North Carolina

As rents climb, where are the most expensive, least expensive locations in NC?

Published

2 years ago

March 18, 2024

As rents climb, where are the most expensive, least expensive locations in NC?

In the past five years, Fair Market Rent for Asheville has skyrocketed. The estimated rent for a one-bedroom apartment has increased by 78% and has made the mountainous metropolitan area’s cost of housing as the highest in North Carolina.

Yet, Asheville is not the only North Carolina city facing steep rent increases, as well as the rapidly rising cost of homeownership. The Raleigh and Charlotte metros both saw increases of 54% in Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Here’s a breakdown of where some of the most and least expensive areas to rent in North Carolina are.

Most expensive areas to live in? Metros and tourist towns.

Perhaps a no-brainer, North Carolina metros and tourist towns are the most expensive to live in. Asheville’s Metropolitan Statistical Area tops that list in every metric — meaning the area is estimated to be the most expensive from those looking for efficiency apartments to those looking to rent a four-bedroom house.

Yet, there are other areas which are just as expensive in certain metrics. Here are the most expensive metros North Carolina if you are looking for a two-bedroom apartment:

Asheville (Asheville, Henderson, Madison counties): $1,680 a month.
Raleigh (Franklin, Johnston, Wake counties): $1,646 a month.
Durham-Chapel Hill (Chatham, Durham, Orange counties): $1,631 a month.
Charlotte (Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg, Union counties): $1,554 a month.
Wilmington (New Hanover County): $1,515

Least expensive counties for families?

As for those looking for a place that is more affordable, you may have to look outside of population centers — in some cases, a fair distance away from one. Of North Carolina’s 100 counties, 26 of them have the lowest estimate of $856 a month for a two bedroom.

For North Carolina families, a few counties halve the cost of Asheville’s FMR for three-bedroom units. Here are the 10 least expensive counties for those looking to rent three-bedrooms in North Carolina:

Columbus County: $1,035
Washington County: $1,035
Alleghany County: $1,041
Surry County: $1,053
Mitchell County: $1,053
McDowell County: $1,059
Halifax County: $1,070
Sampson County: $1,074
Robeson County: $1,081
Warren County: $1,089

Families moving to a new city? What do zip codes say?

Especially if you are moving for a new job or looking to relocate to work at one of the several major UNC System universities, you are likely to wind up searching for housing in a metro area.

During that search, there is a high chance you may stumble across certain areas of major cities that are more expensive than others — you might even be able to tell a difference based on where you look.

A few of these areas include a major tourist beach town and an area just outside of Asheville that has some of Western North Carolina’s most expensive mountaintop mansions. According to HUD, the homes and apartments in the following areas are the most expensive to rent out in North Carolina:

28480, near Wrightsville Beach: $3,000
28075, near Harrisburg and just outside of Charlotte: $2,900
28203, or in Charlotte’s South End Neighborhood: $2,900
28803, or Biltmore Forest: $2,760
28202, or Downtown Charlotte: $2,730

What is ‘Fair Market Rent?’

All of this data was sourced from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development website estimates for FMR for 2024.

Fair Market Rent, or FMR, estimates are produced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and local public housing authorities. The number indicates how much it costs to rent a moderately-priced dwelling unit and determine payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher program.

The number is calculated by taking the 40th percentile of gross rents for typical, non-substandard rental units occupied by recent movers, according to HUD. That means an area’s Fair Market Rent reflects that 40% of rental units cost as much or less than the estimated Fair Market Rent.

You can learn more about how Fair Market Rent is calculated at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html.

More: The historic Flat Iron building to reopen as boutique hotel, reservations now open

More: Global electronic musical instrument maker Moog changing Asheville offices; former CT site

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.

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North Carolina

Asheville Orchid Festival brings ‘best of the best’ to region

Published

2 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Asheville Orchid Festival brings ‘best of the best’ to region

Staff reports
| Asheville Citizen Times

ASHEVILLE – The Asheville Orchid Festival will return in all its showy glory for 24th time March 27-29.

The festival, hosted by the Western North Carolina Orchid Society and the North Carolina Arboretum, will have an “Orchid Kingdom” theme this year, and will be an American Orchid Society sanctioned judging event.

Festivalgoers can expect to experience world-class orchid growers and breeders, regional orchid societies displays and hundreds of orchids presented in displays.

Orchids will be for sale from across the United States and Ecuador and will include rare species and cutting-edge hybrids.

“The Asheville Orchid Festival has been recognized as one of the best orchid shows in the country today,” Mike Mims, past president of the WNC Orchid Society said. “A huge orchid festival that is unlike any other orchid event in the region and lures the best of the best in the orchid industry to come to Asheville for a few days to engage and show off.”

WNC Orchid Society President Graham Ramsey, and his wife, artist Leslie Keller, each year create a theme for the festival.

Last year the two created the “House of Orchids” theme to transport visitors to another time, with a Victorian-inspired model greenhouse.

“Usually we arrive at a theme, believe it or not, when we’re out hiking. We try to think of a theme that we can also come up with a neat display to match,” Ramsey previously told the Citizen Times.

In 2023, for the “Orchid Express” theme, Ramsey and Keller created a 24-foot-train that functioned as an eye-catching display for many orchids featured by the festival.

The Asheville Orchid Festival is one of the most important events of the year for the WNCOS. Beyond the opportunity for members of the society to “strut their stuff” as Ramsey put it, the event also provides crucial funding for the nonprofit’s operations.

Ramsey said the group welcomes any orchid enthusiast, “whether you have one orchid on your windowsill or 1,000 orchids in your greenhouse.”

He encourages anyone with even a passing interest in orchids to stop by the show this weekend.

“When you walk into the auditorium and see all the orchids on display, it’ll just blow your mind,” he said.

If you go

The Asheville Orchid Festival will be 4-7:30 p.m. March 27 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. March 28-29 at the North Carolina Arboretum. Admission is $5 for attendees older than 12 and free for WNC Orchid Society members.

As of March 1, parking fees were increased to $25 for personal/standard vehicles. On the first Tuesday of every month, a $10 discount is offered for personal vehicle parking.

Admission fees include all orchid exhibits, programs and educational lectures and benefit the Western North Carolina Orchid Society to help expand the mission of “sharing the excitement and joy of cultivating orchids and promoting orchid conservation.”

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North Carolina

Maryland’s season ends with 74-66 loss to North Carolina in women’s NCAA Tournament

Published

14 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Maryland’s season ends with 74-66 loss to North Carolina in women’s NCAA Tournament

Elina Aarnisalo had 21 points, Lanie Grant scored 20, and North Carolina used a strong fourth quarter to beat Maryland 74-66 on Sunday and reach the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

Nyla Harris had 14 points and eight rebounds and Indya Nivar added 11 points to help the fourth-seeded Tar Heels (28-7) advance in the Fort Worth 1 Regional later in the week. They will play the winner of No. 1 UConn vs. No. 9 Syracuse.

“We just had to stay aggressive,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said. “But you don’t go this long into the season and not trust your (players). These are close games. We know they’re going to be. We’re prepared for it. I trust them.”

Oluchi Okananwa, who helped eliminate North Carolina last March in the Sweet 16 when she played for Duke, scored 21 points for No. 5 seed Maryland (24-9). Addi Mack had 13 points and Mir McLean had 12 points and 14 rebounds. The Terrapins couldn’t overcome 3-for-23 shooting on 3-pointers.

“I felt like it was there for the taking for us,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “We didn’t manage enough plays to take it.”

After briefly falling behind, the Tar Heels used a 13-4 run, sparked by six points from Nivar, early in the fourth quarter for a 63-56 lead.

“They gave us a good run, and we kind of just did a good job of absorbing that and not panicking, not trying to do too much, not getting away from the game plan,” Grant said.

Maryland pulled within three in the final two minutes, but freshman Nyla Brooks drained a 3-pointer from in front of the North Carolina bench.

“Nyla Brooks has been shooting those 3s all season,” Aarnisalo said. “She’s not afraid to take any shots.”

The Terrapins failed to convert as part of 30.6% shooting in the second half.

“We had a lot of uncharacteristic missed shots in this game,” Frese said.

North Carolina took a 42-33 halftime lead, shooting 56.7% in the half.

Nivar picked up her fourth foul with 7:06 left in the third quarter. Maryland was even at 50-50 by the final minute of the quarter.

North Carolina has reached the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014 and 2015.

Board work

Maryland was relentless on the boards, tracking down 21 offensive rebounds. Eventually, Banghart was hoping some of those shots would just go in.

“I got to the point where I was praying Oluchi would make her free throws because I didn’t want to have to rebound it,” Banghart said.

The Terrapins scored 21 second-chance points.

Needing more assists

Maryland’s three assists were its fewest this season and lowest total in an NCAA Tournament game.

The 66 points marked the third-lowest total of the season for Maryland, which entered averaging 82.8.

Up next

The Tar Heels advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 20th time.

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North Carolina

March Madness 2026: How to watch the North Carolina vs. Maryland game in the second round of the women’s NCAA basketball tournament

Published

1 day ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

March Madness 2026: How to watch the North Carolina vs. Maryland game in the second round of the women’s NCAA basketball tournament

March Madness continues today with the second round of the women’s NCAA tournament. Up next: No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Maryland. The game tips off at 12 p.m. ET today, airing on ESPN. For a complete breakdown of key dates and how to watch every March Madness game, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a look at how to watch the entire tournament from today’s second round to the Championship Final.

How to watch North Carolina vs. Maryland at the women’s March Madness tournament:

Date: Sunday, March 22, 2026

Time: 12 p.m. ET

TV channel: ESPN

Streaming: ESPN Unlimited, Fubo, DirecTV and more

North Carolina vs. Maryland game time:

The North Carolina vs. Maryland second-round basketball game is on Sunday, March 22. Tipoff is at 12 p.m. ET.

Where to watch the North Carolina vs. Maryland game:

The North Carolina vs. Maryland March Madness game will air on ESPN.

Where to stream March Madness games without cable:

Every game of the 2026 women’s March Madness Tournament will stream on ESPN Unlimited. You’ll also be able to access every game on live TV services like Sling, Fubo, and DirecTV.

ESPN’s streaming platform offers thousands of exclusive live events, original studio shows and acclaimed series that air across ESPN’s suite of seven linear channels, as well as exclusive content on ESPN+, ABC on ESPN, SEC+, ACCNX and more. The new tier costs $29.99/month or $299.99/year.

ESPN Select allows subscribers to access exclusive content only available on the app, and an extensive archive of on-demand content (including the entire 30 For 30 library, select ESPN Films, game replays and more). Whether you purchase a standalone plan, add-on or Disney bundle plan, the service provides access to thousands of sports events for $12.99/month or $129.99/year.

Sling TV’s Day Pass gives consumers the freedom to watch what they want, when they want, without committing to a monthly streaming subscription. Sign up for a single day ($4.99), a weekend ($9.99), or a full week ($14.99) and watch every channel available through Sling Orange, which includes ESPN and ESPN2, and over 30 more channels. No strings attached.

Want to catch a specific sporting event like the women’s March Madness tournament that’s spread across additional channels that Sling Orange doesn’t typically carry? You can customize your channel lineup with a Sports Extra add-on to get additional coverage of ESPNU and more for just a dollar more.

2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament game schedule

All times Eastern.

Second round:

Sunday, March 22
No. 4 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Maryland: 12 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 7 NC State: 1 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Ole Miss: 2 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 2 LSU vs. No. 7 Texas Tech: 3 p.m. (ABC)
No. 3 Duke vs. No. 6 Baylor: 4 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 8 Oregon: 6 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Oklahoma: 8 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 3 TCU vs. No. 6 Washington: 10 p.m. (ESPN)

2026 NCAA women’s basketball tournament schedule:

The schedule and locations for the women’s tournament:

Selection Sunday: 8 p.m. ET Sunday, March 15 on ESPN
Second round: March 22-23
Sweet 16: March 27-28 in Fort Worth, TX and Sacramento, CA
Elite Eight: March 29-30 in Fort Worth, TX and Sacramento, CA
Final Four: Friday, April 3, Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZ
NCAA championship game: Sunday, April 5, Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZ