Benson, North Carolina.
Typical home $316,455 (+1.1% in a year), asking rent $1,495 . Raleigh-Cary, NC metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$944 (+132%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $3,492 +1%
- $312,964$316,455 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $59,237 +23%
- $257,218$316,455 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Benson$1,661
- North Carolina$1,743
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 17 years.
Typical home values in Benson, NC rose 1.1% over the past year — in step with the nation.
Living in Benson, Johnston County, North Carolina
Benson is a town of 3,967 people in Johnston County. Half its households earn more than $67,102 a year and half less, against $83,384 across Johnston County; 14% of its people live below the poverty line. Unemployment in Johnston County was 3.1% in August 2026, and the county had 7.5% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in shops, then schools and health care.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Benson is a small town in Johnston County, North Carolina, with a population on the younger side and a typical commute that takes a fair stretch of the day. Household incomes in town run below the county's, and typical home values and rents are well above what those incomes might suggest. Winters are cool, with only a little snow, summers are hot, and rain falls steadily through the year.
Work. Many residents work in shops, in schools, hospitals and social care, and in other services, with professional and business services also employing a good number. Within town, grocery stores such as Food Lion and Carlie C's IGA are among the largest workplaces, along with the Nucor Harris Rebar facility. Across Johnston County, the number of jobs has grown over the past year, and unemployment has eased a little from a year earlier.
Things to do. For a day out, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and the Ava Gardner Museum are the best known places nearby, both museums and both a longer drive away. Raven Rock State Park, also a longer drive away, is a protected area with natural scenery to explore. Bentonville Battlefield, an archaeological site and likewise a longer drive away, suits anyone interested in the area's history.
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- 1,767households
- 30%of adults have a degree
- 14%below the poverty line
- 29 mintypical commute
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Johnston County had 65,551 jobs in 2025, 7.5% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 54° and lows near 32°; warmest in July, with highs near 92° and lows near 71°. About 2 inches of snow and 50 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Dunn Northwest weather station, 9 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Benson
- Carlie C's IGA- StoreGrocery stores71
- Food LionGrocery stores67
- RHA Health ServicesResidential intellectual and developmental disability facilities26
- BensonMail and parcel delivery22
- Nucor Harris Rebar North Carolina Inc Benson FacilityConcrete reinforcing bar assemblies, fabrication21
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 5 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 207 people in all. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Winter weatherVery high
- Strong windRelatively high
- TornadoesRelatively high
- DroughtRelatively moderate
- HurricanesRelatively moderate
- HailRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Benson’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Johnston County and the Raleigh-Cary, NC metro.
Benson home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Benson$316,455
- North Carolina$332,159
- United States$366,157
Sellers are cutting prices on about 1 in 3 Benson listings — the market is heating up.
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Share of listings with a price cut
The early-warning dial: sellers cut when buyers stop reaching. Rising cuts cool a market months before prices notice.
- Benson34.21%
- United States26.90%
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Benson68
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Benson17
Median sale price
What buyers actually paid — closed sales, not asking prices.
- Benson$313,790
- United States$370,717
Zip codes with a Benson address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Benson — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.