A Love Letter to Southeastern North Carolina, flaws and all

If you’ve only seen Southeastern North Carolina through a car window on US 74 or I-95, you can’t understand the draw. The best of it is down the roads you don’t take: the ping of a bat and the roar of the crowd at a high school baseball game, the stillness of the Waccamaw River at daybreak, the hum of a tractor as farmers sow their fields, and the smell as you drive through a county that has more pigs than people. It’s the delight of a child on a ride at a fall county fair and the joy of the crowd at a small-town parade. It’s stopping by the side of the road to buy boiled peanuts from an old man in front of a truck twice as old as you. It’s the way the sunset over Wrightsville Beach can take your breath away, and the sheer number of stars seen from Bald Head Island on a clear night reminds you how big the world is and how lucky you are to live here.

It’s the colonial historic sites where the state’s written story began. But more than the places, it’s the people. It’s the Gullah Geechee, whose foodways shaped Southern cooking. It’s the Waccamaw Siouan and the Lumbee, who still call this region home and remind you that the story of this place didn’t begin with English settlers. It’s the people who, despite adversity, love where they live and defend it with a zeal that others question. This is my love letter to Southeastern North Carolina, a part of the state that doesn’t ask for attention, and that’s exactly why it deserves some.

I always knew I would return to Southeastern North Carolina, despite moving around the South for school and work. I moved back three weeks before Hurricane Florence devastated the region in 2018. Not an auspicious return, but I could no longer ignore the call: buying seafood caught that morning from my favorite fishmonger, picking up a case of Diet Sun Drop at Food Lion on my way home from work, running into my neighbors as I run my Saturday errands, and watching boats go up and down the Intracoastal Waterway from a porch. I yearned for a family member or friend to remind me to slow down on my way home “because the deer are out tonight.” I wanted to take an afternoon walk with my mom and listen to old men gossip from front porches while their wives gathered inside for bridge. I missed food and plate sales by local churches and community groups where you could get slow roasted Boston butts, massive containers of chicken bog, or plates piled high with fried chicken, collards, green beans and mac and cheese.

I knew there would be trade offs when I relocated from an urban area. Growing up in this corner of the state comes with challenges and circumstances that you must both reckon with and accept. But to live in Southeastern North Carolina is to love this place, flaws and all.

Learning to Live Here

You must accept the seasons. Winter will be mild until it isn’t. Mild temps in December will give way to unexpected wind and a chill in January and February that makes you pray for spring. You may only see snow a few times in your life, and you are in no way prepared when it happens. Spring is brief, but glorious. It reminds you of the bounty in this part of the state: pink and red azaleas, yellow jasmine, Carolina blue hydrangeas, and purple irises come alive against a backdrop of evergreen live oaks, loblolly pines, and red cedars. It makes you forget that the heat and humidity of summer are just around the corner. When it arrives, summer makes you second-guess your decision to live here and wonder if a state north of the Mason-Dixon Line might be better after all. You sweat in places that you didn’t know were possible, and even the air is so thick with humidity, you think you could cut it with a knife. It will all be worth it when fall appears. The humidity fades away to crisp morning temperatures, temperate afternoons, and chilly evenings. Fall harvests of pumpkins, muscadine grapes, and collard greens appear at farmers markets. The air in towns like Dublin and Clarkton are thick with the aromas of roasted peanuts as farmers sell their harvest to local peanut processors. Fall lingers, with warm afternoons, and it stretches well into December before yielding to winter.

Like the seasons, you learn to accept hurricanes. It becomes second nature to stock up on batteries, bottled water, and camp lanterns. To test the generator. To buy propane and canned goods and bring in the potted plants when a storm sets its sights on the coast. When the weather gods do not smile upon the state, you brace for impact. You help your elderly neighbors prep their yards. Coastal businesses board up their windows and spray paint messages warning the incoming hurricane that this town can survive anything. In the storm’s wake, there is flooding, downed trees, and debris everywhere. Sometimes the water recedes slower than you ever thought possible. In the resulting power lossses, you promise to never take air conditioning or a warm shower for granted. When November 30 rolls into December 1, you feel a collective sigh of relief across the region as hurricane season gives way to the holiday season.

You learn to move at a slower pace. Amazon Prime isn’t two days out here. A little old lady always drives 10mph under the speed limit in front of you when you’re running late. Your neighbors stop to chit-chat when they see you in public, and a grocery store trip can turn into a two hour adventure. You give in to the fact that waiters and waitresses sit down with you and have a conversation while they take your order. Your local pharmacy takes a little longer to fill your prescription, but that’s because they’re the best in town and no one trusts the new CVS. You move over for police, EMTs, fire trucks, and funeral processions because even though it adds time to your drive, it’s the right thing to do. Southeastern North Carolina teaches you patience.

You learn that the phrase “the South is nice but not kind” does not apply here. Folks check in on one another after a big storm. That tree that fell in your yard will be gone by the end of the day thanks to your neighbor’s help. Your house is so stuffed with food after a death in the family that you forget what your kitchen countertops look like. Strangers stop on the side of the road to help you change a flat tire. When your dog gets loose, someone brings it back to you instead of calling animal control. In the summer, your neighbors share the bounties from their gardens: tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peas, green beans, and watermelon. The teen at the local donut shop knows your order and will get it started when they see you pull into the parking lot. You gather with friends around fire pits or high school football games to catch up. You attend celebratory oyster roasts for birthdays and anniversaries. When someone asks ‘how can I help,” it is not a hollow gesture but a promise because they know you would do the same. People may not have a lot, but they are generous with what they have.

The Price of Loving It

Loving a place means seeing it clearly. There are prices to pay for living here, too, and they are not evenly shared.

You must reckon with the income gap. No one is paid what they are worth here. Counties in Southeastern NC have some of the highest poverty rates in the state. The state poverty rate is 13%, but in Bladen County it’s 22%.¹ There are not enough jobs to go around: there are 17 candidates for every job opening in Pender County.² And there is a housing crisis. In Brunswick County, 52% of renter households pay more than 30% of their income on rent, and 30% pay more than half. It would take 151 hours per week at minimum wage to afford a two-bedroom home at fair-market rent. Split between two people, that’s still more than a 40-hour workweek each.³

You must acknowledge the healthcare situation. Medicaid expansion in 2023 has helped many in Southeastern NC gain access to care, but that care is at risk because of the federal budget law (H.R. 1) signed in July 2025. The law adds work requirements for people covered through Medicaid expansion.⁴ In an area with few jobs, this could lead to declining coverage. There is also a severe physician shortage. If you are a Type 1 or Type 2 diabetic in Bladen, Robeson, Columbus, Sampson, Pender, Onslow, or Duplin counties, you must travel to Fayetteville, Leland, or Wilmington to see an endocrinologist.⁵ A 30-minute appointment can become an all-day task.

You must deal with underfunded schools. The National Education Association estimates North Carolina will rank 46th in the nation for teacher pay in 2025–26, and that it’s the only state where average salaries are expected to decline. Average pay is projected at $59,971, and North Carolina trails every neighboring state.⁶ Low pay makes it hard to keep classrooms staffed, and rural districts feel it first. Whiteville City Schools, for example, saw 18% attrition among its teachers, meaning they left state employment for an out-of-state teaching job or a career change.⁷ Students who leave public schools for charter or private schools take funding with them. The NC Office of State Budget and Management estimated that the expansion of Opportunity Scholarships (Senate Bill 406/House Bill 823) would cut state funding to Duplin County’s public schools by about 2%, or $1,125,786, in 2026–27, assuming half of new scholarship recipients came from public schools.⁸

The Good News

There is good news, though Through a combination of local grit, state and federal funding, and private grants, Southeastern North Carolina is slowly transforming.

Universities and health systems are working on programs to reach rural patients. Cape Fear Valley Health System has grown its physician residency program from 51 residents in 2017 to more than 330 today.⁹ UNC Health Southeastern has placed telehealth booths in Robeson County for patients without reliable internet,¹⁰ and ECU Health is expanding telehealth to rural hospitals, including in Duplin County.¹¹ Dental care, long a difficulty in rural areas of Southeastern NC is also improving. ECU has opened clinics in Robeson and Brunswick County, providing low cost dental services for residents by using supervised 4th-year dental students.¹²

On the jobs side, community colleges offer tuition free Career & College Promise, which lets high school students earn college credits guaranteed to transfer to UNC system schools or earn credits towards career and technical associates degrees such as cosmetology, welding, or electrical engineering. Southeastern Community College in Columbus County saw its CCP enrollment grow 10% to 607 local high-school students.¹³ Cape Fear Community College supports more than 250 active apprentices with more than 123 local and regional businesses, and a new $3 million grant is helping it expand.¹⁴ Partnerships between state universities and community colleges are also expanding transfer opportunities without credit loss, keeping the cost of a degree low. UNCP, for example, has regional partnerships with community colleges and school districts in Columbus, Robeson, Pender, and New Hanover counties.¹⁵ None of this fixes the problem overnight, but it shows what people here are already building.

Why I’m Still Here

I love Southeastern North Carolina the way you love your eccentric aunt: completely, but with no illusions. I love the sunrise over a misty field, the moonlight over the Intracoastal Waterway, and the neighbor who shows up with a chainsaw before you’ve even called anyone. I love it despite the hurricanes, the miserable summer humidity, the healthcare deserts, and the long drives to get to a Costco. I love it because I know it can and will get better. A place this beautiful with people this generous deserves nothing less.

Notes

1. 1. NC Budget & Tax Center, Bladen County Economic Snapshot 2026 (Durham, NC: NC Budget & Tax Center, April 2026), https://ncbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/BTC_Bladen_County_2026_snapshot.pdf.
2. NC Budget & Tax Center, Pender County Economic Snapshot 2026 (Durham, NC: NC Budget & Tax Center, April 2026), https://ncbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/BTC_Pender_County_2026_snapshot.pdf.
3. NC Budget & Tax Center, Brunswick County Economic Snapshot 2026 (Durham, NC: NC Budget & Tax Center, April 2026), https://ncbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/BTC_Brunswick_County_2026_snapshot.pdf. Rent-burden figures are for 2020–2024; the work-hours figure is for 2026.
4. Logan Rockefeller Harris, “Slide Deck: Information about the Big, Beautiful Bill (Federal Reconciliation Bill, or HR1),” NC Budget & Tax Center, July 27, 2025, updated August 12, 2025, https://ncbudget.org/slide-deck-information-about-the-big-beautiful-bill-federal-reconciliation-bill-or-hr1/.
5. Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, “North Carolina Health Professional Supply Data,” North Carolina Health Professions Data System, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, accessed November 5, 2026, https://nchealthworkforce.unc.edu/interactive/supply/.
6. “North Carolina Teacher Pay Projected to Decline, Ranking 46th Nationwide,” NC Newsline, April 27, 2026, https://ncnewsline.com/2026/04/27/north-carolina-teacher-pay-projected-to-decline-ranking-46th-nationwide/.
7. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, “State of the Teaching Profession,” Educator Recruitment and Support dashboard, accessed November 5, 2026, https://bi.nc.gov/t/DPI-EducatorRecruitmentandSupport/views/StateoftheTeachingProfession_17436102286420/SoTPDashboard.
8. North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, “Senate Bill 406/House Bill 823 Impact Analysis,” Office of the Governor, May 8, 2023 [confirm date], https://governor.nc.gov/documents/files/osbm-s406-h823-impact-analysis/open.
9. Jenny Tinklepaugh, “Healthcare Programs Deliver Strong Economic Impact in Southeastern North Carolina,” Golden LEAF Foundation, January 7, 2026, https://goldenleaf.org/healthcare-programs-deliver-strong-economic-impact-in-southeastern-north-carolina/.
10. Jamie Morgan, “UNC Health Brings Care Closer to Patients,” HFM Magazine, September 28, 2021, https://www.hfmmagazine.com/articles/4294-unc-health-brings-care-closer-to-patients.
11. ECU Health, “ECU Health Partners with Artisight to Bring Smart Hospital Technology to Eastern North Carolina,” press release, December 4, 2025, https://www.ecuhealth.org/ecu-health-partners-with-artisight-to-bring-smart-hospital-technology-to-eastern-north-carolina/.
12. East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine, “Community Service Learning Centers,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dental.ecu.edu/community-service-learning-centers/.
13. Jada Harris, “Southeastern Community College Sees Fall Enrollment Surge across Degree, Workforce Programs,” WECT, September 11, 2026, https://www.wect.com/2026/09/11/southeastern-community-college-sees-fall-enrollment-surge-across-degree-workforce-programs/.
14. Cape Fear Community College, “CFCC Launches Apprenticeship Accelerator to Expand Workforce Pathways in New Hanover County,” press release, April 15, 2026, https://cfcc.edu/cfcc-launches-apprenticeship-accelerator-to-expand-workforce-pathways-in-new-hanover-county/.
15. University of North Carolina at Pembroke, “Articulation Agreements,” Transfer Pathways, accessed November 5, 2026, https://www.uncp.edu/academics/transfer-pathways/articulation-agreements.html.