Which North Carolina counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 100 North Carolina counties we have scored, Davidson County scores highest at 99 and Dare County lowest at 67. North Carolina ranks 2nd of 50 overall, at 93 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 0 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 100 counties · 491 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsNorth Carolina ranks 2nd of 50, 93 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #1 and #7. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in North Carolina, best score first

Find a county100 counties


Davidson → 316 people / sq mi	99	25	20	15	14	15	10
Granville → 117 people / sq mi	99	24	20	15	15	15	10
Iredell → 348 people / sq mi	99	25	19	15	15	15	10
Johnston → 306 people / sq mi	99	25	19	15	15	15	10
Lincoln → 323 people / sq mi	99	25	20	15	15	14	10
Nash → 179 people / sq mi	99	25	20	15	14	15	10
Northampton → 31 people / sq mi	99	25	20	15	14	15	10
Orange → 379 people / sq mi	99	24	20	15	15	15	10
Wilkes → 88 people / sq mi	99	25	20	15	15	14	10
Alamance → 423 people / sq mi	98	25	20	15	14	14	10
Cabarrus → 664 people / sq mi	98	25	20	15	14	15	9
Cleveland → 218 people / sq mi	98	25	20	15	14	14	10
Franklin → 157 people / sq mi	98	25	20	15	14	14	10
Guilford → 851 people / sq mi	98	25	19	15	15	14	10
Halifax → 65 people / sq mi	98	25	19	15	14	15	10
Randolph → 189 people / sq mi	98	25	19	15	15	14	10
Rockingham → 164 people / sq mi	98	25	20	14	14	15	10
Warren → 44 people / sq mi	98	25	20	14	14	15	10
Anson → 41 people / sq mi	97	25	20	15	14	14	9
Caswell → 54 people / sq mi	97	24	20	15	14	14	10
Durham → 1172 people / sq mi	97	24	20	15	14	15	9
Person → 101 people / sq mi	97	23	20	15	15	14	10
Polk → 84 people / sq mi	97	25	20	15	15	13	9
Rowan → 296 people / sq mi	97	25	20	15	14	14	9
Sampson → 63 people / sq mi	97	25	19	15	15	13	10
Vance → 168 people / sq mi	97	24	20	15	14	14	10
Wayne → 214 people / sq mi	97	25	19	15	15	13	10
Wilson → 215 people / sq mi	97	25	20	15	13	14	10
Yadkin → 113 people / sq mi	97	25	20	14	14	14	10
Alleghany → 48 people / sq mi	96	25	20	14	15	13	9
Catawba → 410 people / sq mi	96	25	18	15	14	14	10
Edgecombe → 97 people / sq mi	96	25	19	15	14	13	10
Gaston → 667 people / sq mi	96	25	18	15	13	15	10
Stanly → 166 people / sq mi	96	25	20	15	14	13	9
Stokes → 101 people / sq mi	96	25	19	14	14	14	10
Wake → 1426 people / sq mi	96	25	19	15	14	14	9
Chatham → 120 people / sq mi	95	24	20	15	14	13	9
Mecklenburg → 2223 people / sq mi	95	25	17	15	15	14	9
Moore → 153 people / sq mi	95	25	20	15	12	14	9
Rutherford → 116 people / sq mi	95	25	20	15	15	13	7
Scotland → 108 people / sq mi	95	25	20	15	15	12	8
Surry → 134 people / sq mi	95	25	20	14	13	14	9
Alexander → 140 people / sq mi	94	25	20	13	14	13	9
Burke → 175 people / sq mi	94	25	20	14	13	14	8
Cumberland → 518 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	12	13	9
Davie → 169 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	11	14	9
Forsyth → 963 people / sq mi	94	25	19	13	14	14	9
Greene → 77 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	13	13	8
Hoke → 140 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	12	13	9
Lee → 263 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	12	13	9
Lenoir → 138 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	13	13	8
Montgomery → 53 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	12	14	8
Robeson → 124 people / sq mi	94	25	20	15	12	13	9
Union → 405 people / sq mi	94	25	19	15	14	14	7
Clay → 55 people / sq mi	93	25	19	15	14	12	8
Henderson → 320 people / sq mi	93	25	19	15	13	13	8
Caldwell → 171 people / sq mi	92	25	18	14	14	14	7
Duplin → 61 people / sq mi	92	25	20	15	12	12	8
Harnett → 238 people / sq mi	92	25	19	15	12	12	9
McDowell → 102 people / sq mi	92	25	20	13	14	12	8
Richmond → 89 people / sq mi	92	25	20	15	12	12	8
Martin → 47 people / sq mi	91	25	20	15	12	12	7
Chowan → 81 people / sq mi	89	24	19	15	11	13	7
Bladen → 34 people / sq mi	88	25	19	15	11	12	6
Hertford → 55 people / sq mi	88	24	19	14	10	13	8
Jones → 20 people / sq mi	88	25	18	15	13	12	5
Pitt → 268 people / sq mi	88	25	19	15	11	12	6
Transylvania → 89 people / sq mi	88	25	20	15	11	10	7
Ashe → 64 people / sq mi	87	25	20	14	14	10	4
Columbus → 53 people / sq mi	87	24	19	15	9	13	7
Gates → 30 people / sq mi	87	23	20	14	12	13	5
Perquimans → 54 people / sq mi	87	25	20	14	10	13	5
Bertie → 24 people / sq mi	86	24	20	14	11	12	5
Cherokee → 66 people / sq mi	86	25	20	14	10	12	5
Craven → 145 people / sq mi	85	25	20	15	7	12	6
Graham → 28 people / sq mi	85	25	19	14	10	11	6
Avery → 71 people / sq mi	83	25	20	14	11	10	3
Brunswick → 188 people / sq mi	83	25	20	15	8	11	4
Macon → 75 people / sq mi	83	24	19	12	13	11	4
Onslow → 280 people / sq mi	83	23	19	14	8	12	7
Pender → 79 people / sq mi	83	25	20	14	7	13	4
Beaufort → 53 people / sq mi	82	25	18	14	8	13	4
Buncombe → 420 people / sq mi	82	25	18	14	11	11	3
Currituck → 121 people / sq mi	82	25	18	14	9	12	4
Haywood → 114 people / sq mi	82	25	20	12	11	11	3
Madison → 49 people / sq mi	82	25	20	11	12	11	3
Camden → 46 people / sq mi	81	25	20	14	8	12	2
Jackson → 91 people / sq mi	81	25	20	14	11	11	0
Mitchell → 68 people / sq mi	81	25	20	12	11	10	3
Watauga → 175 people / sq mi	81	25	20	11	11	10	4
Yancey → 61 people / sq mi	81	25	20	14	11	11	0
Washington → 31 people / sq mi	78	25	20	15	6	11	1
Swain → 26 people / sq mi	77	25	19	14	9	10	0
New Hanover → 1242 people / sq mi	73	23	19	15	3	11	2
Pasquotank → 183 people / sq mi	73	23	19	15	6	10	0
Hyde → 8 people / sq mi	72	23	19	15	4	11	0
Tyrrell → 9 people / sq mi	71	23	19	14	4	11	0
Carteret → 137 people / sq mi	70	23	20	14	2	11	0
Pamlico → 37 people / sq mi	70	23	16	14	5	11	1
Dare → 99 people / sq mi	67	23	17	14	4	9	0

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

87% of North Carolina's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Davidson, Granville and Iredell. The weakest are Dare, Carteret and Pamlico. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price) and hazards (flood, fire, storms and earthquakes).

What separates them

Buildability: Davidson County scores 10 of 10, Dare County 0. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Hazard: Granville County scores 15 of 15, Carteret County 2. Flood, wildfire, seismic, and severe-weather exposure: the risks that raise insurance and build cost or strand a parcel.
Food: Davidson County scores 15 of 15, Dare County 9. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Solar: Davidson County scores 15 of 15, Watauga County 11. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Legal: Davidson County scores 20 of 20, Pamlico County 16. Whether you can reach the land and live on it: road access, distance to emergency care, internet and cell, and how built up the area is, which decides how many lot-size, livestock, and zoning rules you will meet.

Water barely moves across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Buildability is North Carolina's weakest dimension, at 8 of 10 for the state as a whole. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $30k to $92k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full North Carolina row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in North Carolina

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in North Carolina? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsNorth Carolina: 93 of 100, 2nd of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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