Living in Bolivia means a quiet, mostly rural address where the county courthouse, the hospital and the community college are all inside ten minutes, and the grocery store is not. People move here for land, lower taxes and a short drive to both Wilmington and the beach, and they accept that every errand is a drive.
Bolivia is the seat of Brunswick County government and one of the smallest towns in the three counties we work. The Census Bureau’s Vintage 2024 estimates put the town at 254 people as of July 1, 2024, and the county parcel layer holds 155 parcels inside the town limits. Town Hall, at 105 Danford Road SE, is open Tuesdays from 9 to 1. That is the town.
The Bolivia most buyers mean is bigger. ZIP 28422 runs from the US 17 corridor south and west to the Lockwood Folly River and Sunset Harbor, and it carries subdivisions, acreage, golf and waterfront that have no connection to those 155 parcels. When a listing says Bolivia, it almost always means the postal area. We bring that up early, because the difference lands on the tax bill and on what your road, water and sewer look like.
What does a normal week look like in Bolivia?
It runs on the county campus and the college rather than on a main street. The Brunswick County government complex, Brunswick Community College at 50 College Road NE, the school district’s central office and Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center are all here, which is why a town of 254 people has weekday traffic and county jobs. Carolina National Golf Club on Goley Hewett Road SE is 27 holes and public, the Brunswick County Botanical Garden sits on the government campus, and lunch for the county complex is the Brunswick Grill and Marketplace on Courthouse Drive.
What Bolivia does not have is a downtown. No walkable block, no restaurant row, no supermarket. The grocery run is Shallotte, Southport or Leland, and if you are used to walking to coffee, this is the wrong address. What you get instead is drive time that is better than the map suggests.
- Town population 254 as of July 1, 2024, from a 2020 base of 152 U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates, via our Bolivia guide, October 18, 2026
- Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center about 6 miles and 10 minutes; the Oak Island bridge about 13 miles and 19 minutes; Southport about 15 and 24; Leland about 16 and 23; Shallotte about 16 and 25; the Holden Beach bridge about 18 and 27; downtown Wilmington about 19 and 28; Wilmington International Airport about 25 and 41 OpenStreetMap routing, October 18, 2026
- 389 active listings with a Bolivia 28422 address, 285 of them priced residential, asking $145,000 to $1,370,000, median list price $324,999, median 87 days on market Coldwell Banker Bolivia search, all 18 pages, October 18, 2026
- Brunswick County median sale price $394,000, up 3.7 percent year over year, 93 days on market Redfin county data, three months ending September 2026, via our Brunswick County market update
What does it cost to live here?
Start with the tax rate, because Bolivia has two. Brunswick County bills 0.342 per $100 of value for 2026. The Town of Bolivia adds 0.05, so an address inside the town limits pays 0.392 and an address outside it pays 0.342. On the $324,999 median list price that gap is about $162 a year, roughly $1,111 against $1,274. It is not a large number, but a listing will not always tell you which side of the line it is on, and the town line also decides whose zoning ordinance applies.
On the mortgage side, $324,999 with 20 percent down is a $259,999 loan, about $1,772 a month in principal and interest at the 7.24 percent 30-year average Freddie Mac published for the week ending October 29, 2026. That is $185 a month less than the same loan would have cost a year ago at 6.17 percent, which is the arithmetic most buyers moving here are living with right now. Our mortgage update tracks the weekly number.
Insurance is the line that has moved most. The Insurance Commissioner and the North Carolina Rate Bureau settled the homeowners case on January 17, 2025, approving 7.5 percent on June 1, 2025 and another 7.5 percent a year later against a 42.2 percent statewide request. On the dwelling side, which covers rentals and second homes, the Department reported a Bureau request for a 68.3 percent statewide average on November 3, 2025. Get the policy quoted during due diligence and read the wind and hail deductible before you remove it. Our guide to coastal insurance and hurricane deductibles covers what those deductibles cost.
Then there is the part of the bill that does not show up on a listing sheet. Outside the Brunswick County Public Utilities footprint, this is well and septic country. The county’s mapped wells layer holds 323 points countywide and 136 of them sit within three miles of the Bolivia crossroads, and the layer is partial. Budget for a well test and a septic inspection, and ask when the tank was last pumped.
What about the schools?
Bolivia is served by Brunswick County Schools. In the zone maps of the district’s 2025-26 demographic study, dated March 24, 2026, the Bolivia Elementary zone nests inside the South Brunswick Middle and South Brunswick High zones. The performance picture is mixed and we would rather say so than let you find out later.
In the Department of Public Instruction’s 2025-26 release, South Brunswick Middle carries a School Performance Grade of D with a growth index of -4.95 and a status of Not Met, and it sits on the state’s continually low-performing list for 2025-26 and 2023-24. Bolivia Elementary met growth at -0.51 and is off this year’s list, though it was continually low-performing for 2024-25 and 2023-24. South Brunswick High exceeded growth at 2.20 and is on neither list. One caution matters more here than in most places: the 28422 mailing area is much larger than the Bolivia Elementary zone, so confirm the exact address with the district rather than trusting a listing.
What should I check before I buy here?
Three things, in this order. Flood first. We queried the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer at 26 points across Bolivia on October 18, 2026. Twenty came back Zone X, an area of minimal flood hazard, including the town center, the county complex and the college. The exceptions were on the water: Palm Street SE at Sunset Harbor returned Zone AE with a base flood elevation of 12 feet, and Herring Gull Court SE near the Intracoastal Waterway returned Zone AE at 11 feet. Inland Bolivia is largely outside the Special Flood Hazard Area and the water’s edge is not, so pull the determination on the parcel instead of the ZIP. Our flood zone guide explains what each zone does to your loan and your premium.
Second, water. The town runs no water or sewer utility, so service depends on whether county utilities reach the parcel. When we read the town’s site on October 18, 2026 it still carried Brunswick County’s August 17, 2026 Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert, a fair signal of how hard the county system is working to keep up with growth.
Third, the landfill. Brunswick County’s is inside this ZIP, at 172 Landfill Road NE. Most of Bolivia is nowhere near it, but if you are buying in the northeast quadrant, drive the route on a warm afternoon with the windows down first.
Bolivia is not a compromise between Leland and the beach. It is a rural address with county institutions bolted onto it, and if you want sidewalks, a grocery store you can reach in five minutes, or a middle school with strong state numbers, we will tell you to look at Leland, Southport or Shallotte instead. The other complication is the word Bolivia itself. Two addresses a mile apart can sit in different tax jurisdictions, different utility footprints, different zoning ordinances and, in a few cases, different school zones. When a buyer tells us they are shopping Bolivia, our first question is which road, not which price range.
Related questions people also ask
Does Bolivia, NC have a grocery store?
No. There is no supermarket in Bolivia, and no walkable commercial block of any kind. Residents shop in Shallotte, Southport or Leland, each roughly 15 to 25 minutes away by OpenStreetMap routing we ran on October 18, 2026, and the closest thing to a lunch district is the small cluster of places serving the county government complex. Plan on a car for every errand, including the pharmacy.
Is Bolivia, NC in a flood zone?
Most of it is not, but the water’s edge is. When we sampled the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer at 26 points across Bolivia on October 18, 2026, twenty came back Zone X, an area of minimal flood hazard, while points at Sunset Harbor and near the Intracoastal Waterway returned Zone AE with base flood elevations of 12 and 11 feet. Flood zone here is a parcel question rather than a town question, so order the determination on the specific address before your due diligence period ends.
How far is Bolivia from Wilmington and the beach?
Downtown Wilmington is about 19 miles and 28 minutes, and the Oak Island bridge is about 13 miles and 19 minutes, based on OpenStreetMap routing we ran on October 18, 2026. The Holden Beach bridge is about 18 miles and 27 minutes, and Wilmington International Airport is about 25 miles and 41 minutes. Summer beach traffic on US 17 and NC 211 runs longer than those estimates, especially on Friday and Saturday afternoons.
Before you fall for a price per acre, get the three documents that decide what living here actually costs: the flood determination for the parcel, the well and septic file, and written confirmation of the school assignment from Brunswick County Schools. Our Bolivia community guide has the current listing counts and the local detail, and if you want help reading a specific address rather than the ZIP, we are glad to talk it through with you.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 population estimates, July 1, 2024, via our Bolivia community guide, October 18, 2026; Brunswick County parcel layer and mapped wells layer, October 18, 2026; Brunswick County Tax Office rate table, 2026 column, county 0.342 and Town of Bolivia 0.05 per $100; Coldwell Banker Bolivia listing search, October 18, 2026; Redfin county data for Brunswick County, three months ending September 2026, via our Brunswick County market update; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week ending October 29, 2026; North Carolina Department of Insurance homeowners rate settlement, January 17, 2025, and dwelling rate filing reported November 3, 2025; Brunswick County Schools 2025-26 Demographic Study, March 24, 2026; North Carolina Department of Public Instruction school performance grades and growth, 2025-26 release; FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer, 26 points queried October 18, 2026; Brunswick County Stage 2 Mandatory Water Conservation Alert, August 17, 2026; OpenStreetMap routing, October 18, 2026.
