Fairplains vs Wilkesboro

A side-by-side comparison of Fairplains and Wilkesboro: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Wilkesboro has the higher population (3,664 vs 1,876 in Fairplains). Wilkesboro has the higher median household income ($41,175 vs $36,586 in Fairplains). Wilkesboro has the higher median home value ($197,600 vs $134,300 in Fairplains).

Population, income & housing

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
Population	1,876	3,664
Median age	49.0 yrs	44.2 yrs
Median household income	$36,586	$41,175
Median home value	$134,300	$197,600
Median gross rent	$631	$713
Housing units	897	1,828
Homeownership rate	69.8%	50.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.8%	22.7%
Unemployment rate	11.8%	4.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
Population	2,065 → 1,876 (-9.2%)	3,495 → 3,664 (+4.8%)
Median household income	$39,695 → $36,586 (-7.8%)	$38,136 → $41,175 (+8.0%)
Median home value	$98,700 → $134,300 (+36.1%)	$176,900 → $197,600 (+11.7%)
Median gross rent	$657 → $631 (-4.0%)	$622 → $713 (+14.6%)

Fairplains

Population

2,0651,876

Median household income

$39,695$36,586

Median home value

$98,700$134,300

Median gross rent

$657$631

Wilkesboro

Population

3,4953,664

Median household income

$38,136$41,175

Median home value

$176,900$197,600

Median gross rent

$622$713

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
Under 5	6.0%	5.9%
5 to 17	15.8%	15.8%
18 to 24	9.1%	7.9%
25 to 34	6.4%	14.2%
35 to 44	8.9%	7.0%
45 to 54	14.9%	9.1%
55 to 64	13.6%	13.0%
65 to 74	18.4%	9.9%
75 and over	6.9%	17.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
White (non-Hispanic)	72.4%	80.9%
Black or African American	6.4%	9.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.4%
Asian	0.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.2%
Two or more races	0.0%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	20.8%	9.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
No high school diploma	29.0%	6.9%
High school graduate	29.1%	37.1%
Some college or associate's	29.1%	33.2%
Bachelor's degree	12.0%	16.3%
Graduate or professional degree	0.8%	6.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
Drove alone	92.3%	81.9%
Carpooled	4.9%	1.9%
Public transit	0.4%	1.4%
Walked	0.0%	6.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	2.4%	7.7%
Other means	0.0%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
1-unit, detached	57.9%	53.9%
1-unit, attached	0.3%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	13.6%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	20.6%
20 or more units	0.0%	14.8%
Mobile home & other	28.2%	2.1%

Poverty & households

	Fairplains	Wilkesboro
Poverty rate	32.4%	18.7%
Average household size	2.38	2.08
Mean commute (minutes)	24	21
Median year structure built	1972	1981