What is the population of Sylva town?

Sylva town has 2,600 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #288 of 777 in North Carolina.

What is the median household income in Sylva town?

Median household income in Sylva town is $41,926 a year, 46.6% below the national figure of $78,538.

How much does it cost to rent or buy in Sylva town?

Median gross rent is $768 a month and the median home value is $195,500, so rent absorbs about 22% of median household income.

Is Sylva town affordable compared with the rest of the US?

Homes cost about 4.7× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Sylva town is less affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 22% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.

Aerial view of a dense city center, illustrating the US cities ZIP code directory

North Carolina · Census place 66500

Sylva, NC population, income and ZIP codes

Quick answer

The population of the city of Sylva, North Carolina (Sylva, NC — Census place “Sylva town”) is 2,600 residents, ranking #288 of 777 places in North Carolina. Median household income is $41,926, the median home is worth $195,500 and median gross rent runs $768 a month. Looking for the Sylva North Carolina ZIP code list? 1 ZIP codes serve Sylva, NC: 28779.

Population: 2,600Sylva town residents
Median household income: $41,926Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value: $195,500Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent: $768Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age: 30.3 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate: 40.3%Owner-occupied households

Sylva ZIP codes (North Carolina)

Census ZCTAs whose delivery area overlaps Sylva.

The Sylva NC ZIP code list below covers 1 ZIP code. Open any one for its population, income, housing and rent profile.

28779

What the numbers mean in Sylva town

Housing cost measured against local earnings.

A household earning the Sylva town median would spend about 22% of gross income on the median rent. The 30% mark is the federal threshold for cost burden, so anything above it signals a stretched rental market. The median home costs 4.7× the median household income; nationally that ratio sits near 4.5×. Poverty affects 26.6% of residents and 40.3% of households own their home.

Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates · rates as published for 2019-2023 ACS 5-year

Sylva town, NC in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

Sylva town is a small town in North Carolina, with 2,600 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #288 of 777 ranked by population — larger than 63% of them. The median age here is 30.3 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in Sylva town earn a median of $41,926 a year, 46.6% below the national figure of $78,538 and 32% below the $61,228 median for the 459 North Carolina cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 26.6% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in Sylva town is valued at $195,500, 35.6% below the national figure and 11% below the $219,800 peer median, while median gross rent runs $768 a month, 45.4% below the national figure, or roughly $9,216 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 22% 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 4.7×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 40.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. 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.

Compare with nearby places

Places of similar size in North Carolina.

More North Carolina coverage.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this area.

What is the population of Sylva town?: Sylva town has 2,600 residents on Census ACS 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, ranking #288 of 777 in North Carolina.
What is the median household income in Sylva town?: Median household income in Sylva town is $41,926 a year, 46.6% below the national figure of $78,538.
How much does it cost to rent or buy in Sylva town?: Median gross rent is $768 a month and the median home value is $195,500, so rent absorbs about 22% of median household income.
Is Sylva town affordable compared with the rest of the US?: Homes cost about 4.7× the local median income here versus roughly 3.9× nationally, so Sylva town is less affordable to buy in than the typical US market, and rent takes 22% of median income against the 30% cost-burden line.
How current is this Sylva town data?: All figures come from the US Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year five-year estimates. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.