Town · Davidson County, North Carolina

Denton, North Carolina

Denton is a town in Davidson County, North Carolina, part of the Winston-Salem, NC metro area. It has 1,506 residents. Denton, North Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 17 out of 100 (very low), ranking #12,979 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within North Carolina it ranks #372 of 458 cities and towns. It ranks best on income inequality (Gini index) (low), distance to an Amtrak station (low) and drinking water violations (low). It ranks worst on uninsured residents (under 65) (high), frequent mental distress (high) and adult smoking (high).

17Very low

Quality-of-life score: #12,979 of 15,651 cities and towns
North Carolina: #372 of 458 in NC
Population: 1,506 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 716.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 3716980

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety26#11,594/15,637
Economy25#11,799/15,631
Housing46#8,159/14,977
Health4#14,947/15,609
Healthcare5#14,901/15,650
Environment57#6,635/15,453
Education30#10,994/15,649
Infrastructure36#10,068/15,650
Community43#8,903/15,651
Leisure & amenities33#10,526/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Denton, North Carolina ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Davidson 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

Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.364
87/100North Carolina 0.477United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Distance to an Amtrak station · low7 mi
86/100North Carolina 23 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDavidson County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100North Carolina 0United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDavidson County value
Days with unhealthy air · low0.0%
84/1002025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDavidson County value
Job growth · high1.3%
82/100North Carolina 0.8%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataDavidson County value
Comfortable days · high30.4%
80/100North Carolina 30.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationDavidson County value

Weaknesses

Uninsured residents (under 65) · high32.6%
3/100North Carolina 10.2%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Frequent mental distress · high22.4%
4/100North Carolina 18.8%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Adult smoking · high22.9%
4/100North Carolina 16.2%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Depression · high30.9%
5/100North Carolina 24.8%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Dentists · low22 /100k
6/100North Carolina 62 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDavidson County value
Primary care physicians · low26 /100k
9/100North Carolina 71 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDavidson County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,660 (2015-2019) → 1,506 (2020-2024)
−9.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
11.3% (2015-2019) → 32.6% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.6% (2015-2019) → 89.7% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
52.0% (2015-2019) → 63.4% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,931 (2015-2019) → $50,847 (2020-2024)
+46%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Poverty rateImproving
20.7% (2015-2019) → 14.8% (2020-2024)
−5.9 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, Denton, North Carolina improved on 3 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 8 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.

Improved3

Broadband+19 points70.6% → 89.7%
Inequality−0.0710.435 → 0.364
Household income+46%$34,931 → $50,847

Declined1

Uninsured+21 points11.3% → 32.6%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Denton, North Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.9 min2015-2019	31.3 min2020-2024	+4.4 min	Within the margin of error	12%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.2%2015-2019	11.7%2020-2024	−3.6 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Broadband subscriptions	70.6%2015-2019	89.7%2020-2024	+19 points	Improved	89%
Effective property tax rate	1.02%2015-2019	0.78%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	64%
High school diploma or higher	79.2%2015-2019	80.5%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	50%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.3×2020-2024	+0.6×	Within the margin of error	44%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4352015-2019	0.3642020-2024	−0.071	Improved	91%
Median household income	$34,9312015-2019	$50,8472020-2024	+46%	Improved	81%
Poverty rate	20.7%2015-2019	14.8%2020-2024	−5.9 points	Within the margin of error	84%
Rent as share of income	31.7%2015-2019	36.6%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Within the margin of error	23%
Rent-burdened households	52.0%2015-2019	63.4%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	21%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.3%2015-2019	32.6%2020-2024	+21 points	Declined	0%

“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 Denton, North Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Denton, 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, Denton, North Carolina itself moved +0.9 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

1,506 residents (±369)

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

619 households (±130)

Denton, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $25k19%†119
$25k–50k29%†180
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

619 households (±130)

Denton, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Own65%401
Rent35%†218

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

676 workers (±186)

Denton, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Drive alone87%586
Carpool5.9%†40
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Winston-Salem, NC

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 Davidson County, the county holding most of Denton's residents.

Davidson County has 2,994 employer establishments, 171 for every 10,000 residents (0.69× the US rate of 248; 0.72× North Carolina's), with 41,445 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,072. The Census Bureau also counts 13,909 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 2,994; 13,909 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 171; US 248 · North Carolina 237
Paid employees: 41,445
Average annual pay: $49,072; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	265	15.1	0.98×About typical	1,688	$54,551	1,243
Restaurants and other eating places	231	13.2	0.72×Fewer than typical	4,572	$23,028	54
Religious organizations	152	8.7	1.57×More than typical	870	$20,998	—
Ambulatory health care services	129	7.4	0.35×Fewer than typical	2,079	$65,520	411
Building equipment contractors	123	7	1.17×About typical	789	$48,340	230
Construction of buildings	123	7	0.93×About typical	381	$48,336	560
Services to buildings and dwellings	122	7	1.03×About typical	728	$36,764	1,228
Limited-service restaurants	111	6.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	2,629	$26,544	14
Lessors of real estate	110	6.3	0.51×Fewer than typical	287	$45,847	1,138
Full-service restaurants	105	6	0.78×Fewer than typical	1,806	$18,544	24
Automotive repair and maintenance	103	5.9	1.17×About typical	435	$39,122	295
Truck transportation	80	4.6	0.90×About typical	526	$54,525	427

Rank places for an industry Open Davidson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 174,974 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 $536 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Denton, North Carolina: $0.36 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $536; +37% vs FY2025
Per resident: $0.36; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 91%; 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

Defense Logistics Agency$536100%

Top recipients

MCSALES LLC$536100%

Spending by fiscal year

2.2KFY2017
6.2KFY2018
436.2FY2019
2.2KFY2020
313.7FY2021
390.7FY2025
536.1FY2026

What was bought

Other equipment & supplies

Top industries (NAICS)

Engine, turbine, and power transmission equipment manufacturing · 3336$52698%
Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329$10.071.9%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 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 Denton, North Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Denton, North Carolina's figures are part of those of Davidson County, NC ($2.9M 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: Denton is mostly in Davidson County.

See federal money in Davidson 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.

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

House

Addison P. McDowellR-NC-6 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.2%

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.

Davidson County43100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Winston-Salem, NC51

Other cities and towns in Davidson 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/3716980

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends