Calabash vs Holden Beach

A side-by-side comparison of Calabash and Holden Beach: population, income, housing, and more.

Calabash and Holden Beach are places in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Calabash has the higher population (2,397 vs 1,047 in Holden Beach). Holden Beach has the higher median household income ($110,000 vs $60,048 in Calabash). Holden Beach has the higher median home value ($562,500 vs $202,000 in Calabash).

Population, income & housing

	Calabash	Holden Beach
Population	2,397	1,047
Median age	54.0 yrs	63.8 yrs
Median household income	$60,048	$110,000
Median home value	$202,000	$562,500
Median gross rent	$1,348	$1,375
Housing units	1,617	2,461
Homeownership rate	67.4%	93.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.2%	71.2%
Unemployment rate	7.2%	2.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Calabash	Holden Beach
Population	1,710 → 2,397 (+40.2%)	1,137 → 1,047 (-7.9%)
Median household income	$32,167 → $60,048 (+86.7%)	$96,875 → $110,000 (+13.5%)
Median home value	$139,300 → $202,000 (+45.0%)	$417,300 → $562,500 (+34.8%)
Median gross rent	$979 → $1,348 (+37.7%)	$986 → $1,375 (+39.5%)

Calabash

Population

1,7102,397

Median household income

$32,167$60,048

Median home value

$139,300$202,000

Median gross rent

$979$1,348

Holden Beach

Population

1,1371,047

Median household income

$96,875$110,000

Median home value

$417,300$562,500

Median gross rent

$986$1,375

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Calabash	Holden Beach
Under 5	3.5%	0.2%
5 to 17	9.4%	3.1%
18 to 24	13.4%	4.3%
25 to 34	5.2%	1.2%
35 to 44	6.3%	3.4%
45 to 54	17.5%	14.9%
55 to 64	18.3%	29.3%
65 to 74	17.7%	28.8%
75 and over	8.8%	14.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Calabash	Holden Beach
White (non-Hispanic)	73.2%	96.8%
Black or African American	5.8%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	1.6%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.4%
Two or more races	11.8%	0.6%
Hispanic or Latino	7.6%	2.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Calabash	Holden Beach
No high school diploma	14.7%	1.3%
High school graduate	32.4%	6.7%
Some college or associate's	30.8%	20.8%
Bachelor's degree	11.7%	46.5%
Graduate or professional degree	10.5%	24.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Calabash	Holden Beach
Drove alone	70.7%	77.3%
Carpooled	10.2%	3.5%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.0%
Worked from home	18.6%	16.9%
Other means	0.0%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Calabash	Holden Beach
1-unit, detached	51.3%	89.5%
1-unit, attached	0.2%	3.3%
2 to 4 units	0.5%	5.6%
5 to 19 units	15.6%	0.5%
20 or more units	5.1%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	27.2%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	Calabash	Holden Beach
Poverty rate	20.7%	5.6%
Average household size	2.13	2.01
Mean commute (minutes)	18	21
Median year structure built	1993	1991