Rutherfordton vs Spindale

A side-by-side comparison of Rutherfordton and Spindale: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Spindale has the higher population (4,244 vs 3,669 in Rutherfordton). Rutherfordton has the higher median household income ($59,750 vs $38,509 in Spindale). Rutherfordton has the higher median home value ($226,900 vs $130,800 in Spindale).

Population, income & housing

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
Population	3,669	4,244
Median age	39.0 yrs	44.9 yrs
Median household income	$59,750	$38,509
Median home value	$226,900	$130,800
Median gross rent	$901	$707
Housing units	1,691	2,154
Homeownership rate	65.0%	45.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.5%	14.3%
Unemployment rate	9.0%	11.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
Population	4,073 → 3,669 (-9.9%)	4,190 → 4,244 (+1.3%)
Median household income	$47,175 → $59,750 (+26.7%)	$32,083 → $38,509 (+20.0%)
Median home value	$124,000 → $226,900 (+83.0%)	$89,000 → $130,800 (+47.0%)
Median gross rent	$783 → $901 (+15.1%)	$583 → $707 (+21.3%)

Rutherfordton

Population

4,0733,669

Median household income

$47,175$59,750

Median home value

$124,000$226,900

Median gross rent

$783$901

Spindale

Population

4,1904,244

Median household income

$32,083$38,509

Median home value

$89,000$130,800

Median gross rent

$583$707

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
Under 5	6.3%	0.4%
5 to 17	15.9%	10.6%
18 to 24	2.9%	10.5%
25 to 34	19.9%	9.6%
35 to 44	10.4%	19.3%
45 to 54	4.6%	15.3%
55 to 64	14.6%	13.9%
65 to 74	12.3%	14.4%
75 and over	13.0%	6.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
White (non-Hispanic)	72.2%	79.1%
Black or African American	9.4%	14.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.0%
Asian	1.1%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	1.2%
Two or more races	9.6%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	7.1%	2.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
No high school diploma	10.8%	16.9%
High school graduate	25.7%	29.0%
Some college or associate's	34.1%	39.8%
Bachelor's degree	24.1%	9.7%
Graduate or professional degree	5.4%	4.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
Drove alone	74.0%	77.5%
Carpooled	17.5%	12.5%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.2%
Worked from home	3.8%	7.6%
Other means	4.7%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
1-unit, detached	78.7%	76.0%
1-unit, attached	5.1%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	8.8%	5.0%
5 to 19 units	2.8%	10.4%
20 or more units	3.0%	6.7%
Mobile home & other	1.5%	2.0%

Poverty & households

	Rutherfordton	Spindale
Poverty rate	19.1%	16.9%
Average household size	2.40	1.97
Mean commute (minutes)	21	24
Median year structure built	1972	1958