| Official Name: | Elon, North Carolina |
| Named For: | Hebrew word for oak.[1] |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Motto: | "Deep Roots. New Horizons." |
| Mapsize: | 250x200px |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | North Carolina |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Alamance |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1881 |
| Established Title1: | Incorporated |
| Established Date1: | 1893 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [2] |
| Area Total Km2: | 10.94 |
| Area Land Km2: | 10.81 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.13 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 4.22 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 4.17 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.05 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 11336 |
| Population Density Km2: | 1049.03 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 2717.16 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Elevation Ft: | 705 |
| Coordinates: | 36.1267°N -79.4956°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 27244 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 37-21095 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2406445 |
Elon is a town in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington metropolitan statistical area. The population as of the 2020 census was 11,324.[3] The town of Elon is home to Elon University.
Elon began in 1881 as a North Carolina Railroad depot in between the stations of Goldsboro and Charlotte, called "Mill Point” because it was envisioned to be a shipping point for area cotton mills. Locals called it “Boone’s Crossing.” Because of a growing population, a post office was built, which established a more permanent residency in 1888.[4]
In 1889, the local Christian Assembly created an institution of higher learning called the “Graham Normal College”. The founders of Elon College named the school “Elon”, because they understood that to be the Hebrew word for oak, and the area contained many oak trees.[4] The town was called "Elon College" until the college known as Elon College became Elon University. The town then changed its name officially to Elon.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.2km2, of which 10.1sqkm is land and 0.1sqkm, or 1.23%, is water.[5]
| Number | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 9,090 | 80.19% | |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 916 | 8.08% | |
| Native American | 15 | 0.13% | |
| Asian | 286 | 2.52% | |
| Other/Mixed | 437 | 3.85% | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 592 | 5.22% |
As of the census[6] of 2010, there were 9,419 people, 2,794 households, and 1,357 families residing in the town. The population density was 2415.1sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 3,063 housing units at an average density of 785.4sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the town was 86.7% White, 8.5% African American, 0.1% Native American, 2% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.1% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population.
There were 2,794 households, out of which 18.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples living together, 5.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.4% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.1% under the age of 20, 30.7% from 20 to 24, 9.5% from 25 to 44, 13.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21.8 years.
The median income for a household in the town was $49,542, and the median income for a family was $86,985. The per capita income for the town was $23,313. About 0% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.2% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
Public schools in Elon are part of the Alamance-Burlington School System, which was created by a merger between the Alamance County School System and the Burlington City School System in 1996.
Local public schools in Elon include:
Elon University is also located in Elon, North Carolina.
See main article: North Carolina Highway 100. Elon University provides a bus system known as the Biobus for use by both students of the university as well as the general public. Certain routes travel from the campus to destinations within the town of Elon as well as the surrounding area.[7]