Fayetteville, NC
Fayetteville, NC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Fayetteville, NC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Fayetteville ranks 283rd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 269th for income. A household earns $61,379 a year while median rent runs $1,334/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 8% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is home prices (64th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (283rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 172nd and home prices 64th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Fayetteville, your take-home is worth about $63,785 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 269th of 300↑29%$61,379
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 89th of 30092 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $66,732
- Per-capita income
- $32,931
- Full-time pay
- $38,877
Housing
- Median rent
- 172nd of 300↑41.9%$1,334/mo
- Home value
- 64th of 300↑57%$227,400
- Property tax
- $1,847/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 258th of 3006%
- Bachelor's+
- 225th of 30027.6%
- Avg commute
- 115th of 30023.3 min
People
- Population
- 393,812
- Median age
- 33.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 7%
- Broadband
- 94%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 153rd of 30046
- Natural-hazard loss
- 136th of 300$12/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 231st of 30021.2%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 11.9%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Home prices
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — fayetteville rgnl ap grannis f.
What jobs pay in Fayetteville
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $204,470
- IT managers
- $151,490
- Pharmacists
- $140,220
- Financial managers
- $138,040
- Software developers
- $122,900
- Lawyers
- $107,950
- General & operations managers
- $96,970
- Civil engineers
- $96,080
- Registered nurses
- $83,060
- Accountants & auditors
- $78,560
- Electricians
- $57,690
- Elementary school teachers
- $54,350
- Plumbers
- $51,740
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $49,980
- Secondary school teachers
- $49,580
- Police officers
- $48,160
- Carpenters
- $46,800
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $44,530
- Construction laborers
- $43,740
- Customer service reps
- $35,130
- Janitors
- $34,230
- Retail salespersons
- $30,440
- Waiters & waitresses
- $29,520
- Cashiers
- $27,390
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Fayetteville metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in North Carolina are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Texas2,417
- Georgia2,046
- Florida1,969
- New York1,503
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Fayetteville
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Fayetteville metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Fayetteville metro?
- Median gross rent across the Fayetteville, NC Metro Area is $1,334 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Fayetteville.
- What is the median household income in the Fayetteville metro?
- A typical household in the Fayetteville, NC Metro Area earns $61,379 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Fayetteville expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Fayetteville, NC Metro Area runs about 8% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Fayetteville metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $66,732 (versus its face value of $61,379). CityLedger rates the Fayetteville, NC Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Fayetteville metro?
- The median home value across the Fayetteville, NC Metro Area is $227,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Fayetteville metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Fayetteville, NC Metro Area is 6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).