A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

St. Stephens$1,200/mo

Typical home $213K (Census) · tax rate 0.46% · or rent about $958/mo · Housing →

Butner$1,570/mo

Typical home $268K (Zillow) · tax rate 0.75% · or rent about $1,307/mo · Housing →

The difference: $370 a month, about $4,400 a year, between Butner and St. Stephens.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

St. Stephens places higher on 11 of 19 NC lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every North Carolina ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

–St. StephensNot graded C+ButnerSafer than 38% of U.S. towns

Schools

B+St. StephensBetter than 65% of districts in the state CButnerBetter than 27% of districts in the state

Health

B−St. StephensHealthier than 49% of U.S. towns C−ButnerHealthier than 22% of U.S. towns

11St. Stephens

8Butner

Lists won, of 19 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Most conserved landOutdoors · 276 towns #270#7 Highest graduation rateSchools · 284 towns #93#270 Lowest depressionHealth · 296 towns #214#63 Lowest property taxCost of living · 297 towns #16#136 Most remote workersWork · 285 towns #236#124 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 297 towns #215#116 Cheapest rentCost of living · 284 towns #99#192 Fastest growingGrowth · 291 towns #209#128

Left end = #1 in North Carolina. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of St. Stephens’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

St. StephensButner

Snow a year0″2″

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)22nd 35th

Outdoors & history

St. StephensButner

Trails0 mi 1 mi

Conserved land0.1%41.1%

Archive photos—4

Community

St. StephensButner

Library hours a week50 hrs 52 hrs

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

144 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

St. StephensNC ButnerNC

St. Stephens ↔ Butner144 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs North Carolina average

St. StephensButner

People

Population 9,457Highest 8,065Lowest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +1.1%Lowest NC: +9.5% +10.6%Highest NC: +9.5%

Median age 43.2±2.3Highest 10% above NC 40.3±3.5Lowest 3% above NC

St. Stephens and Butner are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 22.9%±3.7Highest NC: 21.8% 21.9%±3.9Lowest NC: 21.8%

St. Stephens and Butner are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 20.3%±3Highest NC: 17.2% 16.8%±3.5Lowest NC: 17.2%

St. Stephens and Butner are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 25.7%Lowest NC: 35.7% 27%Highest NC: 35.7%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 5.6%±1.9Highest NC: 6.4% 4.4%±1.9Lowest NC: 6.4%

St. Stephens and Butner are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $60,394±$7kLowest 17% below NC $74,739±$6kHighest 3% above NC

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $213,300±$15kLowest 26% below NC $231,100±$15kHighest 20% below NC

Butner and St. Stephens are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Rentmedian gross, monthly $958±$94Lowest 22% below NC $1,307±$129Highest 6% above NC

Property taxmedian, yearly $985Lowest 48% below NC $1,726Highest 9% below NC

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 60.6%±20.3Highest NC: 48.9% 41.1%±14.7Lowest NC: 48.9%

St. Stephens and Butner are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 16.2%Highest NC: 13% 15%Lowest NC: 13%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 83.6%Highest NC: 66.6% 73.8%Lowest NC: 66.6%

Typical home builtmedian year 1977Lowest 14 yrs older than NC 1991Highest same as NC

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 22 minLowest 11% below NC 24 minHighest 4% below NC

Work from home 5.5%±3.1Lowest NC: 16.3% 12.2%±4Highest NC: 16.3%

Butner and St. Stephens are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 1.9%Lowest 5.6%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 7.8 miLowest 18.3 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.32Lowest 1.45Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Hickory (30%)Durham (24%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in ButnerFew work in St. Stephens

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 0.1%Lowest 41.1%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 0.0 miLowest 1.0 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.0 miLowest 0.1 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 1 1

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 38.1Highest 23.3Lowest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #63 of 252 in NC #112 of 252 in NC

School district Catawba County SchoolsGranville County Schools

High school in town Saint Stephens HighGranville Early College High

Students per teacherat that high school 22.1Lowest 31.4Highest

North Carolina average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

St. Stephens neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to St. Stephens’s Town Square.

Butner neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Butner’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside St. Stephens and Butner

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering St. Stephens

+ Compare

Hickory44,258 people · $278K homes

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Conover8,580 people · $271K homes

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Bethlehem4,101 people · $327K homes

Towns like St. Stephens

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Archdale12,087 people · $198K homes

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Trinity7,111 people · $217K homes

+ Compare

Boiling Spring Lakes6,347 people · $292K homes

+ Compare

Unionville6,954 people · $336K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

St. Stephens vs Butner

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $370 more a month in Butner

St. Stephens places higher on 11 of 19 NC lists

What daily life feels like in each

144 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside St. Stephens and Butner

Bordering St. Stephens

Towns like St. Stephens

Post to St. Stephens

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