Pembroke is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Pembroke area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Pembroke maintain a good economy.
Being a small town, Pembroke does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The percentage of adults in Pembroke who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 18.67% of the adults in Pembroke have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Pembroke in 2022 was $14,357, which is low income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $57,428 for a family of four. However, Pembroke contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Pembroke also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 40.67% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Pembroke is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Pembroke home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Pembroke residents report their race to be Native American, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Pembroke include English, German, Scottish, Scots-Irish, and African.
The most common language spoken in Pembroke is English. Other important languages spoken here include Native American languages and Spanish.
