Fast Facts About Chapel Hill

Name Origin

Named for the Church of England New Hope Chapel, which once stood atop the hill’s crossroads.

Nickname

The Southern Part of Heaven

Area

21.1 square miles

Population

51,519

Unemployment Rate

3.6 percent Orange County

Average Apartment Rent

$720

Average Price of Homes

$342,000

Median Family Income

$88,000 (regional average: $69,000)

Percentage of Chapel Hillians
who drive to work

71 percent (regional average: 92 percent)

Median Age of Residents

30.4

Major Employers

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• UNC Hospitals
• Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC  

The Community Program

An interesting site about Chapel Hill developed by the Weiss Urban Livability Program is located at: Chapel Hill and Carrboro: A Unique Place to Live. Its goal is to promote for current and prospective residents the "urban livability" of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area by documenting some of the interesting, but often obscure or unseen historical, natural, visible, and inhabited features of our community.