County / FIPS 37161
Rutherford County
North Carolina
Rutherford County runs 20 public schools reporting to NCES. It also has 1 Medicare-certified hospital reporting to CMS, of which 1 carry an overall star rating.
At a glance
Public schools
20
Hospitals
1
With a star rating
1
Land area
565
Federal money
Obligations recorded against a place of performance in Rutherford County. An obligation is a legal commitment to pay, not cash out the door — outlays follow later, sometimes by years.
Obligations, FY2025
$957.7M
Per resident
$14,861
Change since FY2021
+118%
Fiscal years covered
5
▸ View as table
| Period | Obligations |
|---|---|
| 2021 | $440M |
| 2022 | $430M |
| 2023 | $455M |
| 2024 | $470M |
| 2025 | $958M |
Figures are nominal — not adjusted for inflation — because USAspending publishes them that way and adjusting them here would mean this site had edited a government figure. The per-resident figure divides by the 2020 decennial count, which is the population USAspending carries; a 2020 denominator against 2025 spending overstates per-head figures wherever a place has grown since. Rutherford County ranks 543rd of 3,233 on this measure in FY2025.
Hospitals in Rutherford County
| Hospital | City | CMS rating |
|---|---|---|
| Rutherford Regional Medical Center | Rutherfordton |
Public schools in Rutherford County
Enrollment is the most recent year NCES published.
| School | District | City | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase High School | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 660 |
| Chase Middle School | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 501 |
| Cliffside Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Cliffside | 213 |
| East Rutherford High School | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 659 |
| East Rutherford Middle School | Rutherford County Schools | Bostic | 552 |
| Ellenboro Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Ellenboro | 595 |
| Forest City-Dunbar Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 479 |
| Forrest W. Hunt Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 391 |
| Harris Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 445 |
| Mt. Vernon-Ruth Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 235 |
| Pinnacle Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Rutherfordton | 234 |
| R-S Central High School | Rutherford County Schools | Rutherfordton | 758 |
| R-S Middle School | Rutherford County Schools | Rutherfordton | 574 |
| Rutherford Early College High School | Rutherford County Schools | Spindale | 191 |
| Rutherford Opportunity Center | Rutherford County Schools | Forest City | 119 |
| Rutherfordton Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Rutherfordton | 390 |
| Spindale Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Spindale | 341 |
| Sunshine Elementary School | Rutherford County Schools | Bostic | 190 |
| Lake Lure Classical Academy | Lake Lure Classical Academy | Lake Lure | 442 |
| Thomas Jefferson Class Academy | Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy | Mooresboro | 1,360 |