North Topsail Beach is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 1,069 people and just one neighborhood, North Topsail Beach is the 401st largest community in North Carolina.
North Topsail Beach home prices are not only among the most expensive in North Carolina, but North Topsail Beach real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.
North Topsail Beach is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 91.43% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, North Topsail Beach is a town of sales and office workers, professionals, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in North Topsail Beach who work in sales jobs (19.37%), management occupations (18.10%), and healthcare (14.29%).
There are quite a few people in the armed forces living in North Topsail Beach, and when you visit or drive around town, you will see military people in and out of uniform, shopping, enjoying life, and being part of the community.
Of important note, North Topsail Beach is also a town of artists. North Topsail Beach has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape North Topsail Beach’s character.
Also of interest is that North Topsail Beach has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 44.86% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Another notable thing is that North Topsail Beach is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, North Topsail Beach’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) North Topsail Beach has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. North Topsail Beach has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in North Topsail Beach than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, North Topsail Beach may be for you.
One of the nice things about North Topsail Beach is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
One downside of living in North Topsail Beach is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In North Topsail Beach, the average commute to work is 40.86 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
As is often the case in a small town, North Topsail Beach doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
Do you like to read, write and learn? If you move to North Topsail Beach, you'll likely find that many of your neighbors like to as well. North Topsail Beach is one of the more educated communities in America, with a full 52.69% of its adults having a college degree or even advanced degree, compared to a national average across all communities of 21.84%.
The per capita income in North Topsail Beach in 2022 was $76,475, which is wealthy relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $305,900 for a family of four. However, North Topsail Beach contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call North Topsail Beach home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of North Topsail Beach residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in North Topsail Beach include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in North Topsail Beach is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in North Topsail Beach, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Do you like a coastal setting? If so, this neighborhood may be to your liking. The neighborhood is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Often such coastal places have amenities and recreational activities on the waterfront that are attractive to residents and visitors alike. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
In addition, despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 85.6%, which is higher than 99.9% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
In a nation where 1 out of every 4 children lives in poverty, the neighborhood stands out as being ranked among the lowest 0.0% of neighborhoods affected by this global issue.
In addition, astoundingly, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this single neighborhood has a higher concentration of married couples living here than 96.5% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Whether they have school-aged children or not, married couples are the rule in the neighborhood. If you are a married couple, you may find many people here with a similar lifestyle, and perhaps common interests. But if you are single, you might not find many other singles here.
Also, the neighborhood is considered a solid choice for executive lifestyles. NeighborhoodScout's analysis ranks it as better than 91.6% of North Carolina neighborhoods for executive living, based on the wealthy, educated professionals, executives, and managers who choose to reside here, the spacious homes that are prominent features of the real estate in the neighborhood, and the high real estate appreciation rates found here relative to other neighborhoods in the state.
In the neighborhood, many people's commute means walking from the bedroom to the home office. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that 47.7% of residents worked from home. This may not seem like a large number, but Scout's research shows that this is a higher percentage of people working from home than 99.8% of the neighborhoods in America. Often people who work from home are engaged in the creative or technological economy, such as is found in areas around Boston, and in Silicon Valley. Other times, people may be engaged in other businesses like trading stocks from home, or running a small beauty salon.
The neighborhood stands out nationally for having a greater proportion of its residents active in the military than 96.4% of other U.S. neighborhoods. If you come here, you will notice military people active in their jobs, going to and from work, and in plain clothes out and about the neighborhood.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Welsh and Lebanese ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Welsh ancestry and 1.2% have Lebanese ancestry.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in North Topsail Beach are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 77.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 0.0% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 56.9% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 25.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (10.1%), and 7.2% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 97.3% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in North Topsail Beach, NC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (21.1%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (12.9%), and residents who report German roots (12.5%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (6.6%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (5.3%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (37.3% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (51.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.