Cost of Living & Housing in Smithfield
Smithfield is genuinely affordable by national standards -- a cost-of-living index of 94 (about 11% below the national average) and housing that every source cited runs well below the national median -- though it is also, honestly, the most cost-sensitive of the three Johnston/Wake/Lee County markets built in this wave, with a median household income well below its neighbors.
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Learn moreHousing Prices -- Affordable, But Sources Disagree Substantially
A Redfin snapshot cites a $254,000 median sale price (down 11.6% year over year), though that reading dates to April 2025 rather than this record's August 2026 research date. A separate June 2026 aggregator cited a $339,000 median LISTING price (a different metric), and another source described sale prices up 7.0% in the first half of 2026 versus the first half of 2025. A HomeSnacks-style 'median home value' put the figure at $293,390. Treat $254,000-$293,000 as the more likely current median-sale-price range, and get a direct, current quote before budgeting to one number -- this is a real, disclosed spread, not a settled figure.
Property Taxes -- Smithfield Runs Above the Johnston County-Wide Rate
Johnston County's 2025 county-only tax rate is $0.52 per $100 of assessed value (properties in a fire district add $0.115 more). Smithfield's own combined effective property tax rate is cited at 0.81%, meaningfully higher than the Johnston County-wide effective rate of 0.62% (median countywide bill $1,908/year on a $305,600 home) -- Smithfield's municipal levy is a real, additive cost on top of the county rate.
Overall Cost of Living, Honestly Contextualized
Smithfield's cost-of-living index (94, about 11% below the national average and about 5% below the average NC city) reads favorably, but that affordability sits alongside a median household income of just $43,270 and a poverty rate of 27.35% -- both meaningfully below Knightdale and Sanford in this same build wave. A low cost of living here reflects real, below-average local incomes as much as it reflects genuinely cheap goods and services -- movers relocating with an outside income should read the affordability figures in that context.
North Carolina Income Tax
North Carolina's flat state income tax fell to 3.99% for 2026 (from 4.25% in 2025), applying statewide including in Smithfield.
Key takeaways
- Smithfield's median home price runs well below the national median across every source cited, but the sources disagree substantially with each other ($254,000-$339,000 depending on source, date, and metric) -- get a current, direct quote before budgeting.
- Smithfield's own effective property tax rate (0.81%) runs above the Johnston County-wide effective rate (0.62%) -- the town's municipal levy is a real additive cost.
- The cost-of-living index (94, ~11% below the national average) sits alongside a median household income of just $43,270 and a 27.35% poverty rate -- genuinely the most cost-sensitive of this wave's three NC markets, disclosed honestly.
- North Carolina's flat state income tax fell to 3.99% for 2026.
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