Jacksonville, NC
Jacksonville, NC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Jacksonville, NC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Jacksonville ranks 165th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 173rd for income. A household earns $73,004 a year while median rent runs $1,389/mo, making it moderately affordable for 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 cost of living (91st of 300), while hazard safety is the soft spot (300th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 182nd and home prices 102nd 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 Jacksonville, your take-home is worth about $63,711 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
- 173rd of 300↑47.4%$73,004
- 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.
- 91st of 30092 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $79,279
- Per-capita income
- $34,603
- Full-time pay
- $35,365
Housing
- Median rent
- 182nd of 300↑54.3%$1,389/mo
- Home value
- 102nd of 300↑58.5%$262,000
- Property tax
- $1,682/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 246th of 3005.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 259th of 30024.5%
- Avg commute
- 139th of 30023.9 min
People
- Population
- 212,954
- Population change
- +7.6%
- Median age
- 28.6 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 4%
- Broadband
- 95.2%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 300th of 300$55/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 157th of 30018.8%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 11.3%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 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
Watch-outs
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Hazard safety
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — new rvr mcaf.
What jobs pay in Jacksonville
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $148,330
- Pharmacists
- $132,850
- Software developers
- $123,110
- Financial managers
- $121,420
- General & operations managers
- $91,100
- Civil engineers
- $90,070
- Registered nurses
- $84,750
- Lawyers
- $81,660
- Accountants & auditors
- $73,740
- Police officers
- $59,540
- Plumbers
- $53,230
- Carpenters
- $48,880
- Electricians
- $48,470
- Elementary school teachers
- $48,370
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $45,640
- Construction laborers
- $39,830
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $38,310
- Customer service reps
- $33,980
- Janitors
- $33,320
- Retail salespersons
- $29,480
- Waiters & waitresses
- $28,870
- Cashiers
- $26,380
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 Jacksonville 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.
- Virginia2,223
- California1,776
- Florida1,706
- Maryland1,618
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Jacksonville
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Jacksonville metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Jacksonville metro?
- Median gross rent across the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area is $1,389 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Jacksonville.
- What is the median household income in the Jacksonville metro?
- A typical household in the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area earns $73,004 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Jacksonville expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Jacksonville, 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 Jacksonville metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $79,279 (versus its face value of $73,004). CityLedger rates the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Jacksonville metro?
- The median home value across the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area is $262,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville, NC Metro Area is 5.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).