any mapped community water system, most likely on private wells, which EPA doesn’t regulate. It draws ground water (EPA lists Town of Elizabethtown and Town of Bladenboro and Town of Clarkton and Town of East Arcadia as sellers) and serves 14,408 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 83% of the 3,525 systems serving 10,001–50,000 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jan 2023–Dec 2025, was 0.0 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. Results below detection are reported as 0, so 0 doesn’t mean no lead at any tap.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. NC0309055.
6 home internet providers serve Tar Heel
98% of 73 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 98% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brightspeed | DSL | 85% | 60/5 |
| Spectrum | Fiber, Cable | 82% | 1,000/1,000 |
| Focus Broadband | Fiber | 62% | 1,000/1,000 |
| Verizon | Fixed wireless | 79% | 300/20 |
| AT&T | Fixed wireless | 70% | 25/3 |
| T-Mobile | Fixed wireless | 60% | 100/20 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
We don’t have Tar Heel’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Tar Heel.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Tar Heel is in Bladen County Schools.
Test scores and every school: see Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated May 2019; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Tar Heel is in ZIP code 28392
ZIP codes where Tar Heel residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Tar Heel | ZIP’s residents in Tar Heel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28392 | Tar Heel, NC | 100% | 7% |
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Tar Heel
Who supplies Tar Heel’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
Bladen Co Wtr Dist-West Bladen (EPA ID NC0309055). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 83% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 0.0 ppb (Jan 2023–Dec 2025), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Tar Heel?
Four County Elec Member (Four County Elec Member Corp), a cooperative utility. Its homes paid about 15.1¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Tar Heel?
Brightspeed, Spectrum, Focus Broadband, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Tar Heel?
28392. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Tar Heel in?
Bladen County Schools.
How do I register to vote in Tar Heel?
In North Carolina you can register online until 25 days before Election Day, in person with same-day registration during the early voting period, or by mail (postmarked 25 days before). Elections here are run by the Bladen County Board of Elections. Check your registration at vt.ncsbe.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.