Smithfield, North Carolina

Smithfield is a town in and the county seat of Johnston County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,292. The town is located near North Carolina's Research Triangle and is about southeast of downtown Raleigh. The Raleigh-Durham-Cary combined statistical area has a population over 2 million residents.

Smithfield is home to the Ava Gardner Museum, Wild Bill's Western Town named Shadowhawk, and is situated along the Neuse River, where visitors enjoy the annual Ham & Yam Festival, walks along the Buffalo Creek Greenway, and the historic downtown district.

History

Smithfield, Johnston County's first town and second county seat after Hinton's Quarter, was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly on April 23, 1777.

Geography

Smithfield is in central Johnston County and is bordered to the northeast by Selma. Interstate 95 runs along the southeastern edge of the town, with access from Exits 93, 95, and 97. I-95 leads northeast to Rocky Mount and southwest the same distance to Fayetteville. U.S. Route 301 passes through Selma on Brightleaf Boulevard, leading northeast to the center of Selma and southwest to Benson. U.S. Route 70 passes just northeast of Smithfield, leading northwest to Raleigh, and southeast to Goldsboro. U.S. Route 70 Business passes through the center of Smithfield as Market Street.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which , or 0.11%, is covered by water.

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census

| align = right

| align-fn = center

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Smithfield had a population of 11,292. The median age was 41.9 years. 22.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.9% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 89.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males age 18 and over.

96.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.7% lived in rural areas.

There were 4,481 households and 2,919 families in Smithfield, of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 35.4% were married-couple households, 20.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 39.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!scope="col"| Race

!scope="col"| Number

!scope="col"| Percentage

!scope="row"| White (non-Hispanic)

| 5,011

| 44.38%

!scope="row"| Black or African American (non-Hispanic)

| 3,101

| 27.46%

!scope="row"| Native American

| 40

| 0.35%

!scope="row"| Asian

| 105

| 0.93%

!scope="row"| Pacific Islander

| 6

| 0.05%

!scope="row"| Other/mixed

| 363

| 3.21%

!scope="row"| Hispanic or Latino

| 2,666

| 23.61%

2000 census

As of the census -->

Education

All of the county is in the Johnston County Schools school district.

South Smithfield Elementary School
West Smithfield Elementary School
Smithfield Middle School
The Innovation Academy at South Campus
Johnston County Middle College High School
Johnston County Early College Academy
Smithfield-Selma High School

Other institutions:

Neuse Charter School
Johnston Community College

Infrastructure

UNC Health Care - Johnston Health

Notable people

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References

External links

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