Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

Safety22#718/924
Economy52#443/925
Housing67#307/925
Health41#542/925
Healthcare6#869/923
Environment43#522/917
Education48#484/925
Infrastructure9#843/925
Community35#599/925
Leisure & amenities9#843/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

New homes permitted · high12.1 /1k
98/100North Carolina 8.0 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Child care cost burden · low20.6%
94/100North Carolina 25.1%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAggregated from counties
Job growth · high1.7%
87/100North Carolina 0.8%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional data
Comfortable days · high29.5%
76/100North Carolina 30.0%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationAggregated from counties
Distance to an airport · low37 mi
74/100North Carolina 30 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauAggregated from counties
New business applications · high14.0 /1k
73/100North Carolina 16.3 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauAggregated from counties

Weaknesses

Average commute time · high32.8 min
1/100North Carolina 25.1 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Restaurants and bars · low4.1 /10k
2/100North Carolina 8.8 /10kUnited States 9.0 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsAggregated from counties
Drought exposure · high92%
7/100North Carolina 79%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAAggregated from counties
Distance to an emergency room · high14.6 mi
8/100North Carolina 7.9 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesAggregated from counties
Average weekly wage · low$953
12/100North Carolina $1,376United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Mammography screening · low38.0%
13/100North Carolina 50.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteAggregated from counties

Trends

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

PopulationRising
133,716 (2020) → 150,137 (2025)
+12%5 yearsUS 331,578,104 → 341,784,857
Drought exposureWorsening
18% (2021) → 92% (Oct 2025–Sep 2026)
+73 pts5 yearsUS 40% → 43%
Access to exercise opportunitiesImproving
45.4% (2010 & 2021) → 69.6% (2022 & 2024)
+24 pts3 yearsUS 79.8% → 84.5%
New homes permittedImproving
7.6 /1k (2021) → 12.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+59%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Drug overdose deathsImproving
45.0 /100k (2021) → 18.4 /100k (Mar 2025–Feb 2026)
−59%5 yearsUS 30.8 /100k → 18.4 /100k
Child care cost burdenImproving
32.0% (2020 & 2021) → 20.6% (2023 & 2024)
−11 pts3 yearsUS 24.5% → 27.9%

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, Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area improved on 15 of 22 measures with a comparison and declined on 5. 0 moved within the margin of error and 2 barely changed.

Earlier period
Latest period
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among metro and micro areas: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts. Periods differ by measure (most compare 2020 with 2025); each row names its own in its tooltip and in the table.

Improved15

Libraries+6.3%0.5 /10k → 0.5 /10k
Arts & recreation+32%1.7 /10k → 2.3 /10k
Gyms+39%0.7 /10k → 0.9 /10k
Restaurants+10%3.7 /10k → 4.1 /10k
Homicides−52%12.0 /100k → 5.8 /100k

Declined5

Commute+2.4 min30.4 min → 32.8 min
Pharmacies−27%1.3 /10k → 0.9 /10k
Grocery stores−15%1.5 /10k → 1.3 /10k
Suicides+23%15.0 /100k → 18.4 /100k
Traffic deaths+5.4%21.0 /100k → 22.1 /100k

All 22 measures

Change of every measure of Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Arts, entertainment and recreation	1.7 /10k2020	2.3 /10k2025	+32%	Improved	88%
Average commute time	30.4 min2015-2019	32.8 min2020-2024	+2.4 min	Declined	9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.9%2015-2019	24.5%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Improved	45%
Broadband subscriptions	78.9%2015-2019	85.2%2020-2024	+6.4 points	Improved	18%
Distance to an airport	37 mi2020	37 mi2025	0 mi	Little change	50%
Drug overdose deaths	35.1 /100k2020	18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026	−48%	Improved	78%
Firearm deaths	20.9 /100k2020	18.4 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026	−12%	Improved	69%
Grocery stores	1.5 /10k2020	1.3 /10k2025	−15%	Declined	16%
Gyms and fitness centers	0.7 /10k2020	0.9 /10k2025	+39%	Improved	84%
High school diploma or higher	87.5%2015-2019	88.6%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Improved	36%
Homicide rate	12.0 /100k2020	5.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026	−52%	Improved	79%
Income adjusted for local prices	$42,1062019	$56,6992024	+35%	Improved	70%
New business applications	10.4 /1k2020	14.0 /1k2025	+35%	Improved	34%
Pharmacies	1.3 /10k2020	0.9 /10k2025	−27%	Declined	11%
Property crime rate	1,956 /100k2020	1,452 /100k2025	−26%	Improved	33%
Public libraries	0.5 /10k2019	0.5 /10k2024	+6.3%	Improved	87%
Rent-burdened households	47.2%2015-2019	45.1%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Improved	75%
Restaurants and bars	3.7 /10k2020	4.1 /10k2025	+10%	Improved	80%
Suicide rate	15.0 /100k2020	18.4 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026	+23%	Declined	22%
Traffic deaths	21.0 /100k2015-2019	22.1 /100k2020-2024	+5.4%	Declined	52%
Unemployment rate	7.1%2020	4.0%2025	−3.1 points	Improved	53%
Violent crime rate	268 /100k2020	280 /100k2025	+4.3%	Little change	22%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 708 metro and micro areas that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: Regional Economic Accounts; Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; Mapping Injury, Overdose, and Violence; American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates; Business Formation Statistics; Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Return A master files; Public Libraries Survey; Fatality Analysis Reporting System; Distance to airports and intercity rail. 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 925 metro and micro areas 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.

Metro and micro areas like Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area 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, Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area itself moved −0.5 points in standing on average over the same 22 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

139,150 residents

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

Table view

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

Race and Hispanic origin

139,150 residents

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

White58%81,041
Black20%27,559
Hispanic or Latino15%21,043
Asian

Education

92,116 residents (±130)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

No high school diploma11%10,460
High school or GED28%25,785
Some college23%21,043
Associate degree

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

49,845 households (±512)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

Under $25k16%8,063
$25k–50k19%9,550
$50k–75k17%8,487
$75k–100k16%7,757
$100k–150k16%8,106
$150k–200k9.6%4,761
$200k or more6.3%3,121

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

49,845 households (±512)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

Own71%35,404
Rent29%14,441

Table view

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

Rent paid

13,377 households (±842)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

Under $75021%2,784
$750–1,00021%2,847
$1,000–1,50031%4,122
$1,500–2,00018%

Home values

35,404 homes (±862)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

Under $150k23%8,174
$150k–250k28%9,878
$250k–400k34%11,900
$400k–750k13%4,698

Age of homes

54,902 homes (±68)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

2010 or later21%11,685
2000–200923%12,484
1980–199929%15,674
1960–197916%

Size of homes

54,902 homes (±68)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

Studio0.7%†384
1 bedroom3.4%1,857
2 bedrooms17%9,098
3 bedrooms

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

60,105 workers (±1,149)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

Drive alone79%47,393
Carpool9.9%5,965
Public transit0.1%†43
Walk1.4%813
Bike0.2%†123
Work from home8.8%5,275
Other0.8%†493

† 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

54,830 workers (±1,236)

Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area
United States share

Under 15 min17%9,343
15–29 min31%16,798
30–44 min25%13,779
45–59 min13%

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 no occupation wages for Anderson Creek, NC micropolitan area.

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.

Anderson Creek, NC has 1,960 employer establishments, 138 for every 10,000 residents (0.56× the US rate of 248), with 24,279 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,671. The Census Bureau also counts 10,466 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,960; 10,466 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 138; US 248
Paid employees: 24,279
Average annual pay: $40,671; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Anderson Creek, NC by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	250	17.6	1.14×About typical	1,420	$55,596	1,089
Restaurants and other eating places	161	11.4	0.62×Fewer than typical	3,118	$16,999	38
Ambulatory health care services	120	8.5	0.41×Fewer than typical	1,277	$60,418	373
Limited-service restaurants	90	6.3	0.79×Fewer than typical	2,034	$15,765	16
Religious organizations	88	6.2	1.12×About typical	417	$21,317	—
Lessors of real estate	82	5.8	0.47×Fewer than typical	307	$32,407	877
Building equipment contractors	81	5.7	0.95×About typical	622	$57,169	190
Construction of buildings	81	5.7	0.76×Fewer than typical	287	$53,185	387
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	79	5.6	1.77×More than typical	232	$51,823	228
Services to buildings and dwellings	67	4.7	0.70×Fewer than typical	352	$37,509	803
Automotive repair and maintenance	64	4.5	0.90×About typical	264	$44,595	187
Truck transportation	64	4.5	0.89×About typical	547	$58,165	277

Rank places for an industry

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 141,772 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.
A metro area's figures are the exact sums of its counties.
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 contract spending

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Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

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Counties in Anderson Creek, NC

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

Harnett CountyCentral county28150,137

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

Anderson CreekPrincipal city13,927

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

Other metro and micro areas in North Carolina

Areas based in North Carolina, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

Mapping Injury, Overdose, and ViolenceCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2026-10-01
PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Daily county PM2.5 and ozone (EPA downscaler model)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · release 2022
Care Compare: Hospital General Information and Timely and Effective CareCenters for Medicare & Medicaid Services · release 2026-07-22
Distance to airports and intercity railFederal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau · release 2025+amtrak-2026-04-23
Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Return A master filesFederal Bureau of Investigation · release 2025
Public Libraries SurveyInstitute of Museum and Library Services · release FY2024
U.S. Drought Monitor county statisticsNational Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAA · release 2026-09-29
Fatality Analysis Reporting SystemNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration · release 2024
nClimGrid-Daily county averagesNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · release 2025
Regional Economic AccountsU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis · release 2024
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
Quarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2026 Q1
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Business Formation StatisticsU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-10-01
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
Alternative Fuels Data Center station locatorU.S. Department of Energy · release 2026-10
Election Administration and Voting SurveyU.S. Election Assistance Commission · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/M11360