Durham, NC population, income and ZIP codes

Durham city is a mid-size city in North Carolina, with 288,465 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #4 of 777 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 34.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Durham city earn a median of $79,234 a year, essentially level with the national figure of $78,538 and 29% above the $61,228 median for the 459 North Carolina cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 12.2% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Durham city is valued at $355,300, 17.1% above the national figure and 62% above the $219,800 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,412 a month, essentially level with the national figure, or roughly $16,944 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 21.4% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 4.5×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 51.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.