Living Here
Community Info
Life in Fayetteville and Cumberland County is a combination of can-do Carolina diligence, familial values, and creative energy. You’ll find something for every lifestyle and budget, from quiet countryside mornings to upbeat vibes of Downtown Fayetteville. It’s easy to get around and conveniently just a day’s drive from two-thirds of the nation’s population.
Our locals enjoy hundreds of restaurants and craft breweries, shopping, and exciting home-games for the Fayetteville Woodpeckers Baseball (Houston Astros Affiliate) and Marksmen Hockey team. Thousands of people from all over the country come for our historical museums, festivals, and award-winning performing arts. We invite you to experience Fayetteville for yourself!

Cost of Living
It’s not often you come across a city with a thriving quality of life, a convenient location, an outstanding workforce, and a low cost of living, but Fayetteville and Cumberland County are just that. In fact, Fortune named Fayetteville #2 Best Place in the U.S. to Invest in Real Estate During the Pandemic and Niche presented Fayetteville as the 60th city in the country with the lowest cost of living (2024).

Arts & Culture
With influence from the military families who have lived all over the world and the international industry that chose to locate their operations in Fayetteville and Cumberland County, it’s no wonder our community is booming with culture. In our school systems alone, we have 85+ native languages spoken, and more than 500 restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops that offer international cuisine. Fayetteville is also home to the International Folk Festival, which attracts thousands of visitors to our area to share experiences, music, food, and art.
See what the arts can do in Fayetteville through The Arts Council, the primary steward of public and private funding for arts, cultural and historical activities in the Cape Fear Region. The Cool Spring Downtown District, The Crown Complex, and Cape Fear Regional Theatre also support local art, adopt international pop-up installations, and attract award-winning performing arts. We celebrate creativity and many of our schools integrate the arts into their curriculum.

Education & STEM
Not only do some Cumberland County K-12 schools focus on the arts, but they are known for their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concentrations. From a young age, our residents are familiarized with an array of STEM-related subjects to advance them in our local higher education and eventually, the workforce.
Much of our skilled workforce is professionally trained from local colleges and universities like Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC), Fayetteville State University (FSU), and Methodist University. FTCC and FSU also offer specialized training in the trades, that our industries can take advantage of when hiring. These schools contribute to the success of transitioning soldiers at Fort Liberty. In fact, FTCC was rated #5 Best Career & Technical College for Vets in 2019 by Military Times!
Cumberland County K-12 Schools
Fayetteville Technical Community College
Fayetteville State University
Methodist University

Military Relations
As home to Fort Liberty, the world’s most populated military installation, we have close ties with our military community. The base has more than 57,000 soldiers and houses the U.S. Army’s Special Operations Command and Airborne Unit, making us a prime location for defense contractors to conduct business. In collaboration with Fort Liberty, Fayetteville & Cumberland County created local opportunities while amassing over $1.3B in prime federal contracts, extending support to 7,000 soldiers transitioning into the workforce each year, and welcoming the over 80,000 veterans and military spouses that call Fayetteville & Cumberland County home. In fact, many of our residents are veterans who chose to stay after their service ended, giving the area a wealth of technical skills related to engineering, aviation, and maintenance.
As the Host Community for Global SOF Communities of Excellence (GSCX), Fayetteville & Cumberland County expanded our relations with like-minded communities across the globe. The alliance promotes collaboration and cooperation between international cities that are also home to the largest SOF Units of their respective military. Together, we foster partnerships and increase economic and cultural opportunities. Learn more about GSCX here.
