Just Released: 2025 County Profiles

Today we are releasing the 2025 County Profiles for North Carolina and all 100 counties across the state.

County Profiles are an accessible tool that advocates and organizations can use to communicate the housing need in their counties to a range of audiences, from community partners to local and state elected officials. Each County Profile provides a data snapshot of the county’s housing need, including the percent of households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing expenses, the income needed to afford Fair Market Rent, and where the county ranks in evictions filed per total number of renter households compared to the rest of the state.

This year, we added two new features based on feedback from our Coalition:

• A chart that compares each county’s homeowner and renter cost burdens alongside the statewide homeowner and renter cost burdens. 
• Counties impacted by Hurricane Helene are noted. The data in disaster-designated counties does not fully represent post-storm housing conditions and the housing need in  these counties is likely greater now.

 County Profile Data Highlights

Fair Market Rent
Based on our County Profile data, the following MSAs have the highest Fair Market Rents in the state: 

Housing Wage
In 2025, the lowest Housing Wage in the state is $17.88 an hour, 2.5x the minimum wage. The Housing wage is the hourly wage  you need to earn a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. With the lowest housing wage being $17.88, this means no one earning minimum wage, working full time, at only 1 job, can afford a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. 

In 12 counties, the Housing Wage is over $30, meaning people have to make over $30 an hour to afford a 2 bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent. There are 58 total NC counties where the housing wage is over $20 an hour, including those 12.

Housing wages across the state are up to 5x higher than the minimum wage. Our data confirms that the cost of living in North Carolina continues to increase.

Evictions
There were almost 200,000 evictions filed in North Carolina this year, and a little over 11,400 foreclosures.

When looking at the rate of eviction filings compared to the total number of renter households, the following counties are in the top 3, meaning they have a high ratio of renter households in their communities that faced eviction. 

1. Edgecombe County
2. Nash County
3. Mecklenburg County

Our data sources include:

• American Communities Survey 5-Year Estimates Data Profile
• HUD Fair Market Rents
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics 
• Civil Issue Filings and Order Results – NC Administrative Office of the Courts

To see additional details about our data sources and our methodology click here.

If you continue to see the 2024 County Profiles on our website, try refreshing the PDF in your browser or clearing your browser cache. If you have questions, concerns or would like to submit a note or correction, please email Anna Patterson at apatterson@nchousing.org.