This is a small community in a single neighborhood.
As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.
What do we mean by a neighborhood?
NeighborhoodScout® uses the official government designation for neighborhoods - the census tract.
Census tracts are small, relatively permanent subdivisions of a county that are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau in conjunction with local authorities all across the country to define real neighborhoods that are bounded to contain areas with homogeneous population characteristics (including economic status, lifestyle, and living conditions). Census tracts usually have 4,000 persons, but can range between 1,500 and 8,000 persons. This is the most fine-grained area for which detailed information is made available from the government, to protect the individual privacy of each of us. Because census tracts are based on population, they vary in size depending on the density of settlement. In urban areas, they are small, and in rural areas they can cover an entire small town or even a few small towns in very rural areas.
Since census tracts are subdivisions of a county, we did a spatial overlay of the census tracts onto city and town boundaries using a geographic information system to properly assign each census tract to its appropriate city or town. Then we named each census tract to the local colloquially recognized neighborhood name for that spot (e.g., Boston, MA (Dorchester). If there was not a name available, we named the census tract by the largest street intersection in the census tract (e.g., Worcester, MA (Lincoln St/Plantation St)
Why we don't use Zip Codes as neighborhoods
Zip codes were developed by the Postal Service for the purpose of delivering mail, but were never intended to define coherent neighborhoods. In addition, Zip Codes can have as many as 10 distinctly different census tracts contained within them. When distinct census tracts are blended together in a single Zip Code, the data reflects their average conditions and often gives a false sense of the area. The result is that potentially great matching neighborhoods can be missed, and erroneous matches can also be produced and delivered to you.
Using census tracts makes great matches possible, and helps people find the areas that are best for them and their families. Because we are committed to providing the highest possible quality and finding the neighborhoods that best meet your criteria, we use census tracts. And, as always, we show you the actual street map of the neighborhood so you know exactly where your best matching neighborhood is located.
What is a Condition Alert?
A condition alert is a condition in the neighborhood that triggers an alert. NeighborhoodScout contains condition alerts to highlight conditions that are extreme, whether good or bad. This helps answer crucial questions about the state of the neighborhood being evaluated, such as:
What are the risks of violent crime here?
Is the risk of home break-ins or other property crimes increasing?
Does real estate here hold its value?
Are the trends in local vacancies or unemployment concerning?
...and dozens more.
Information at a glance that you need to know to invest, appraise or finance a property.
Sandy Ridge is a very small town located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 2,663 people and just one neighborhood, Sandy Ridge is the 267th largest community in North Carolina.
Occupations and Workforce
Sandy Ridge is a blue-collar town, with 55.87% of people working in blue-collar occupations, while the average in America is just 27.7%. Overall, Sandy Ridge is a town of transportation and shipping workers, service providers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Sandy Ridge who work in office and administrative support (11.65%), maintenance occupations (11.39%), and healthcare suport services (4.85%).
Also of interest is that Sandy Ridge has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
Setting & Lifestyle
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Sandy Ridge has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Sandy Ridge has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Sandy Ridge than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Sandy Ridge may be for you.
One downside of living in Sandy Ridge is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Sandy Ridge, the average commute to work is 38.43 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
Sandy Ridge is a small town, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
Demographics
The population of Sandy Ridge has one of the lowest overall levels of education in the country: only 5.70% of people over 25 hold a college degree. The national average for all municipalities is 21.84%.
The per capita income in Sandy Ridge in 2022 was $28,589, which is middle income relative to North Carolina, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $114,356 for a family of four. However, Sandy Ridge contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Sandy Ridge home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Sandy Ridge residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Sandy Ridge include English, Scottish, German, Irish, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Sandy Ridge is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Sandy Ridge, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Occupations
NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research identifies the neighborhood as having one of the highest concentrations of people employed in manufacturing or as laborers of any neighborhood in America. In fact, despite the loss of manufacturing jobs nationally, this neighborhood has 55.4% of its working residents employed in such fields, which is a higher proportion than 99.6% of American neighborhoods.
Car Ownership
Most American households own a car or other vehicle. Many own two cars or perhaps three. In the United States, it is useful to have an automobile not only for commuting, but also for shopping and getting to other services one needs. But NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed that households in the neighborhood have a highly unusual car ownership. Residents of this neighborhood must really love automobiles. NeighborhoodScout's Analysis reveals that 40.8% of the households here have four, five, or more cars. That is more cars per household than in 98.4% of the neighborhoods in the nation.
People
Astoundingly, the neighborhood has one of the highest concentrations of divorcees living here than of any neighborhood, a higher concentration than NeighborhoodScout found in 98.3% of U.S. neighborhoods. This may be because people living here divorce more often than others, or that divorced people move here after they become divorced. If you are divorced, you will be in good company in this particular Sandy Ridge neighborhood.
In addition, the neighborhood is unique for having just 5.7% of adults here having earned a bachelor's degree. This is a lower rate of college graduates than NeighborhoodScout found in 96.6% of America's neighborhoods.
Modes of Transportation
Our research reveals that 91.1% of commuters who live in the neighborhood get to work each day by driving alone in their automobiles, which is a higher proportion than 97.5% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Diversity
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Scottish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 12.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Scottish ancestry.
Migration / Stability
The freedom of moving to new places versus the comfort of home. How much and how often people move not only can create diverse and worldly neighborhoods, but simultaneously it can produce a loss of intimacy with one's surroundings and a lack of connectedness to one's neighbors. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research has identified this neighborhood as unique with regard to the transience of its populace. More residents of the neighborhood live here today that also were living in this same neighborhood five years ago than is found in 95.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. This neighborhood is really made up of people who know each other, don't move often, and have lived here in this very neighborhood for quite a while.
The Neighbors
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 Sandy Ridge are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 73.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 17.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 64.9% of U.S. neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 55.4% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 18.7% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations (16.5%), and 8.9% in executive, management, and professional occupations.
Languages
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 93.2% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (5.8%).
Ethnicity / Ancestry
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Sandy Ridge, NC, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as English (18.3%). There are also a number of people of Scottish ancestry (12.2%), and residents who report German roots (8.1%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (4.4%), along with some Scots-Irish ancestry residents (1.1%), among others.
Getting to Work
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 45 minutes and one hour commuting one-way to work (41.0% of working residents), longer and tougher than most commutes in America.
Here most residents (91.1%) 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.
SCOUT’s patented match algorithm identifies the most similar neighborhoods to a subject location, and quantifies the similarity to the subject location. This allows analysts to identify the most similar neighborhoods in a local market area for appraisals, investments, and research.
The algorithm uses 273 neighborhood conditions, identifies the dominant dimensions underlying the conditions and calculates the similarity. This captures the true culture and character of locations, economic conditions, and trends.
The closer to 100% means the locations are nearly identical. 80% is a very good, but not excellent match, and so forth.
