Counties in North Carolina by fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly)

Currituck County had the highest fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly) of 100 counties in 2018, at $1,533. Swain County had the lowest, at $856. The median was $988. Source: the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest1,533Currituck County
Lowest856Swain County
Median988100 counties

Map of counties, 2018

Alamance County: 1,029 USDAlexander County: 877 USDAlleghany County: 933 USDAnson County: 951 USDAshe County: 993 USDAvery County: 974 USDBeaufort County: 927 USDBertie County: 856 USDBladen County: 891 USDBrunswick County: 1,118 USDBuncombe County: 1,120 USDBurke County: 877 USDCabarrus County: 1,310 USDCaldwell County: 877 USDCamden County: 1,403 USDCarteret County: 1,147 USDCaswell County: 946 USDCatawba County: 877 USDChatham County: 1,356 USDCherokee County: 930 USDChowan County: 1,068 USDClay County: 924 USDCleveland County: 927 USDColumbus County: 892 USDCraven County: 1,276 USDCumberland County: 1,138 USDCurrituck County: 1,533 USDDare County: 1,420 USDDavidson County: 969 USDDavie County: 1,002 USDDuplin County: 913 USDDurham County: 1,356 USDEdgecombe County: 984 USDForsyth County: 1,002 USDFranklin County: 1,327 USDGaston County: 1,310 USDGates County: 993 USDGraham County: 856 USDGranville County: 1,042 USDGreene County: 858 USDGuilford County: 1,078 USDHalifax County: 932 USDHarnett County: 1,068 USDHaywood County: 924 USDHenderson County: 1,120 USDHertford County: 956 USDHoke County: 1,011 USDHyde County: 1,148 USDIredell County: 1,065 USDJackson County: 885 USDJohnston County: 1,327 USDJones County: 913 USDLee County: 982 USDLenoir County: 951 USDLincoln County: 1,000 USDMcDowell County: 856 USDMacon County: 1,048 USDMadison County: 1,120 USDMartin County: 926 USDMecklenburg County: 1,310 USDMitchell County: 891 USDMontgomery County: 946 USDMoore County: 1,046 USDNash County: 984 USDNew Hanover County: 1,392 USDNorthampton County: 959 USDOnslow County: 1,226 USDOrange County: 1,356 USDPamlico County: 982 USDPasquotank County: 1,231 USDPender County: 1,061 USDPerquimans County: 1,062 USDPerson County: 926 USDPitt County: 1,074 USDPolk County: 1,024 USDRandolph County: 1,078 USDRichmond County: 902 USDRobeson County: 862 USDRockingham County: 901 USDRowan County: 1,041 USDRutherford County: 900 USDSampson County: 943 USDScotland County: 883 USDStanly County: 931 USDStokes County: 1,002 USDSurry County: 939 USDSwain County: 856 USDTransylvania County: 943 USDTyrrell County: 993 USDUnion County: 1,310 USDVance County: 914 USDWake County: 1,327 USDWarren County: 988 USDWashington County: 963 USDWatauga County: 1,255 USDWayne County: 987 USDWilkes County: 914 USDWilson County: 1,034 USDYadkin County: 1,002 USDYancey County: 966 USD
  • Under 900
  • 900 to 940
  • 940 to 990
  • 990 to 1,000
  • 1,000 to 1,200
  • 1,200 and over
USD, 2018. Source: HUD, HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2018

Currituck County: 1,533 USDCurrituck County1,533Dare County: 1,420 USDDare County1,420Camden County: 1,403 USDCamden County1,403New Hanover County: 1,392 USDNew Hanover County1,392Chatham County: 1,356 USDChatham County1,356Durham County: 1,356 USDDurham County1,356Orange County: 1,356 USDOrange County1,356Franklin County: 1,327 USDFranklin County1,327Johnston County: 1,327 USDJohnston County1,327Wake County: 1,327 USDWake County1,327Cabarrus County: 1,310 USDCabarrus County1,310Gaston County: 1,310 USDGaston County1,310Mecklenburg County: 1,310 USDMecklenburg County1,310Union County: 1,310 USDUnion County1,310Craven County: 1,276 USDCraven County1,276Watauga County: 1,255 USDWatauga County1,255Pasquotank County: 1,231 USDPasquotank County1,231Onslow County: 1,226 USDOnslow County1,226Hyde County: 1,148 USDHyde County1,148Carteret County: 1,147 USDCarteret County1,147Cumberland County: 1,138 USDCumberland County1,138Buncombe County: 1,120 USDBuncombe County1,120Henderson County: 1,120 USDHenderson County1,120Madison County: 1,120 USDMadison County1,120Brunswick County: 1,118 USDBrunswick County1,118Guilford County: 1,078 USDGuilford County1,078Randolph County: 1,078 USDRandolph County1,078Pitt County: 1,074 USDPitt County1,074Chowan County: 1,068 USDChowan County1,068Harnett County: 1,068 USDHarnett County1,068Iredell County: 1,065 USDIredell County1,065Perquimans County: 1,062 USDPerquimans County1,062Pender County: 1,061 USDPender County1,061Macon County: 1,048 USDMacon County1,048Moore County: 1,046 USDMoore County1,046Granville County: 1,042 USDGranville County1,042Rowan County: 1,041 USDRowan County1,041Wilson County: 1,034 USDWilson County1,034Alamance County: 1,029 USDAlamance County1,029Polk County: 1,024 USDPolk County1,024Currituck County: 1,533 USDCurrituck County1,533Dare County: 1,420 USDDare County1,420Camden County: 1,403 USDCamden County1,403New Hanover County: 1,392 USDNew Hanover County1,392Chatham County: 1,356 USDChatham County1,356Durham County: 1,356 USDDurham County1,356Orange County: 1,356 USDOrange County1,356Franklin County: 1,327 USDFranklin County1,327Johnston County: 1,327 USDJohnston County1,327Wake County: 1,327 USDWake County1,327Cabarrus County: 1,310 USDCabarrus County1,310Gaston County: 1,310 USDGaston County1,310Mecklenburg County: 1,310 USDMecklenburg County1,310Union County: 1,310 USDUnion County1,310Craven County: 1,276 USDCraven County1,276Watauga County: 1,255 USDWatauga County1,255Pasquotank County: 1,231 USDPasquotank County1,231Onslow County: 1,226 USDOnslow County1,226Hyde County: 1,148 USDHyde County1,148Carteret County: 1,147 USDCarteret County1,147Cumberland County: 1,138 USDCumberland County1,138Buncombe County: 1,120 USDBuncombe County1,120Henderson County: 1,120 USDHenderson County1,120Madison County: 1,120 USDMadison County1,120Brunswick County: 1,118 USDBrunswick County1,118Guilford County: 1,078 USDGuilford County1,078Randolph County: 1,078 USDRandolph County1,078Pitt County: 1,074 USDPitt County1,074Chowan County: 1,068 USDChowan County1,068Harnett County: 1,068 USDHarnett County1,068Iredell County: 1,065 USDIredell County1,065Perquimans County: 1,062 USDPerquimans County1,062Pender County: 1,061 USDPender County1,061Macon County: 1,048 USDMacon County1,048Moore County: 1,046 USDMoore County1,046Granville County: 1,042 USDGranville County1,042Rowan County: 1,041 USDRowan County1,041Wilson County: 1,034 USDWilson County1,034Alamance County: 1,029 USDAlamance County1,029Polk County: 1,024 USDPolk County1,024
USD. Source: HUD, HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2018
USD
Change on 2017
1Currituck County1,533-2.8%
2Dare County1,420+9.9%
3Camden County1,403+5.5%
4New Hanover County1,392+7.7%
5Chatham County1,356+1.8%
5Durham County1,356+1.8%
5Orange County1,356+1.8%
8Franklin County1,327+2.6%
8Johnston County1,327+2.6%
8Wake County1,327+2.6%
11Cabarrus County1,310+6.5%
11Gaston County1,310+6.5%
11Mecklenburg County1,310+6.5%
11Union County1,310+6.5%
15Craven County1,276+9.1%
16Watauga County1,255+2.2%
17Pasquotank County1,231+6.8%
18Onslow County1,226+3.7%
19Hyde County1,148+5.6%
20Carteret County1,147+3.3%
21Cumberland County1,138-1.1%
22Buncombe County1,120-6.2%
22Henderson County1,120-6.2%
22Madison County1,120-6.2%
25Brunswick County1,118-1.1%
26Guilford County1,078+5.2%
26Randolph County1,078+5.2%
28Pitt County1,074-3.7%
29Chowan County1,068+12.1%
29Harnett County1,068+12.4%
31Iredell County1,065+0.9%
32Perquimans County1,062+1%
33Pender County1,061+11.9%
34Macon County1,048+7.9%
35Moore County1,046+12.5%
36Granville County1,042+6%
37Rowan County1,041+14%
38Wilson County1,034-2.3%
39Alamance County1,029-10%
40Polk County1,024+6%
41Hoke County1,011+2.1%
42Davie County1,002-3.5%
42Forsyth County1,002-3.5%
42Stokes County1,002-3.5%
42Yadkin County1,002-3.5%
46Lincoln County1,000+6.2%
47Ashe County993+6.2%
47Gates County993+6.2%
47Tyrrell County993+6.2%
50Warren County988+6%
51Wayne County987+9.7%
52Edgecombe County984-3.3%
52Nash County984-3.3%
54Lee County982+9.4%
54Pamlico County982+5%
56Avery County974+1.6%
57Davidson County969+5.1%
58Yancey County966+2.2%
59Washington County963+6.9%
60Northampton County959+6.8%
61Hertford County956+9.3%
62Anson County951+6%
62Lenoir County951+8.3%
64Caswell County946+2.2%
64Montgomery County946+7.3%
66Sampson County943+7.4%
66Transylvania County943+5.5%
68Surry County939+4.3%
69Alleghany County933+5.8%
70Halifax County932+8.2%
71Stanly County931+6.6%
72Cherokee County930+0.1%
73Beaufort County927-0.1%
73Cleveland County927+6.6%
75Martin County926+7.2%
75Person County926+5%
77Clay County924+5.1%
77Haywood County924-1.4%
79Vance County914+8.7%
79Wilkes County914+7.8%
81Duplin County913+5.2%
81Jones County913+3.2%
83Richmond County902+4.4%
84Rockingham County901+7.6%
85Rutherford County900+5.5%
86Columbus County892+7.1%
87Bladen County891+10.5%
87Mitchell County891+4.6%
89Jackson County885+10.2%
90Scotland County883+6.4%
91Alexander County877+0.6%
91Burke County877+0.6%
91Caldwell County877+0.6%
91Catawba County877+0.6%
95Robeson County862+6.2%
96Greene County858+6.8%
97Bertie County856+4.6%
97Graham County856+5.4%
97McDowell County856+5.4%
97Swain County856+6.6%

Other periods

About this ranking

Monthly gross rent, in US dollars, that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) sets for a three-bedroom unit in the HUD area that contains the county.

More on how it is measured
  • Gross rent is the rent plus all utilities paid by the tenant except telephone, cable or satellite television and internet.
  • HUD sets Fair Market Rents at the 40th percentile of gross rents paid by recent movers for standard-quality rental units, from American Community Survey data brought forward to the fiscal year; until 2018 a few metropolitan areas were set at the 50th percentile.
  • They set payment standards for Housing Choice Vouchers and rent ceilings in other HUD programs.

A policy benchmark, not a measured rent: it is lower than the median rent by design and differs from the Census Bureau median gross rent. HUD sets one value per HUD area, a metropolitan area (sometimes split into HUD Metro FMR Areas) or a non-metropolitan county, so every county of a metropolitan area shows the same figure. Counties in the six New England states have no value, because HUD defines their areas by town and a county can span several areas. Where HUD splits off part of a county, the county value is the rest of the county: Howard County, Maryland, without Columbia until FY2015, and Crawford County, Missouri, without its part of Sullivan. The year is HUD's federal fiscal year: FY2027 runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. (2018). HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars (Counties in North Carolina by fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly), 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx

MLA 9

HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars, Counties in North Carolina by fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly), 2018. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, 13 Feb. 2018, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-three-bedroom/north-carolina-counties?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. 2018. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars. Counties in North Carolina by fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly), 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-three-bedroom/north-carolina-counties?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research (2018) HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars, Counties in North Carolina by fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly), 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-three-bedroom/north-carolina-counties?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{department_counties_in_north_carolina_2018,
  author = {{U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research}},
  title = {{HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars: Counties in North Carolina by fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly), 2018}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-three-bedroom/north-carolina-counties?period=2018. Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18\_4050\_FMRs\_rev.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
TI  - HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars: Counties in North Carolina by fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly), 2018
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/02/13
PB  - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-three-bedroom/north-carolina-counties?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/fair-market-rent-three-bedroom/north-carolina-counties?period=2018.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD USER. HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/fmr2018/FY18_4050_FMRs_rev.xlsx. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

Which county has the highest fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly)?

Currituck County, with $1,533 in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.

Which county has the lowest fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly)?

Swain County, with $856 in 2018.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD Fair Market Rents by county: three bedrooms, monthly gross rent in dollars. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Fair Market Rent, three bedrooms (HUD, monthly): other rankings

Counties in North Carolina: more rankings