Census-designated place · Richmond County, North Carolina

East Rockingham, North Carolina

East Rockingham is a census-designated place in Richmond County, North Carolina, part of the Rockingham, NC metro area. It has 2,779 residents. East Rockingham, North Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 7 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,515 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within North Carolina it ranks #439 of 458 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an Amtrak station (low), mammography screening (high) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on homicide rate (high), premature death (high) and life expectancy (low).

7Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,515 of 15,651 cities and towns
North Carolina: #439 of 458 in NC
Population: 2,779 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 812.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 3719800

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety0#15,573/15,637
Economy14#13,427/15,631
Housing51#7,286/14,977
Health1#15,452/15,609
Healthcare4#14,953/15,650
Environment59#6,402/15,453
Education9#14,233/15,649
Infrastructure16#13,138/15,650
Community29#11,079/15,651
Leisure & amenities40#9,322/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Distance to an Amtrak station · low5 mi
96/100North Carolina 23 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauRichmond County value
Mammography screening · high56.0%
94/100North Carolina 50.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRichmond County value
Social associations · high15.1 /10k
91/100North Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRichmond County value
Grocery stores · high2.4 /10k
86/100North Carolina 1.8 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRichmond County value
Job growth · high1.1%
79/100North Carolina 0.8%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataRichmond County value
High ozone days · low0 days
76/100North Carolina 1 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyRichmond County value

Weaknesses

Homicide rate · high23.6 /100k
1/100North Carolina 6.9 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataRichmond County value
Premature death · high18,304 /100k
1/100North Carolina 9,400 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRichmond County value
Life expectancy · low68.3 yrs
1/100North Carolina 76.1 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRichmond County value
Property crime rate · high3,344 /100k
1/100North Carolina 1,780 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCovers part of the area: some reporting agencies or member counties have no figureRichmond County value
Adult smoking · high26.2%
1/100North Carolina 16.2%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Firearm deaths · high33.1 /100k
2/100North Carolina 16.2 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataRichmond County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
3,086 (2015-2019) → 2,779 (2020-2024)
−9.9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
93.9% (2015-2019) → 43.8% (2020-2024)
−50 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
51.0% (2015-2019) → 24.1% (2020-2024)
−27 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
63.4% (2015-2019) → 84.2% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Average commute timeWorsening
18.0 min (2015-2019) → 36.0 min (2020-2024)
+101%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$22,227 (2015-2019) → $34,355 (2020-2024)
+55%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, East Rockingham, North Carolina improved on 4 of 13 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.

Improved4

Rent / income−27 points51.0% → 24.1%
Rent burden−50 points93.9% → 43.8%
Broadband+21 points63.4% → 84.2%
Household income+55%$22,227 → $34,355

Declined1

Price / income+1.0×2.2× → 3.3×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of East Rockingham, North Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	18.0 min2015-2019	36.0 min2020-2024	+18.1 min	Within the margin of error	0%
Broadband subscriptions	63.4%2015-2019	84.2%2020-2024	+21 points	Improved	91%
Child poverty rate	48.5%2015-2019	58.1%2020-2024	+9.5 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Effective property tax rate	0.86%2015-2019	1.34%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	0%
High school diploma or higher	75.6%2015-2019	75.7%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	34%
Home price to income ratio	2.2×2015-2019	3.3×2020-2024	+1.0×	Declined	22%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4732015-2019	0.5792020-2024	+0.106	Within the margin of error	4%
Median household income	$22,2272015-2019	$34,3552020-2024	+55%	Improved	88%
Poverty rate	37.9%2015-2019	31.0%2020-2024	−6.9 points	Within the margin of error	87%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	51.0%2015-2019	24.1%2020-2024	−27 points	Improved	100%
Rent-burdened households	93.9%2015-2019	43.8%2020-2024	−50 points	Improved	99%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	20.0%2015-2019	15.5%2020-2024	−4.5 points	Within the margin of error	84%

“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 East Rockingham, North Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of East Rockingham, 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, East Rockingham, North Carolina itself moved −0.1 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

2,779 residents (±691)

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

1,325 households (±266)

East Rockingham, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $25k25%†333
$25k–50k37%†494
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,325 households (±266)

East Rockingham, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Own55%†734
Rent45%591

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

988 workers (±296)

East Rockingham, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Drive alone92%†908
Carpool5.7%†56
Public transit

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 Rockingham, 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 Richmond County, the county holding most of East Rockingham's residents.

Richmond County has 814 employer establishments, 193 for every 10,000 residents (0.78× the US rate of 248; 0.81× North Carolina's), with 12,523 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,073. The Census Bureau also counts 2,743 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 814; 2,743 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 193; US 248 · North Carolina 237
Paid employees: 12,523
Average annual pay: $45,073; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	62	14.7	0.71×Fewer than typical	860	$62,340	149
Restaurants and other eating places	62	14.7	0.80×About typical	912	$15,645	13
Religious organizations	61	14.5	2.61×More than typical	255	$19,353	—
Specialty trade contractors	46	10.9	0.71×Fewer than typical	331	$64,574	207
Lessors of real estate	33	7.8	0.64×Fewer than typical	65	$21,292	182
Gasoline stations	32	7.6	2.34×More than typical	160	$26,913	—
Limited-service restaurants	32	7.6	0.95×About typical	637	$15,959	3
Building equipment contractors	31	7.4	1.22×About typical	226	$50,066	43
Automotive repair and maintenance	27	6.4	1.27×More than typical	64	$42,250	69
Grocery and convenience stores	26	6.2	2.08×More than typical	384	$18,734	7
Full-service restaurants	24	5.7	0.74×Fewer than typical	239	$15,385	5
Truck transportation	22	5.2	1.03×About typical	83	$57,928	92

Rank places for an industry Open Richmond County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 42,115 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 $9,562 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in East Rockingham, North Carolina: $3.44 per resident (US $2,007).

Obligations: $9,562; +9.4% vs FY2025
Per resident: $3.44; US $2,007
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 5.7%; US 8.7%

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

Top buying agencies

Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$8,80692%
Federal Acquisition Service$7567.9%

Top recipients

CAROLINA OPPORTUNITY SALES, INC$8,80692%
WJC, INC.$7567.9%
GARCIA FOREST SERVICE LLC$00.0%

Spending by fiscal year

14.6KFY2017
11KFY2018
9.6KFY2019
5.7KFY2020
4.5KFY2021
7.3KFY2022
24.2KFY2023
10.9KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Animal slaughtering and processing · 3116$4,86951%
Other food manufacturing · 3119$3,93841%
Motor vehicle manufacturing · 3361$7567.9%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 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 East Rockingham, North Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

East Rockingham, North Carolina's figures are part of those of Richmond County, NC ($40.6M 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: East Rockingham is mostly in Richmond County.

See federal money in Richmond 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.

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

House

Mark HarrisR-NC-8 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.0%

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.

Richmond County14100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Rockingham, NC6

Other cities and towns in Richmond 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/3719800

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends