Rocky Mount, NC
Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Rocky Mount ranks 288th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 286th for income. A household earns $57,802 a year while median rent runs $1,000/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (29th of 300), while job market is the soft spot (290th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 43rd and home prices 30th 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 Rocky Mount, your take-home is worth about $66,659 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
- 286th of 300↑24.4%$57,802
- 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.
- 29th of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $65,675
- Per-capita income
- $33,025
- Full-time pay
- $40,774
Housing
- Median rent
- 43rd of 300↑27.7%$1,000/mo
- Home value
- 30th of 300↑73.6%$197,700
- Property tax
- $1,382/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 290th of 3008%
- Bachelor's+
- 275th of 30022.5%
- Avg commute
- 109th of 30023.2 min
People
- Population
- 147,114
- Population change
- +0.9%
- Median age
- 42.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 4.3%
- Broadband
- 88.2%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 29th of 30037
- Natural-hazard loss
- 154th of 300$13/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 266th of 30023%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 12.8%
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
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Job market
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — rocky mt wilson ap.
What jobs pay in Rocky Mount
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $137,120
- Financial managers
- $133,480
- Pharmacists
- $133,320
- Software developers
- $130,600
- Lawyers
- $99,420
- General & operations managers
- $94,610
- Civil engineers
- $85,490
- Registered nurses
- $82,300
- Accountants & auditors
- $76,960
- Police officers
- $62,750
- Electricians
- $58,710
- Plumbers
- $56,220
- Elementary school teachers
- $48,670
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $48,090
- Secondary school teachers
- $47,770
- Carpenters
- $47,490
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $44,480
- Construction laborers
- $38,100
- Customer service reps
- $34,680
- Janitors
- $30,920
- Retail salespersons
- $28,830
- Waiters & waitresses
- $26,900
- Cashiers
- $26,610
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 Rocky Mount 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.
- Florida395
- South Carolina216
- Virginia170
- California116
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Rocky Mount
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Rocky Mount metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Rocky Mount metro?
- Median gross rent across the Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area is $1,000 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Rocky Mount.
- What is the median household income in the Rocky Mount metro?
- A typical household in the Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area earns $57,802 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Rocky Mount expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area runs about 12% 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 Rocky Mount metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $65,675 (versus its face value of $57,802). CityLedger rates the Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Rocky Mount metro?
- The median home value across the Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area is $197,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Rocky Mount metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Rocky Mount, NC Metro Area is 8% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).