Home / North Carolina / Caswell County
Caswell County
Zone 7b, 218 frost-free days, farmland at $4,006 an acre. Top hazard: drought.
5.6 out of 10 overall, #19 of 100 NC counties with every factor weighted equally. Re-rank with your own weights
Scores out of 10, compared with the other 99 NC counties
- 8.3Land cost
- 1.9Rain
- 1.9Sun
- 5.2Growing
- 8.1Rules
- 8.2Clean
- 7.2Hazards
- 5.9Farm country
- 3.3Mesh
Land and living costs
| Farmland and buildings, per acre (2022) | $4,006 source |
|---|---|
| Median home value | $151,200 source |
| Median rent | $699/mo source |
| People | 22,689 source |
| Farms (2022) | 412 source |
Growing food
| Hardiness zone | 7b (7b–8a across the county) source |
|---|---|
| Last spring frost (typical) | Mar 31 source |
| First fall frost (typical) | Nov 4 source |
| Frost-free days | 218 source |
| Rain, April–September | 25.1 in source April–September |
| Rain, whole year | 45.8 in source |
| Prime farmland | 34% of soils source includes 'prime if drained/irrigated/protected' |
| July average high / January average low | 88.8°F / 28.4°F source |
Frost dates and season length come from the Yanceyville 4 Se weather station: the 50% chance date for 32°F.
County rules: RVs, tiny homes, animals
Zoning: Zoning covers only part of the county. Only the Hyco Lake area is zoned by the county; the rest of the unincorporated county is unzoned, though the county's Unified Development Ordinance still applies countywide for non-zoning rules such as RV placement (Articles 1-4 and 7-10). Caswell County Planning page FAQ ('Does the County have any zoning?'); Caswell County UDO (revised 2-17-25) § 1.4.1.1
These are rules for county land outside town limits. Towns have their own. Read on 2026-11-13.
Living in an RV on your landWith conditions
Countywide rule (UDO Article 9 applies everywhere): an RV or travel trailer cannot be a permanent residence. On a residential lot it may stay up to 180 consecutive days with a temporary placement permit (once per 365 days), connected to permitted power, water and septic; or it may be lived in for up to 2 years (one 1-year extension) while building a permanent home or after a disaster, ending 30 days after the certificate of occupancy.
“Recreational Vehicles / Travel Trailers shall not be used as a permanent residence nor as rental property set up for a residence on any lot.”
§ 9.42 Individual Residential Uses (amended July 15, 2024), read 2026-11-13
Confirm with Caswell County before you buy land or build.
Tiny house on wheelsWith conditions
No tiny-house definition; a towable unit of 400 sq ft or less on one chassis meets the UDO's RV definition, so the countywide 180-day / construction-period RV rule applies.
“400 square feet or less when measured at the largest horizontal projection”
Appendix A Definitions, Recreational Vehicle (RV); § 9.42, read 2026-11-13
Confirm with Caswell County before you buy land or build.
Small house on a foundationNo county zoning
Outside the Hyco Lake zoning district (and the towns), Caswell County has no zoning, so zoning does not restrict this on most rural land. No minimum floor area for site-built homes was found in the UDO's countywide articles (a 1,200 sq ft minimum appears only in a manufactured-home standard).
County ordinance, read 2026-11-13
State law: farm buildings outside town limits skip the building code (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-138(b4)).
State law: homes on 10+ acres in farm districts (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-903(b)).
State law: building permits (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-1110).
Confirm with Caswell County before you buy land or build.
ChickensNo county zoning
Outside the Hyco Lake zoning district (and the towns), Caswell County has no zoning, so zoning does not restrict this on most rural land. The UDO's countywide articles do not mention poultry.
County ordinance, read 2026-11-13
State law: real farms are exempt from county zoning (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-903(a), (a1)).
State law: right to farm (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-701(a)).
Confirm with Caswell County before you buy land or build.
Goats and livestockNo county zoning
Outside the Hyco Lake zoning district (and the towns), Caswell County has no zoning, so zoning does not restrict this on most rural land. The UDO's countywide articles do not mention livestock.
County ordinance, read 2026-11-13
State law: real farms are exempt from county zoning (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-903(a), (a1)).
State law: right to farm (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 106-701(a)).
Confirm with Caswell County before you buy land or build.
BeesNo county zoning
Outside the Hyco Lake zoning district (and the towns), Caswell County has no zoning, so zoning does not restrict this on most rural land. The UDO does not mention bees.
County ordinance, read 2026-11-13
State law: real farms are exempt from county zoning (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160D-903(a), (a1)).
Confirm with Caswell County before you buy land or build.
Composting toiletNot addressed
Searched the full UDO (which applies countywide) for compost and toilet; toilets appear only in group camp and campground standards (§§ 6.12, 6.14, 9.41).
County ordinance, read 2026-11-13
State law: composting toilets are allowed, but you still need a septic permit (15A NCAC 18E .1001 (eff. Oct. 1, 2021)).
Confirm with Caswell County before you buy land or build.
What we couldn't confirm
- Rules inside the Hyco Lake zoning district (Article 5 use tables) were not checked for animals or minimum house size.
- The county posted a 'PTRC Caswell Animal and Zoning Information' document that was not read; it may describe county animal rules outside zoning.
- The county site also hosts 'SE Caswell Anderson' and 'SE Caswell Royal Park' zoning maps and 2021 hearing records on Southeast Caswell zoning; whether those areas are now zoned was not confirmed (the FAQ names only Hyco Lake).
What breaks here
11 federal disaster declarations covered Caswell County in the last 10 years: 5 hurricane, 2 biological, 2 tropical storm, 1 tropical depression, 1 winter storm. source
FEMA's biggest risks for the county: drought (relatively moderate), hurricane (relatively low), winter weather (relatively low). source
Gear that answers it
- Rain barrel with diverterGarden water through dry spellsSee price on Amazon
- Gravity water filterTreats well or rain water when the pump has no powerSee price on Amazon
- Stackable water storage (7-gallon)One gallon per person per day for drinking and cookingSee price on Amazon
- Pocket mesh radioPairs with your phone to send texts over the meshFrom RAKwireless
We may earn from these links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Mesh radio coverage
| MeshCore radios heard (30 days) | 2 source |
|---|---|
| Repeaters | 2 source |
| County near a repeater | 33% source share of the county within 10 km of an active repeater — a rough line-of-sight guess, not a measured signal |
| Nearest repeater to the county centre | 14.6 km source from the county centre |
Most of Caswell County is out of range. A solar repeater on high ground near the red X would cover the biggest gap. Solar repeater kits
Data: MeshCore map. Coverage assumes about 10 km per repeater; real range depends on height and terrain. State gap map
Animals nearby
Livestock already in the county is a fair sign of feed stores, vets and neighbours who know how.
| Laying hens | 223,686 source |
|---|---|
| Goats | 393 source |
| Cattle | 8,813 source |
| Hogs | 100 source |
| Bee colonies | 287 source |
- Chicken coop for 4–6 hensWhere chickens are allowed
- Beginner beehive kitBees help every garden
- Seed starting kit with heat matStart tomatoes and peppers indoors before your last frost
Clean ground, sun and power
| Active Superfund sites | None source |
|---|---|
| Toxics Release Inventory facilities | 3 source facilities registered with EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, active or open status |
| FEMA overall risk | Very Low source |
| Sun, kWh per m² per day | 4.34 source |
| Public EV charging stations | 1 source |
Rooftop solar credit depends on your utility. Duke Energy customers: see the state rules on the North Carolina page.
Nearby counties
| County | Overall |
|---|---|
| Alamance | 4.6 |
| Person | 4.2 |
| Orange | 4.6 |
| Rockingham | 4.2 |
| Guilford | 3.9 |
| Durham | 4.1 |