Chapel Hill

Population & Demographics

Chapel Hill, NC

Chapel Hill is home to 61,607 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 22,915 resident workers commute each day.

North CarolinaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
61,607
people
Population

61,607 residents

Median age 25.8 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Chapel Hill population & demographics

Who lives in Chapel Hill — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
61,607
Median age
25.8yrs
Median household income
$85,989
Median home value
$613,700
Median gross rent
$1,613/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
76.6%
Poverty rate
18.6%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Chapel Hill

How Chapel Hill breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White62.8%
Asian13.4%
Black11.3%
Hispanic or Latino7.6%
Two or more races4.0%
Some other race0.6%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.4%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.0%

Race across Chapel Hill

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill at a glance
Employed Residents
22,915
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
15.0mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
27.0%
Share working within the area
Work from home
28.1%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Durham
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Chapel Hill proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Chapel Hill commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

75
Commute Score

75 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Chapel Hill

22,915 commutes, one dot at a time

Chapel Hill

Where 22,915 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Chapel Hill, by worker count.

1Chapel Hill0.0 mi6,190
2Durham8.8 mi4,516
3Raleigh23.4 mi2,265
4Charlotte112.2 mi859
5Cary15.0 mi857
6Greensboro44.8 mi534
7Carrboro2.6 mi504
8Morrisville12.7 mi338

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Chapel Hill.

1Durham8.8 mi9,124
2Chapel Hill0.0 mi6,190
3Raleigh23.4 mi3,292
4Carrboro2.6 mi2,781
5Cary15.0 mi2,514
6Apex16.2 mi1,098
7Burlington25.9 mi910
8Mebane17.2 mi825

Top industries

The sectors that employ Chapel Hill’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
EDEducational Services32.4%
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance32.0%
AFAccommodation and Food Services7.3%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services5.9%
RTRetail Trade5.9%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services2.4%
OSOther Services (except Public Administration)2.3%
INInformation2.3%
FIFinance and Insurance2.1%
Connectivity

Internet options for Chapel Hill

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

8 providers · 4 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps98% of homes
2 Gbps92%
5 Gbps92%
8 Gbps81%
See all internet providers in Chapel Hill

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).