Living in Emerald Isle, NC
Emerald Isle is a small town of 3,934 people in Carteret County, North Carolina. It's about 21 miles from Jacksonville, NC and 121 miles from Raleigh, NC, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 87°F and winter highs 54°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $604k and rent runs about $2k a month.
3,934people
$604kTypical home
$1,704/moRent
87° / 54°Summer / winter
1"Snow
235Sunny days
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Size & setting
- Small town of 3,934
- Its own small hub, not a suburb
- About 799 people per sq mi
- 121 mi to Raleigh, NC
- 21 mi to Jacksonville, NC
- 17 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $604k (≈$3,807/mo)
- Median rent $1,704/mo
- Median household income $90k
- Property tax about 0.4% of value
- 2.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 87°F
- Winter highs around 54°F
- Steamy summers (dew point 73°F)
- 235 sunny days a year (61 totally clear)
- 130 cloudy days a year
- 42 of 90 winter days are gray
- Basically no snow
- Snow days are rare
- Rarely hits 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Windier than most places
Safety
- Low violent crime (239 per 100k)
- Low property crime (1,381 per 100k)
People
- Median age 60
- 14% of households have kids
- 36% are 65 or older
- 55% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 4% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 31 min
- 4% walk or take transit to work
- 28 mi to EWN airport
- 128 mi to MYR (major hub)
- 88 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 73% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1989
- 97% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 13 ft
- Right on the coast
- 131 mi to a big lake
- 26 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 192 mi to the nearest ski area
- 3 mi to the nearest campground
- 13 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 180 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 18 bars within 25 mi
- 52 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 1 music venue or club within 25 mi
- 5 museums within 25 mi
- 2 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 17 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the top 23% of North Carolina districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 17 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 32 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 21 mi to the nearest vet
- 3 mi to the nearest dog park
- 10 congregations per 10k people
- 21 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Carteret County: R+43 in 2024
- North Carolina: R+3 in 2024
Natural hazards
- High hurricane risk
- High tornado risk
- Moderate wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Low flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Very low winter storm risk
- Moderate heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk