Living in St. James, NC
St. James is a big small town of 7,072 people in Brunswick County, North Carolina. It's about 22 miles from Wilmington, NC and 134 miles from Raleigh, NC, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 91°F and winter highs 59°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $637k and rent runs about $1k a month.
7,072people
$637kTypical home
$1,351/moRent
91° / 59°Summer / winter
1"Snow
237Sunny days
102Rain/snow days
Is St. James right for you?
Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.
Size & setting
- Big small town of 7,072
- A standalone small town, not a suburb
- About 776 people per sq mi
- 134 mi to Raleigh, NC
- 22 mi to Wilmington, NC
- 17 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $637k (≈$4,016/mo)
- Median rent $1,351/mo
- Median household income $116k
- Property tax about 0.5% of value
- 6.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 91°F
- Winter highs around 59°F
- Steamy summers (dew point 72°F)
- 237 sunny days a year (84 totally clear)
- 128 cloudy days a year
- 41 of 90 winter days are gray
- 102 days a year with rain or snow
- Basically no snow
- Snow days are rare
- Rarely hits 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Low violent crime (193 per 100k), county-wide
- Low property crime (958 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 68
- 3% of households have kids
- 61% are 65 or older
- 66% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 0% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 47 min
- 13% walk or take transit to work
- 25 mi to ILM airport
- 51 mi to MYR (major hub)
- 80 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 89% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 2011
- 96% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Flat, open land
- Elevation 52 ft
- 3 mi to the ocean
- 115 mi to a big lake
- 15 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 168 mi to the nearest ski area
- 10 mi to the nearest campground
- 20 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 302 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 25 bars within 25 mi
- 100 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 13 museums within 25 mi
- 2 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 2 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 48% of North Carolina districts (reading)
- 2 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 3 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 13 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 22 mi to the nearest vet
- 11 mi to the nearest dog park
- 5 congregations per 10k people
- 23 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Brunswick County: R+25 in 2024
- North Carolina: R+3 in 2024
Natural hazards
- High hurricane risk
- Moderate tornado risk
- Low wildfire risk
- Low earthquake risk
- Moderate flood risk
- Very low drought risk
- Very low winter storm risk
- Moderate heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk
Some of this place's Census numbers are blended with county figures because its survey sample is small.