North Carolina rental market data

Median asking-rent growth was 2.76% across 26 measured metros, compared with 0.81% median home-value growth across 32. The supplied rent-minus-price figure is a calculated 1.95-percentage-point spread between those medians. The distribution still includes declining rents and values: rent growth runs from -0.6% to 4.4%, while price growth runs from -2.0% to 3.3%.

Wilson illustrates the stronger rent signal, with rent growth of 4.9% against price growth of 0.9%, a $1,458 rent, a $221,905 price and a 7.88% gross yield. Greenville shows a similar but smaller separation: 4.4% rent growth versus 1.7% price growth, with a $1,407 rent, a $246,570 price and a 6.85% gross yield. These are selected-market examples, not state medians, and the coverage mismatch means the rent and price medians should not be treated as a same-property return measure.

Job growth is a counter-signal to the rent data: median metro job growth was -0.5% across 32 metros, with a range from -1.3% to 1.6%. The migration data point the other way. Counties recorded 353,657 movers in and 314,181 out, producing net migration of 39,476, or 3.7 net movers per 1,000 residents, across all 100 measured counties.

The positive labor-market examples are concentrated rather than universal. Wilmington posted 2.6% job growth, Raleigh 2.2% and Pinehurst 1.8%. Because the job figures are metro measures while migration is aggregated at county level, the packet cannot show that the migration balance supports each metro or that it translates directly into renter demand. Screening should therefore verify local employment conditions rather than use the state migration total as a demand proxy.

Across 32 measured metros, permitted units have a median of 696, or 6.3 per 1,000 residents, but the ranges run from 159 to 8,395.6 units and from 2.5 to 14.1 per 1,000. The resale medians show visible friction: 3.95 months of supply, 56.5 days on market, a 29.3% price-drop share and a 98.2% sale-to-list ratio. The corresponding ranges are 2.9 to 6.2 months of supply and 41.2 to 78.9 days on market.

Wilmington combines 8,582 permitted units and 18.93 permits per 1,000 residents with 3.9 months of supply and 60 days on market. Durham has 10,518 permits, 17.48 per 1,000 and 3.0 months of supply, while Greenville has 2,524 permits, 14.24 per 1,000 and 3.4 months. At the slower-listing end, Roanoke Rapids shows 85 days on market and 2.9 months of supply, Rocky Mount 82 days and 4.8 months, and Goldsboro 81 days and 4.5 months. Permits indicate permitted construction rather than completed, available rental supply, so they should not be used alone to infer future inventory.

The measured metro median is a $279,884 price, $1,573 monthly rent and 6.52% gross yield. Median rent-to-income is 28.72%, ranging from 24.3% to 34.5%, while median price-to-income is 4.375, ranging from 3.4 to 6.5. The median market-rent-to-two-bedroom-FMR ratio is 129.6%, with a range from 98.9% to 169.7%, so HUD rent standards do not describe the same affordability position in every metro.

The selected lower-entry examples show the tradeoff. Roanoke Rapids has a $107,355 price, $1,048 rent, 11.71% gross yield, 26.69% rent-to-income and 2.28 price-to-income. Lumberton has a $140,036 price, $1,187 rent, 10.17% yield, 33.92% rent-to-income and 3.34 price-to-income. Goldsboro has a $189,770 price, $1,437 rent, 9.09% yield and 28.87% rent-to-income. These gross yields do not establish net cash flow because the packet does not provide property-level operating expenses, insurance, repairs or financing terms.

Across 100 measured counties, the median ACS vacancy rate is 13.15%, with a range from 8.0% to 30.8%. The median renter share is 27.16%, ranging from 19.1% to 38.7%, and the median 30%-plus rent-burden measure is 47.81%, ranging from 40.0% to 54.0%. The median year built is 1986, and the median mobile-home share is 17.37%, indicating meaningful variation in stock type and age.

Watauga combines a 36.45% vacancy rate with a 37.93% renter share and a 65.94% rent-burden measure. Hertford has a lower 15.60% vacancy rate but a 63.27% burden measure, while Hyde has a 34.32% vacancy rate and a 62.53% burden measure. The combination supports screening for tenant affordability and the composition of vacant stock, but the ACS vacancy rate does not identify which units are available for rent, seasonal or otherwise unsuitable.

Among the 100 county areas, FEMA's mutually exclusive leading-hazard labels identify inland flood in 75 areas and hurricane in 25. The measured climate loss ratio has a county median of 0.14%, ranging from 0.11% to 0.47%. Effective property-tax rates have a median of 0.64% and a range from 0.47% to 0.89%; median taxes range from $1,009 to $2,112, with a county median of $1,322.

The selected examples show why tax and hazard checks should be separate. Hyde has a 0.92% climate loss ratio, a 0.79% property-tax rate and $975 median tax. Carteret has a 0.69% loss ratio, a 0.43% tax rate and $1,423 median tax. Tyrrell has a 0.65% loss ratio, a 0.81% tax rate and $1,331 median tax. The packet does not include parcel-level flood-zone status, insurance premiums, mitigation or property-specific claims, so a county leading-hazard label is not a parcel-level exposure measure.