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Harkers Island, NC

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.



Overview

Harkers Island 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 1,127 people and just one neighborhood, Harkers Island is the 390th largest community in North Carolina.

Occupations and Workforce

Harkers Island is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Harkers Island is a town of professionals, service providers, and production and manufacturing workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Harkers Island who work in art, media, and design (17.22%), personal care services (9.43%), and healthcare (8.96%).

Of important note, Harkers Island is also a town of artists. Harkers Island has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Harkers Island’s character.

Also of interest is that Harkers Island has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Setting & Lifestyle

Another notable thing is that Harkers Island is an extremely popular vacation destination. A significant portion of the population is seasonal. During the vacation season, the town experiences a large influx of people who take up residence in second homes they own in the area. As the vacation season ends, the population drops again, leaving behind a substantially quieter and smaller town.

The town is relatively quiet, having a combination of lower population density and few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. For example, Harkers Island has relatively fewer families with younger children, and/or college students. Combined, this makes Harkers Island a pretty quiet place to live overall. If you like quiet, you will probably enjoy it here.

Harkers Island is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

One downside of living in Harkers Island is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Harkers Island, the average commute to work is 33.78 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average. On the other hand, local public transit is widely used in the town, so leaving the car at home and taking transit is often a viable alternative.

For a small town, Harkers Island has a lot of people who use public transit to get to work, and those that do mostly ride the bus. This suggests that a real need for low-cost transportation in Harkers Island exists, and local transit is helping to meet that need.

Demographics

The citizens of Harkers Island are slightly better educated than the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns, with 23.21% of adults in Harkers Island having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.

The per capita income in Harkers Island in 2022 was $31,809, which is middle income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $127,236 for a family of four. However, Harkers Island contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Harkers Island home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Harkers Island residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Harkers Island include English, Irish, German, Scottish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Harkers Island is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Polish.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.

Real Estate

is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. 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. One of the notable things about is that it is one of the quietest neighborhoods in America, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis and quantitative rating of quietness. When you are here, you will find it to be very quiet. If quiet and peaceful are your cup of tea, you may have found a great place for you.

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 62.3%, which is higher than 99.5% of all U.S. neighborhoods.

Furthermore, the real estate in this neighborhood consists of more mobile homes than 97.5% of all neighborhoods in America, with 38.3% of the occupied housing here being classified as mobile homes. So if you are looking for a mobile home, or you like the look and feel of mobile home parks, this neighborhood might have the setting you desire.

People

Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.

In addition, has the amazing distinction of housing more same sex couples living together than 97.0% of neighborhoods in the U.S. If you are seeking such a neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout's analysis shows that this is one place that you should consider.

Also, if you're nearing retirement age, or in retirement, the is an excellent choice for you to consider for top-quality retirement living. This neighborhood is rated by NeighborhoodScout as among the top 7.4% of retiree-friendly neighborhoods in North Carolina, combining peace and quiet, safety from crime, and offering diverse housing options from which retirees can choose. Maybe it's because of these amenities that a large proportion of the residents here are college educated seniors, mixed with other age groups. For these and other reasons, NeighborhoodScout identifies this neighborhood as a top-notch place to consider if you are thinking of or planning to retire in North Carolina.

Modes of Transportation

If you like to ride a ferry to work, this neighborhood may be for you. NeighborhoodScout's research revealed that 1.2% of the neighborhood's commuters ride a ferry to and from work each day, which is more than we found in 99.1% of America's neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more English ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 23.0% of this neighborhood's residents have English ancestry.

The Neighbors

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 Harkers Island are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 72.0% of U.S. neighborhoods. 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.

What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.

In the neighborhood, 41.5% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 31.8% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (21.2%), and 11.3% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 100.0% of households. Some people also speak Italian (2.1%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

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 Harkers Island, NC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (23.0%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (14.2%), and residents who report German roots (5.0%), and some of the residents are also of Scottish ancestry (4.2%), along with some Italian ancestry residents (3.1%), among others.

Getting to Work

Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (37.5% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.

Here most residents (83.0%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also ride the bus to get to work (9.9%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.

Real Estate includes:
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Economics & Demographics include:
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Commute To Work
Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
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Crime includes:
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Schools include:
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