Nags Head vs Wanchese

A side-by-side comparison of Nags Head and Wanchese: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Nags Head has the higher population (3,164 vs 1,793 in Wanchese). Nags Head has the higher median household income ($87,619 vs $73,542 in Wanchese). Nags Head has the higher median home value ($451,100 vs $257,100 in Wanchese).

Population, income & housing

	Nags Head	Wanchese
Population	3,164	1,793
Median age	59.1 yrs	37.6 yrs
Median household income	$87,619	$73,542
Median home value	$451,100	$257,100
Median gross rent	$1,005	$1,031
Housing units	5,214	772
Homeownership rate	77.6%	73.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	51.7%	29.2%
Unemployment rate	2.0%	1.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Nags Head	Wanchese
Population	2,923 → 3,164 (+8.2%)	1,732 → 1,793 (+3.5%)
Median household income	$65,968 → $87,619 (+32.8%)	$55,799 → $73,542 (+31.8%)
Median home value	$327,900 → $451,100 (+37.6%)	$218,500 → $257,100 (+17.7%)
Median gross rent	$1,310 → $1,005 (-23.3%)	$1,099 → $1,031 (-6.2%)

Nags Head

Population

2,9233,164

Median household income

$65,968$87,619

Median home value

$327,900$451,100

Median gross rent

$1,310$1,005

Wanchese

Population

1,7321,793

Median household income

$55,799$73,542

Median home value

$218,500$257,100

Median gross rent

$1,099$1,031

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Nags Head	Wanchese
Under 5	1.6%	8.0%
5 to 17	10.4%	18.7%
18 to 24	7.6%	3.3%
25 to 34	5.7%	13.8%
35 to 44	5.8%	14.2%
45 to 54	9.6%	9.1%
55 to 64	16.8%	15.3%
65 to 74	30.0%	11.2%
75 and over	12.4%	6.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Nags Head	Wanchese
White (non-Hispanic)	92.4%	97.8%
Black or African American	1.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.7%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.8%	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	4.0%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Nags Head	Wanchese
No high school diploma	3.9%	7.4%
High school graduate	17.5%	39.6%
Some college or associate's	26.9%	23.8%
Bachelor's degree	35.0%	24.1%
Graduate or professional degree	16.7%	5.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Nags Head	Wanchese
Drove alone	80.4%	75.3%
Carpooled	3.4%	17.9%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	0.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	15.1%	4.2%
Other means	1.0%	2.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Nags Head	Wanchese
1-unit, detached	80.0%	68.9%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	7.5%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	9.0%	0.0%
20 or more units	2.8%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.7%	31.1%

Poverty & households

	Nags Head	Wanchese
Poverty rate	2.6%	5.0%
Average household size	1.90	2.55
Mean commute (minutes)	24	21
Median year structure built	1987	1985