Census-designated place · Wilkes County, North Carolina

Fairplains, North Carolina

Fairplains is a census-designated place in Wilkes County, North Carolina, part of the North Wilkesboro, NC metro area. It has 1,803 residents. Fairplains, North Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 21 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,367 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within North Carolina it ranks #342 of 458 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), job growth (high) and social associations (high). It ranks worst on median household income (low), primary care shortage (high) and unemployment rate (high).

21Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,367 of 15,651 cities and towns
North Carolina: #342 of 458 in NC
Population: 1,803 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 428.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 3722380

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety36#10,016/15,637
Economy7#14,531/15,631
Housing78#3,221/14,977
Health3#15,105/15,609
Healthcare14#13,503/15,650
Environment63#5,763/15,453
Education40#9,419/15,649
Infrastructure25#11,763/15,650
Community48#8,122/15,651
Leisure & amenities10#14,123/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Rent-burdened households · low40.8%
96/100North Carolina 48.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Job growth · high2.1%
89/100North Carolina 0.8%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataWilkes County value
Social associations · high13.6 /10k
85/100North Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWilkes County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.333
83/100North Carolina 0.477United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Effective property tax rate · low0.60%
80/100North Carolina 0.66%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
High ozone days · low0 days
76/100North Carolina 1 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyWilkes County value

Weaknesses

Median household income · low$38,585
5/100North Carolina $74,055United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100North Carolina 9.9United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationWilkes County value
Unemployment rate · high12.3%
5/100North Carolina 3.8%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Adult smoking · high22.0%
6/100North Carolina 16.2%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Arts, entertainment and recreation · low1.8 /10k
9/100North Carolina 4.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWilkes County value
Poor or fair health · high28.4%
9/100North Carolina 19.6%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,065 (2015-2019) → 1,803 (2020-2024)
−13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
31.2% (2015-2019) → 66.4% (2020-2024)
+35 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
65.0% (2015-2019) → 87.5% (2020-2024)
+23 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateWorsening
20.4% (2015-2019) → 36.3% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
29.0% (2015-2019) → 17.9% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.5× (2015-2019) → 3.6× (2020-2024)
+46%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

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, Fairplains, North Carolina improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 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+23 points65.0% → 87.5%

Declined1

Price / income+1.1×2.5× → 3.6×

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Fairplains, North Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.0 min2015-2019	24.9 min2020-2024	+2.9 min	Within the margin of error	20%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.2%2015-2019	13.6%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Broadband subscriptions	65.0%2015-2019	87.5%2020-2024	+23 points	Improved	93%
Effective property tax rate	0.69%2015-2019	0.60%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	34%
High school diploma or higher	76.4%2015-2019	76.9%2020-2024	+0.5 points	Within the margin of error	39%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	3.6×2020-2024	+1.1×	Declined	17%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3942015-2019	0.3332020-2024	−0.062	Within the margin of error	88%
Median household income	$39,6952015-2019	$38,5852020-2024	−2.8%	Within the margin of error	6%
Poverty rate	20.4%2015-2019	36.3%2020-2024	+16 points	Within the margin of error	1%
Rent-burdened households	45.4%2015-2019	40.8%2020-2024	−4.6 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	29.0%2015-2019	17.9%2020-2024	−11 points	Within the margin of error	97%

“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 Fairplains, North Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fairplains, 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, Fairplains, North Carolina itself moved −0.6 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

1,803 residents (±417)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 40–49 men (−8.4 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,803 residents (±417)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

White72%1,298
Black6.4%†115
Hispanic or Latino21%†380

Education

1,225 residents (±287)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

No high school diploma23%†283
High school or GED37%†459
Some college

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

753 households (±161)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $25k27%†202
$25k–50k45%†336
$50k–75k18%†134
$75k–100k4.3%†32
$100k–150k6.5%†49
$150k–200k0.0%0
$200k or more0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $75k–100k (−11.7 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

753 households (±161)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Own62%†465
Rent38%†288

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

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

196 households (±102)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $75078%†152
$750–1,0007.7%†15
$1,000–1,5004.1%†

Home values

465 homes (±150)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $150k56%†262
$150k–250k37%†173
$250k–400k6.5%†30

Age of homes

863 homes (±163)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

2010 or later0.0%0
2000–20092.9%†25
1980–199925%†218

Size of homes

863 homes (±163)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom11%†92
2 bedrooms31%†268

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

548 workers (±169)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Drive alone94%†516
Carpool3.7%†20
Public transit0.5%†3
Walk0.0%0
Bike0.0%0
Work from home1.6%†9
Other0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Drive alone (+16.6 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

539 workers (±169)

Fairplains, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under 15 min26%†140
15–29 min47%†253
30–44 min7.4%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 North Wilkesboro, 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 Wilkes County, the county holding most of Fairplains's residents.

Wilkes County has 1,157 employer establishments, 175 for every 10,000 residents (0.71× the US rate of 248; 0.74× North Carolina's), with 19,772 paid employees at an average annual pay of $41,429. The Census Bureau also counts 4,964 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,157; 4,964 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 175; US 248 · North Carolina 237
Paid employees: 19,772
Average annual pay: $41,429; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	87	13.2	0.72×Fewer than typical	1,703	$16,879	28
Specialty trade contractors	86	13	0.84×About typical	558	$53,385	613
Religious organizations	83	12.6	2.27×More than typical	339	$22,799	—
Ambulatory health care services	70	10.6	0.51×Fewer than typical	940	$63,355	120
Gasoline stations	44	6.7	2.06×More than typical	220	$20,455	3
Building equipment contractors	43	6.5	1.08×About typical	289	$47,955	124
Limited-service restaurants	42	6.4	0.79×Fewer than typical	912	$17,468	10
Construction of buildings	39	5.9	0.78×Fewer than typical	130	$47,854	262
Full-service restaurants	36	5.5	0.71×Fewer than typical	668	$16,180	15
Lessors of real estate	34	5.1	0.42×Fewer than typical	195	$18,785	340
Automotive repair and maintenance	28	4.2	0.84×About typical	172	$38,134	135
Services to buildings and dwellings	27	4.1	0.61×Fewer than typical	274	$27,865	483

Rank places for an industry Open Wilkes County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 66,024 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 Fairplains, 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

4.2KFY2017
4.2KFY2018
23.1KFY2021
42.6KFY2022
-27.6KFY2023

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Fairplains, North Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Fairplains, North Carolina's figures are part of those of Wilkes County, NC ($2.1M 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: Fairplains is mostly in Wilkes County.

See federal money in Wilkes 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.

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

House

Virginia FoxxR-NC-5 · 100% of residentsWith party 100%Missed 0.4%

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.

Wilkes County33100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

North Wilkesboro, NC28

Other cities and towns in Wilkes 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

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