Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Tarboro grades D− overall, 269th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns, mostly because of safety and schools. Its police reported 43 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 89% of U.S. towns. Its schools rank behind 85% of the state's. It also has a long history, with 16 places on the National Register. 27% of working residents work locally in Tarboro, above both the North Carolina town median (6.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Coolmore Plantation and Tarboro Town Common.
Where Tarboro beats most towns.
Coolmore Plantation| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Edgecombe Community College | 223 |
Montrezl HarrellCoolmore Plantation is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 523 in 1810, 10,721 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1767 and 2 maps from 1902 on.
16 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Tarboro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Tarboro, 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 Tarboro.
Tarboro draws workers from Rocky Mount and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
6,772 jobs are based in Tarboro, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 4 of Tarboro’s working residents works in town. 19% of Tarboro residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Tarboro has lost 1,027 jobs, to 6,772 in 2023.
| Tarboro | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Edgecombe County Public Schools. Three of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Tarboro High, with 496 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Millennium AcademyLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 548 | D |
| North East Carolina PrepLargest public high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 1,107 | C |
| Edgecombe Early College HighTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 171 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
At 2.6 years of the Rocky Mount metro’s $60K median household income, the typical home (about $157K) costs less against local pay than in 94% of North Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living. 64.1% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.9% across North Carolina.
The typical Tarboro home is worth about $157,000, down 0.6% in a year, 53% below the North Carolina typical home. 57% of households own their home in Tarboro.
| Tarboro | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 57% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $843 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Reported crimes fell from 347 to 264 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Tarboro’s violent crime rate is 3.9 per 1,000 residents. Tarboro reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 89% report less. Tarboro’s property crime rate is 20 per 1,000 residents.
| Tarboro | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.9 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 20 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 5,724 U.S. towns with household incomes like Tarboro’s, it is less healthy than 50%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Tarboro beats the North Carolina average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16.
| Tarboro | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 16% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Tarboro | NC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.1% | 14.7% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.7% | 76.7% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 5.5% | 3.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
People 65 and older are 29% of residents (17% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 14% of residents (23% statewide). The median age in Tarboro is 51.2 years. Tarboro has grown 2.5% since 2020, to 10,979 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Tarboro | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 29% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 51.2 years | 40.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 19% | 22% | 22% |
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women.
| Tarboro | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.2% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.7% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.1% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.6% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.3% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 14% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.3% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38.7% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.7% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.7% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.4% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.2% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
3.2 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Sunset Park, at 21 acres.
| Tarboro | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sunset Park | — | 21 |
| 2. Clark Memorial Park | 0.2 mi | 20 |
| 3. Tarboro Swimming Pool Complex | 0.2 mi | 10 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Tarboro has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 31° and about 5 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 94 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Tarboro.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Tarboro
About 3 of every 100 Tarboro residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Where Tarboro’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
16 places in Tarboro on the National Register of Historic Places.
24 notable people were born in Tarboro.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Tarboro is a town in and the county seat of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 10,721. The town is on the opposite bank of the Tar River from Princeville. It is also part of the Rocky Mount-Wilson-Roanoke Rapids CSA. Tarboro is located near the western edge of North Carolina's coastal plain. It has many historical churches, some dating from as early as 1742. Tarboro is also home to the headquarters of World Cat Boats, a catamaran boat manufacturer with over 80,000 customers across the globe. Tarboro was chartered by British colonists in 1760. Located in a bend of the Tar River,…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Tarboro grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #269 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 35% of towns.
That is 2.6 years of the area's median household income ($59,636 across the Rocky Mount, 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+.
24 notable people were born here, including Montrezl Harrell and Ben Jones.
