Benson vs Selma

A side-by-side comparison of Benson and Selma: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Selma has the higher population (6,611 vs 4,144 in Benson). Benson has the higher median household income ($65,614 vs $37,440 in Selma). Benson has the higher median home value ($176,000 vs $161,100 in Selma).

Population, income & housing

	Benson	Selma
Population	4,144	6,611
Median age	35.0 yrs	33.6 yrs
Median household income	$65,614	$37,440
Median home value	$176,000	$161,100
Median gross rent	$978	$824
Housing units	1,916	2,974
Homeownership rate	52.8%	43.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.8%	12.5%
Unemployment rate	9.8%	3.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Benson	Selma
Population	3,731 → 4,144 (+11.1%)	6,746 → 6,611 (-2.0%)
Median household income	$35,635 → $65,614 (+84.1%)	$27,676 → $37,440 (+35.3%)
Median home value	$111,400 → $176,000 (+58.0%)	$105,200 → $161,100 (+53.1%)
Median gross rent	$735 → $978 (+33.1%)	$820 → $824 (+0.5%)

Benson

Population

3,7314,144

Median household income

$35,635$65,614

Median home value

$111,400$176,000

Median gross rent

$735$978

Selma

Population

6,7466,611

Median household income

$27,676$37,440

Median home value

$105,200$161,100

Median gross rent

$820$824

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Benson	Selma
Under 5	9.5%	5.6%
5 to 17	17.2%	21.2%
18 to 24	3.6%	12.6%
25 to 34	19.6%	13.6%
35 to 44	9.9%	14.2%
45 to 54	12.7%	9.8%
55 to 64	7.3%	8.7%
65 to 74	14.0%	8.2%
75 and over	6.0%	6.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Benson	Selma
White (non-Hispanic)	40.8%	22.8%
Black or African American	35.4%	42.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.6%
Some other race	0.0%	2.1%
Two or more races	0.3%	1.3%
Hispanic or Latino	23.5%	30.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Benson	Selma
No high school diploma	17.8%	19.3%
High school graduate	29.1%	25.6%
Some college or associate's	32.3%	42.6%
Bachelor's degree	16.2%	9.7%
Graduate or professional degree	4.7%	2.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Benson	Selma
Drove alone	74.4%	85.4%
Carpooled	6.6%	6.6%
Public transit	3.3%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.4%
Worked from home	15.7%	6.0%
Other means	0.0%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Benson	Selma
1-unit, detached	67.4%	60.1%
1-unit, attached	10.3%	7.4%
2 to 4 units	11.0%	13.7%
5 to 19 units	7.4%	6.5%
20 or more units	3.9%	3.1%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	9.3%

Poverty & households

	Benson	Selma
Poverty rate	32.9%	27.1%
Average household size	2.60	2.45
Mean commute (minutes)	24	28
Median year structure built	1978	1968