Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wallace grades D− overall, 275th of 286 graded towns in North Carolina, mostly because of incomes and safety. The median household income is $51K, and 30% of residents live below the poverty line. Its police reported 12 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 92% of U.S. towns. It also has a long history, with 3 places on the National Register. 30% of residents live below the poverty line in Wallace, against 13% in North Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. On civic life, just 24 of North Carolina’s 331 towns do better. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top.
Where Wallace beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
3,880 counted in 2010 and 3,413 in 2020; an estimated 3,570 in 2025.
The decline has turned around: up 5.7% since 2020, after a 12% drop in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Wallace is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 119 in 1890, 3,413 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1999.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Wallace, 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 Wallace.
Wallace draws workers from Wilmington and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of North Carolina (mostly hurricanes).
1,926 jobs are based in Wallace, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 18.4 minutes, against 25.1 across North Carolina.
Most working residents leave Wallace for work: only 10% work in town. Wallace’s average trip to work is 18 minutes. The top destinations are Raleigh (5%), Burgaw (4%) and Kenansville (4%).
| Wallace | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Duplin County Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallace ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 1,120 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 208 to 119 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Wallace is 30 per 1,000 residents. Wallace reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 92% report less. The violent crime rate in Wallace is 3.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Wallace | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 30 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 82% of North Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $904 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1992, 41 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Wallace.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Home values rose 41% in five years, to about $216K, against 22% across North Carolina.
The typical Wallace home is worth about $216,000, up 1.6% in a year, 35% below the North Carolina typical home. 58% of households own their home in Wallace.
| Wallace | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 58% | 67% | 73% |
| Median rent | $881 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 6,213 U.S. towns with household incomes like Wallace’s, it is healthier than 59%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Wallace beats the North Carolina average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16. 17% of Wallace adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Wallace | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 10% | 8.1% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 44% | 38% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 16% |
| What stands out | Wallace | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.3% | 76.7% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.7% | 13.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Wallace has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 33° and snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Wallace
About 5 of every 100 Wallace residents are enrolled in college, about the same as North Carolina.
Where Wallace’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
7 notable people were born in Wallace.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Wallace is a town in Duplin and Pender counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,883 at the 2020 census. The Pender County portion of Wallace is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town of Wallace was first known as Duplin Crossroads and was incorporated into existence in 1873. Later in 1899, the town fathers decided to adopt the new name, Wallace, to honor Stephen D. Wallace, an official of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. Wallace is Duplin County's largest population and retail trade center serving over 50,000 people in a surrounding three county area. SouthPark, an industrial park, is open near I-40 in Wallace. Low tax rates are an incentiv…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Wallace grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #275 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 29% of towns.
That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($55,148 across the county).
7 notable people were born here, including M. L. Carr and Javonte Williams.