Town · Jackson County, North Carolina

Sylva, North Carolina

Sylva is a town in Jackson County, North Carolina. It has 2,646 residents. Sylva, North Carolina has a quality-of-life score of 39 out of 100 (low), ranking #9,596 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within North Carolina it ranks #227 of 458 cities and towns. It ranks best on hot days (low), access to exercise opportunities (high) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (low). It ranks worst on suicide rate (high), dental care shortage (high) and firearm deaths (high).

39Low

Quality-of-life score: #9,596 of 15,651 cities and towns
North Carolina: #227 of 458 in NC
Population: 2,646 (2020-2024)
Land area: 3 mi²
Density: 834.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 3766500

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.

Safety24#11,901/15,637
Economy16#13,207/15,631
Housing70#4,529/14,977
Health24#11,843/15,609
Healthcare36#10,070/15,650
Environment93#1,046/15,453
Education31#10,738/15,649
Infrastructure14#13,477/15,650
Community79#3,356/15,651
Leisure & amenities55#7,018/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Hot days · low0 days
100/100North Carolina 32 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationJackson County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high98.5%
94/100North Carolina 78.0%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJackson County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low6.1 µg/m³
89/100North Carolina 7.5 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyJackson County value
Social associations · high14.4 /10k
89/100North Carolina 11.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJackson County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.52%
86/100North Carolina 0.66%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Mental health providers · high486 /100k
84/100North Carolina 351 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteJackson County value

Weaknesses

Suicide rate · high26.9 /100k
6/100North Carolina 14.7 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataJackson County value
Dental care shortage · high18.0
6/100North Carolina 11.5United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationJackson County value
Firearm deaths · high24.7 /100k
7/100North Carolina 16.2 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataJackson County value
Broadband subscriptions · low82.4%
8/100North Carolina 90.1%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Uninsured residents (under 65) · high27.1%
8/100North Carolina 10.2%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010
Median household income · low$44,086
9/100North Carolina $74,055United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013

Trends

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

Child poverty rateImproving
43.4% (2015-2019) → 20.6% (2020-2024)
−23 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
55.6% (2015-2019) → 33.5% (2020-2024)
−22 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.5% (2015-2019) → 82.4% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
17.3% (2015-2019) → 27.1% (2020-2024)
+9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
High school diploma or higherWorsening
88.8% (2015-2019) → 79.2% (2020-2024)
−9.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
34.0% (2015-2019) → 25.4% (2020-2024)
−8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

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, Sylva, North Carolina improved on 3 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 10 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

Child poverty−23 points43.4% → 20.6%
Rent burden−22 points55.6% → 33.5%
Broadband+12 points70.5% → 82.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Sylva, North Carolina between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.0 min2015-2019	23.6 min2020-2024	+3.6 min	Within the margin of error	16%
Bachelor's degree or higher	37.4%2015-2019	30.7%2020-2024	−6.7 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Broadband subscriptions	70.5%2015-2019	82.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	68%
Child poverty rate	43.4%2015-2019	20.6%2020-2024	−23 points	Improved	95%
Effective property tax rate	0.69%2015-2019	0.52%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
High school diploma or higher	88.8%2015-2019	79.2%2020-2024	−9.6 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Home price to income ratio	4.1×2015-2019	4.6×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	47%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4552015-2019	0.3762020-2024	−0.079	Within the margin of error	92%
Median household income	$35,5832015-2019	$44,0862020-2024	+24%	Within the margin of error	41%
Poverty rate	26.2%2015-2019	19.4%2020-2024	−6.8 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Rent as share of income	34.0%2015-2019	25.4%2020-2024	−8.6 points	Within the margin of error	91%
Rent-burdened households	55.6%2015-2019	33.5%2020-2024	−22 points	Improved	95%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	17.3%2015-2019	27.1%2020-2024	+9.8 points	Within the margin of error	3%

“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 Sylva, North Carolina five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Sylva, 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, Sylva, North Carolina itself moved +10.3 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

2,646 residents (±26)

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

1,028 households (±180)

Sylva, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Under $25k28%†292
$25k–50k29%†303
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,028 households (±180)

Sylva, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Own45%†466
Rent55%562

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

1,191 workers (±247)

Sylva, North Carolina
North Carolina share

Drive alone72%†863
Carpool22%†257
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 Jackson County, the county holding most of Sylva's residents.

Jackson County has 1,113 employer establishments, 247 for every 10,000 residents (1.00× the US rate of 248; 1.04× North Carolina's), with 13,583 paid employees at an average annual pay of $42,428. The Census Bureau also counts 3,521 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,113; 3,521 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 247; US 248 · North Carolina 237
Paid employees: 13,583
Average annual pay: $42,428; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	91	20.2	1.10×About typical	1,661	$25,079	15
Specialty trade contractors	84	18.7	1.20×About typical	427	$48,265	312
Ambulatory health care services	79	17.5	0.84×About typical	785	$71,298	156
Construction of buildings	78	17.3	2.29×More than typical	266	$62,654	183
Lessors of real estate	68	15.1	1.23×About typical	229	$47,712	435
Services to buildings and dwellings	51	11.3	1.68×More than typical	507	$31,673	396
Full-service restaurants	47	10.4	1.36×More than typical	881	$28,829	7
Religious organizations	42	9.3	1.68×More than typical	236	$18,436	—
Landscaping services	38	8.4	2.41×More than typical	255	$42,941	149
Limited-service restaurants	35	7.8	0.97×About typical	716	$19,514	5
Real estate agents and brokers	32	7.1	1.46×More than typical	57	$81,474	141
Traveler accommodation	28	6.2	3.45×More than typical	3,312	$42,876	27

Rank places for an industry Open Jackson County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 45,034 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 $23.9K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Sylva, North Carolina: $9.04 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $23.9K; +1,285% vs FY2025
Per resident: $9.04; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 100%; 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

National Institute of Standards and Technology$23.9K100%

Top recipients

PROMETHEUS COMPUTING, LLC$23.9K100%

Spending by fiscal year

6.1KFY2017
6KFY2018
-15FY2019
3.8KFY2020
13.9KFY2021
21.6KFY2022
3.1KFY2023
3.6KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Computer systems design and related services · 5415$23.9K100%

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 Sylva, North Carolina, so they do not add up across cities.

Sylva, North Carolina's figures are part of those of Jackson County, NC ($831.5K in FY2026), never added to them: 2.9% of that total.

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

See federal money in Jackson 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.

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

House

Chuck EdwardsR-NC-11 · 100% of residentsWith party 96%Missed 1.6%

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.

Jackson County50100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Jackson 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/3766500

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends