Holly Ridge is a very small coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 4,909 people and just one neighborhood, Holly Ridge is the 198th largest community in North Carolina. There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Holly Ridge, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. New growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Holly Ridge, and putting down their money on brand new construction. Holly Ridge’s real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. Holly Ridge does seem to be experiencing an influx of affluent people, because the median household income is $90,197.00.
Holly Ridge is neither predominantly blue-collar nor white-collar, instead having a mixed workforce of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Overall, Holly Ridge is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Holly Ridge who work in management occupations (14.90%), healthcare (10.07%), and teaching (9.53%).
There are many members of the armed forces living in Holly Ridge. You will notice when you visit or live here that some of the people you meet or see around town are employed by the armed services - even if they are not always in uniform.
Of important note, Holly Ridge is also a town of artists. Holly Ridge has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Holly Ridge’s character.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 23.18% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Holly Ridge is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, Holly Ridge’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.
One of the nice things about Holly Ridge is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.
In Holly Ridge, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 31.16 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average.
As is often the case in a small town, Holly Ridge doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
If knowledge is power, Holly Ridge is a pretty powerful place. 50.44% of the adults in Holly Ridge have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Holly Ridge in 2022 was $44,565, which is wealthy relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $178,260 for a family of four. However, Holly Ridge contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Holly Ridge is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Holly Ridge home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Holly Ridge residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Holly Ridge include Irish, Italian, German, English, and Dutch.
The most common language spoken in Holly Ridge is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
is a neighborhood that is on the ocean, a bay, or inlet. Many times, such places have amenities that bring locals and visitors to the waterfront for recreational activities or to check out the scenery. In some densely populated areas that are less financially well-off, the neighborhood waterfront can be relatively industrial and less open to recreation. In addition to being coastal, is a very nautical neighborhood, meaning that it is somewhat historic, walkable, densely populated and on the water. This gives the neighborhood a very nautical feel, with some seaside and shipping feel, which some may really enjoy the sights and sounds of.
In addition, homes built from 2000 through today make up a higher proportion of the neighborhood's real estate landscape than 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America. When you are driving around this neighborhood, you'll notice right away that it is one of the newest built of any, with the smell of fresh paint, and the look of young landscaping nearly everywhere you look. In fact, 68.8% of the residential real estate here is classified as newer.
With 6.9% of employed workers living in the neighborhood active in the military, this neighborhood has the distinction of having a higher proportion of people in the military than 99.1% of American neighborhoods. This is a major shaper of the neighborhood's culture and character.
Astoundingly, NeighborhoodScout's research reveals that this single neighborhood has a higher concentration of married couples living here than 96.0% of all U.S. neighborhoods. Whether they have school-aged children or not, married couples are the rule in the neighborhood. If you are a married couple, you may find many people here with a similar lifestyle, and perhaps common interests. But if you are single, you might not find many other singles here.
In addition, if you're looking for a great spot to raise a family, then look no further than the neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that the combination of good quality public schools, above-average safety from crime, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family homes, help make this neighborhood among the top 14.1% of family-friendly neighborhoods across the state of North Carolina. In addition, there are a high proportion of other families with school-aged children living here, making it easy for parents and their children to socialize and develop a sense of community support. In addition, families here highly value education, as is reflected by the strength of the local schools, in part due to the educational attainment of the parents here, who vote in support of the public schools.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Scottish and Finnish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 5.4% of this neighborhood's residents have Scottish ancestry and 1.1% have Finnish ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Holly Ridge are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 64.2% of the neighborhoods in America. With 14.5% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 59.1% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 42.0% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 26.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (21.3%), and 9.7% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.9% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (4.5%).
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Holly Ridge, NC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (21.1%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (13.9%), and residents who report English roots (13.0%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (7.3%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (5.4%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 30 and 45 minutes commuting one-way to work (36.0% of working residents), which is at or a bit above the average length of a commute across all U.S. neighborhoods.
Here most residents (78.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.