ZIP 28581 is served primarily by Carteret County, NC — including Morehead City. ZIP-level data is sparse — showing the Carteret County aggregate. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. ZIP-level seasonality is sparse — this is the county aggregate.
Top 5 NFIRS incident types — county-level breakdown.
| # | Incident type | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Building fires | 156 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Power line down | 49 | 7.2% | |
| 3 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | 44 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | 43 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Natural vegetation fire, other | 38 | 5.5% |
15 cities sit in Carteret County. Click for the per-city NFIRS profile.
| # | City | Population | 2025 incidents | Building fires | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morehead City | 9,632 | 94 | 5 | B |
| 2 | Beaufort | 4,534 | 86 | 23 | C |
| 3 | Newport | 4,407 | 198 | 47 | C |
| 4 | Emerald Isle | 3,870 | 24 | 1 | B- |
| 5 | Cape Carteret | 2,651 | 25 | 5 | A- |
| 6 | Cedar Point | 2,198 | 10 | 0 | B+ |
| 7 | Broad Creek | 2,013 | 6 | 5 | A+ |
| 8 | Atlantic Beach | 1,736 | 59 | 22 | C |
| 9 | Pine Knoll Shores | 1,363 | 15 | 5 | B |
| 10 | Brandywine Bay | 1,339 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 | Harkers Island | 1,104 | 8 | 4 | A- |
| 12 | Bogue | 815 | 11 | 2 | A- |
| 13 | Peletier | 749 | 16 | 3 | C+ |
| 14 | Atlantic | 534 | 7 | 4 | B- |
| 15 | Gloucester | 506 | 6 | 1 | B |
The figures above are historical. For today's air quality, fire-weather warnings, and active fires, go to the official sources.
This ZIP doesn't have enough NFIRS coverage on its own (under 10 reported incidents across 2021–2025) to publish ZIP-level statistics, so we're showing the Carteret County aggregate above. NFIRS reporting is voluntary and many rural ZIPs roll up to broader county totals. The ZIP-to-county mapping uses SimpleMaps' uscities.zips dataset.