Town · Bladen County, North Carolina

Bladenboro, North Carolina

Bladenboro is a town in Bladen County, North Carolina. It has 2,249 residents. Bladenboro, North Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 10 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,158 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within North Carolina it ranks #428 of 458 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), home price to income ratio (low) and comfortable days (high). It ranks worst on job growth (low), drug overdose deaths (high) and dental care shortage (high).

10Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,158 of 15,651 cities and towns
North Carolina: #428 of 458 in NC
Population: 2,249 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 1,015.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 3706240

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety8#14,398/15,637
Economy14#13,403/15,631
Housing73#4,034/14,977
Health6#14,633/15,609
Healthcare3#15,184/15,650
Environment31#10,739/15,453
Education6#14,736/15,649
Infrastructure28#11,205/15,650
Community58#6,584/15,651
Leisure & amenities11#13,913/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bladenboro, North Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bladen County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Social associations · high15.9 /10k
94/100North Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBladen County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
91/100North Carolina 4.0×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Comfortable days · high31.6%
85/100North Carolina 30.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBladen County value
Voter turnout · high74.5%
84/100North Carolina 72.9%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionBladen County value
Grocery stores · high2.3 /10k
84/100North Carolina 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBladen County value
Public libraries · high1.3 /10k
83/100North Carolina 0.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesBladen County value

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-6.3%
1/100North Carolina 0.8%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBladen County value
Drug overdose deaths · high50.9 /100k
1/100North Carolina 20.6 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBladen County value
Dental care shortage · high20.0
1/100North Carolina 11.5United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBladen County value
Premature death · high16,972 /100k
2/100North Carolina 9,400 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBladen County value
Injury deaths · high162 /100k
2/100North Carolina 97 /100kUnited States 87 /100k2019-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBladen County value
Life expectancy · low70.1 yrs
3/100North Carolina 76.1 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBladen County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
1,659 (2015-2019) → 2,249 (2020-2024)
+36%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
69.3% (2015-2019) → 90.2% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateWorsening
25.3% (2015-2019) → 38.8% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Unemployment rateImproving
14.3% (2015-2019) → 3.6% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$36,641 (2015-2019) → $52,337 (2020-2024)
+43%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Poverty rateWorsening
20.5% (2015-2019) → 27.3% (2020-2024)
+6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Bladenboro, North Carolina improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+21 points69.3% → 90.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Bladenboro, North Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.8 min2015-2019	22.2 min2020-2024	+0.4 min	Within the margin of error	42%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.0%2015-2019	13.6%2020-2024	+4.6 points	Within the margin of error	64%
Broadband subscriptions	69.3%2015-2019	90.2%2020-2024	+21 points	Improved	91%
Child poverty rate	25.3%2015-2019	38.8%2020-2024	+14 points	Within the margin of error	9%
Effective property tax rate	1.45%2015-2019	0.93%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Within the margin of error	91%
High school diploma or higher	82.7%2015-2019	82.4%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	30%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	1.9×2020-2024	+0.1×	Within the margin of error	72%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4642015-2019	0.4922020-2024	+0.029	Within the margin of error	28%
Median household income	$36,6412015-2019	$52,3372020-2024	+43%	Within the margin of error	77%
Poverty rate	20.5%2015-2019	27.3%2020-2024	+6.8 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	12.3%2015-2019	10.3%2020-2024	−2 points	Within the margin of error	69%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Bladenboro, North Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bladenboro, North Carolina in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Bladenboro, North Carolina itself moved +5.4 points in standing on average over the same 8 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,249 residents (±540)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

865 households (±168)

Bladenboro, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $25k33%†288
$25k–50k14%†123
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

865 households (±168)

Bladenboro, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Own47%†404
Rent53%461

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

773 workers (±237)

Bladenboro, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Drive alone85%†655
Carpool1.6%†12
Public transit

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Bladen County, the county holding most of Bladenboro's residents.

Bladen County has 540 employer establishments, 183 for every 10,000 residents (0.74× the US rate of 248; 0.77× North Carolina's), with 10,734 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,355. The Census Bureau also counts 2,173 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 540; 2,173 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 183; US 248 · North Carolina 237
Paid employees: 10,734
Average annual pay: $49,355; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Bladen County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Religious organizations	47	15.9	2.86×More than typical	205	$18,668	—
Restaurants and other eating places	43	14.5	0.79×Fewer than typical	618	$19,217	8
Truck transportation	32	10.8	2.14×More than typical	573	$68,169	98
Specialty trade contractors	31	10.5	0.68×Fewer than typical	134	$45,940	192
Ambulatory health care services	26	8.8	0.42×Fewer than typical	247	$46,227	76
Limited-service restaurants	26	8.8	1.10×About typical	411	$20,467	—
Lessors of real estate	19	6.4	0.52×Fewer than typical	41	$27,756	163
Gasoline stations	18	6.1	1.88×More than typical	135	$26,141	—
Building equipment contractors	17	5.7	0.95×About typical	75	$43,867	44
Full-service restaurants	15	5.1	0.66×Fewer than typical	153	$18,941	4
General merchandise stores	15	5.1	2.87×More than typical	214	$26,785	15
Grocery and convenience stores	15	5.1	1.71×More than typical	206	$22,888	16

Rank places for an industry Open Bladen County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 29,586 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Bladenboro, North Carolina: $0 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,995
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

27.4FY2017
8.9FY2019

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 7, 2026, loaded Oct 7, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Bladenboro, North Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Bladenboro, North Carolina's figures are part of those of Bladen County, NC ($5.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Bladenboro is mostly in Bladen County.

See federal money in Bladen County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Bladenboro, North Carolina is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

David RouzerR-NC-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 1.5%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Bladen County6100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Bladen County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3706240

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends