Holly Ridge vs North Topsail Beach

A side-by-side comparison of Holly Ridge and North Topsail Beach: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Holly Ridge has the higher population (4,532 vs 699 in North Topsail Beach). North Topsail Beach has the higher median household income ($106,818 vs $106,230 in Holly Ridge). North Topsail Beach has the higher median home value ($453,500 vs $291,100 in Holly Ridge).

Population, income & housing

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
Population	4,532	699
Median age	35.8 yrs	60.6 yrs
Median household income	$106,230	$106,818
Median home value	$291,100	$453,500
Median gross rent	$1,491	$1,208
Housing units	2,375	2,791
Homeownership rate	85.8%	92.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	49.4%	52.7%
Unemployment rate	2.0%	3.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
Population	2,421 → 4,532 (+87.2%)	846 → 699 (-17.4%)
Median household income	$73,250 → $106,230 (+45.0%)	$57,500 → $106,818 (+85.8%)
Median home value	$211,600 → $291,100 (+37.6%)	$290,700 → $453,500 (+56.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,371 → $1,491 (+8.8%)	$1,174 → $1,208 (+2.9%)

Holly Ridge

Population

2,4214,532

Median household income

$73,250$106,230

Median home value

$211,600$291,100

Median gross rent

$1,371$1,491

North Topsail Beach

Population

846699

Median household income

$57,500$106,818

Median home value

$290,700$453,500

Median gross rent

$1,174$1,208

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
Under 5	8.8%	0.9%
5 to 17	12.8%	2.7%
18 to 24	1.9%	3.3%
25 to 34	23.1%	3.3%
35 to 44	19.2%	8.3%
45 to 54	11.3%	13.6%
55 to 64	13.1%	30.6%
65 to 74	7.5%	30.6%
75 and over	2.5%	6.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
White (non-Hispanic)	83.3%	89.6%
Black or African American	4.4%	2.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.2%	0.3%
Asian	0.6%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.7%
Two or more races	2.8%	3.7%
Hispanic or Latino	6.4%	3.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
No high school diploma	7.8%	1.5%
High school graduate	13.6%	18.3%
Some college or associate's	29.2%	27.5%
Bachelor's degree	29.8%	34.3%
Graduate or professional degree	19.6%	18.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
Drove alone	72.6%	53.9%
Carpooled	0.0%	1.2%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.3%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	26.6%	44.9%
Other means	0.5%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
1-unit, detached	76.5%	45.8%
1-unit, attached	11.7%	18.3%
2 to 4 units	3.9%	4.1%
5 to 19 units	1.3%	1.3%
20 or more units	0.0%	25.7%
Mobile home & other	6.5%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Holly Ridge	North Topsail Beach
Poverty rate	0.8%	6.4%
Average household size	2.56	1.86
Mean commute (minutes)	31	44
Median year structure built	2013	1989