North Carolina · Census place 3765900

Sunset Beach, North Carolina

Sunset Beach is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina with an estimated 4,521 residents on July 1, 2024. It is the 166th largest of 335 incorporated places of 1,000+ people in the state.

Population 2024: 4,521; #166 of 335 in North Carolina
Change since 2020: +8.6%; +357 people
Land area: 6.8 sq mi; + 0.92 sq mi water
Density: 669 / sq mi; State median 1,316

Orange pin: Sunset Beach. Shaded: its county. Dark pin: Raleigh.

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Tools and pages that start from Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach population, 2020 to 2024

Sunset Beach added 357 residents from July 2020 to July 2024, a change of +8.6%. In the latest year it moved by +14.

July 1 estimates. The April 2020 estimates base was 4,177. The axis starts above zero so yearly changes are visible.

Sunset Beach covers 6.76 square miles of land and 0.92 of water, for 669 people per square mile of land. The median North Carolina place of 5,000+ has 1,316, so Sunset Beach is less dense than the typical town.

What county Sunset Beach is in

All of Sunset Beach's residents live in Brunswick County, which had 167,112 residents in 2024. Sunset Beach holds 2.7% of the county's population. The shaded shape is on the map above; dots mark the eight nearest places.

ZIP codes in Sunset Beach

1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) overlaps Sunset Beach by at least 10% of the ZCTA's or the town's land: 28468. ZCTAs are Census approximations of USPS ZIP code delivery areas. The list comes from the 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, so a town that annexed land after 2020 may reach into ZIP codes not listed here.

Where Sunset Beach is

The Census internal point of Sunset Beach is at 33.892300, -78.507300. Raleigh, the capital, is 130.6 miles N in a straight line. The nearest larger place is Carolina Shores, NC (5,463 people), 3.9 miles away. The nearest city of 100,000 or more is Wilmington, NC, 41.8 miles away.

Internal point

Decimal: 33.892300, -78.507300
DMS: 33°53'32.28"N 78°30'26.28"W
UTM: 17N 730513.3E 3753011.7N
Geohash: dq00v9bsz
Plus code: 8753VFRV+W3

Daylight in Sunset Beach

At 33.89° N, Sunset Beach gets about 14 h 25 min of daylight around the June solstice and 9 h 54 min around the December solstice, a swing of 4 h 31 min. Figures are sunrise to sunset from the SunCalc model for June 21 and December 21, 2026.

Places near Sunset Beach

The eight nearest incorporated places of 1,000+ in North Carolina, measured between internal points. The closest is Calabash, 2.4 miles away, with 2,975 people.

Questions people ask

What is the population of Sunset Beach, NC?

4,521 on July 1, 2024, in the Census Vintage 2024 estimates. That is up 357 (8.6%) from 4,164 in July 2020.

What county is Sunset Beach in?

Brunswick County. All of its residents live in that county.

What ZIP codes cover Sunset Beach?

1 ZIP Code Tabulation Area overlaps it by at least 10% of either area: 28468.

How far is Sunset Beach from Raleigh?

130.6 miles (210.2 km) in a straight line, heading N from Sunset Beach.

What is the nearest larger city to Sunset Beach?

Carolina Shores, NC, with 5,463 residents, 3.9 miles away between internal points.

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 subcounty estimates (July 1, 2024), 2024 Gazetteer places, 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file.

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.