Royal Pines, North Carolina.
A community in Buncombe County, with no city government of its own. Zillow publishes no home prices for it: see Buncombe County’s.
Living in Royal Pines, Buncombe County, North Carolina
Royal Pines, in Buncombe County, had 4,127 people in the 2020 census. Half its households earn more than $107,885 a year and half less, against $74,436 across Buncombe County; 2% of its people live below the poverty line. 88% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 12% are rented. Unemployment in Buncombe County was 3.2% in August 2026, and the county had 1.3% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then professional services.
- 1,719households
- 57%of adults have a degree
- 2%below the poverty line
- 26 mintypical commute
- 28%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Buncombe County had 134,686 jobs in 2025, 1.3% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 49° and lows near 29°; warmest in July, with highs near 85° and lows near 65°. About 10 inches of snow and 50 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Asheville Regional Airport weather station, 4 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Buncombe County
- Buncombe County SchoolsSchool district3,445FTE
- Mission HospitalGeneral hospital3,371FTE
- Veterans Health AdministrationFederal government · Department of Veterans Affairs2,409
- County of BuncombeCommunity social service program administration1,665
- Biltmore Workforce ManagementHistorical sites1,388
- MB HaynesConstruction management, commercial and institutional building1,223
- Ingles MarketsGeneral warehousing and storage1,175
- EatonPanelboards, electric power distribution, manufacturing1,081
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 255 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 40,545 people in all across the county; Royal Pines has none of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24), hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023) and federal offices from OPM's federal workforce data (2026); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. 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
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- Cold wavesRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively moderate
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- Winter weatherRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Royal Pines’ 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 Buncombe County.