Turkey, NC
8 miles east
Median home built 1975, as in Clinton; 227 people, under a tenth of Clinton's population
Attic insulation in TurkeyAttic Insulation in Clinton, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Clinton, NC, in Sampson County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Clinton and Its Homes
Clinton, the Sampson County seat, grew around a courthouse set up about 1784 on land owned by Richard Clinton, and it was laid out as a town in 1818. Its two residential historic districts hold houses from the 1830s to the 1930s, from Greek Revival homes to small brick cottages.
Clinton, in Sampson County, grew from 8,367 people in 2020 to 8,466 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 7.69 square miles. No town in Sampson County has more people than Clinton.
Clinton has about 3,500 housing units, 13 percent of Sampson County's; 49 percent of the city's households own their home.
Clinton at a Glance
- County: Sampson County
- Population: 8,466 (2025), 8,367 (2020), up 1.2%
- Land area: 7.69 square miles (1,101 people each)
- Housing units: about 3,500 (±245)
- Median year built: 1975 (±2); Sampson County: 1988
- Owner-occupied: 49% (±5); Sampson County: 74%
- Detached houses: 67% (±3); Sampson County: 62%
- Attached houses: 2% (±1)
- Apartments: 29% (±5)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Clinton attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Clinton, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Clinton Homes and Their Attics
Yankee Row on North Chesnutt Street
In the 1830s a few families from Connecticut settled in Clinton, and by 1849 their Greek Revival houses stood well back from North Chesnutt Street. The street earned the nickname Yankee Row, the district's National Register nomination records, and the district also holds the town's oldest house, begun before 1826. Its major houses are mostly big two-story frame homes. Where one of them turns out to be balloon framed, the wall studs run unbroken up to the roof, with no plate across their tops. Each open stud bay then works like a flue for warm air, so we cap those bays from above before blowing in insulation.
Railroad Growth and the College Street Houses
Clinton's next spurt of building came with the railroad. A spur line from Warsaw reached town in the late 1880s, and a Wilmington newspaper reported in 1889 that about forty new residences had gone up in two years. On College Street, beside the old academy grounds, Queen Anne houses of the 1890s and early 1900s were followed by Colonial Revival homes in the 1910s and 1920s. Wiring in houses of that age may be the original knob-and-tube kind, used until about 1930. ENERGY STAR warns against insulation in contact with it. An electrician sorts that out before we blow anything in.
Bungalows and Brick Cottages Between the Wars
The West Main and North Chesnutt district's nomination also lists smaller houses set between the big ones. Most are one or one-and-a-half stories: frame bungalows, brick houses of the 1920s and 1930s and Colonial Revival homes, some with dormers. College Street adds the county's only wood-shingled bungalows. In the story-and-a-half ones, the upstairs rooms borrow space from the roof, so short side walls hide narrow, sloped attics. ENERGY STAR lists the areas behind and below those knee walls among an attic's leak points. An Iowa state guide adds that the joist space under a knee wall is usually left unsealed. Both get sealed along with the main attic.
Attic Insulation in Clinton
Some 37 percent of Clinton's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
Built from 1970 to 1989, 38 percent of Clinton homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
The Local Climate
Clinton's center sits about 150 feet above sea level, 3 miles from NOAA's Clinton 2 NE station, the best match for Clinton. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,020 heating and 1,780 cooling degree days a year, so at Clinton's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Clinton: NOAA's Warsaw 5 E station, 18 miles away, averages about 3,490 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 67 percent of Clinton housing units are detached single-family houses.
Built from 1940 to 1969, 34 percent of Clinton homes often have little insulation.
About 65 percent of Clinton's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too. Some 29 percent of Clinton units sit in buildings of two or more homes, where the attic is often shared. Renters hold 51 percent of Clinton's occupied homes, so many attic decisions rest with landlords.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 3% (±1), about 100 units
- 1940s: 4% (±2), about 140 units
- 1950s: 15% (±3), about 530 units
- 1960s: 15% (±3), about 510 units
- 1970s: 29% (±5), about 990 units
- 1980s: 9% (±2), about 310 units
- 1990s: 14% (±3), about 470 units
- 2000s: 8% (±3), about 260 units
- 2010s: 4% (±2), about 140 units
- 2020 or later: under 1%, about 15 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Clinton
In Clinton, 84 percent of homes heat with electricity; where that heat is forced air, ducts often run through the attic.
Air sealing comes first, as the EPA advises: wire and pipe holes, wall tops and soffits.
How Homes Here Are Heated
- Electricity: 84% (±3), about 2,500 households; Sampson County: 82%
- Piped gas: 7% (±2), about 215 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 6% (±2), about 190 households
- Oil or kerosene: 2% (±1), about 45 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Progress serves most of Clinton, South River EMC its edges; your bill says which. For gas, Clinton is in the Sampson County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and 7 percent of the city's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Clinton homes: 84 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Clinton: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Clinton, check its current terms; the Sampson County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Clinton
In a Clinton attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Clinton attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Clinton
Nearest to Clinton first.
Salemburg, NC
10 miles west
470 people, under a tenth of Clinton's population
Attic insulation in SalemburgRoseboro, NC
11 miles west
Median home built 1977 (Clinton: 1975); 1,189 people, about a seventh of Clinton's population
Attic insulation in RoseboroWarsaw, NC
14 miles east
Median home built 1982 (Clinton: 1975); Its NOAA station logs about 470 more heating degree days than Clinton's
Attic insulation in WarsawFaison, NC
14 miles northeast
824 people, about a tenth of Clinton's population
Attic insulation in Faison
Clinton Insulation FAQs
Will the city review my plans to insulate a house in a Clinton historic district?
Not unless the house is a designated local landmark. Clinton's Historic Preservation Commission, appointed in 2003, reviews outside changes in locally designated districts, and the city says the downtown commercial district is the only one. College Street and the West Main and North Chesnutt blocks are on the National Register only. By the State Historic Preservation Office's account, Register status alone never stops a homeowner from repairing or changing a house at private expense. Insulating the attic happens indoors anyway. Downtown owners should ask the city before adding roof vents.
Did older Clinton houses have to meet an insulation rule when new?
No rule applied before 1978. The North Carolina law tying occupancy to insulation standards covers houses begun from the first day of that year on. By the housing figures on this page, less than half of Clinton's homes are older than 1970. Even so, no state standard reached a house started before 1978, so nobody should guess at the depth. On install day the crew measures over the main attic and each wing or addition, because their depths can differ.
Are there rebates for attic insulation in Clinton?
Duke Energy's Smart $aver Insulate and Seal is the one to check: a rebate for attic insulation done together with air sealing, and a separate one for duct sealing, when the attic starts at R-19 or less; a contractor in Duke's Smart $aver network must do the work, and Insulation Pros is an approved Duke Energy trade ally. Check its current terms. The Sampson County page lists every other program.
Could the old insulation in a Clinton attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 22 percent of Clinton's homes predate 1960. If a Clinton attic holds a pebble-like gray-brown or silver-gold fill, leave it undisturbed: the EPA says vermiculite may contain asbestos.
Does attic insulation in Clinton need a permit?
Clinton City Hall can say whether Sampson County Building Inspections, the city itself or another office handles permits in Clinton; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Progress: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Clinton, NOAA normals for the Clinton 2 NE station, Duke Energy Progress (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Clinton notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Clinton, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- West Main-North Chesnutt-West Johnson Streets Historic District, Clinton, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- College Street Historic District, Clinton, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Sampson County Multiple Resource Nomination, National Register of Historic Places (NC HPO)
- Building Construction Problem Areas, weatherization training text, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Historic Preservation Commission, City of Clinton
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-139.2, Enforcement of insulation requirements; certificate for occupancy
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Clinton city, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
Clinton, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Clinton and the rest of Sampson County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Clinton attic, or call (336) 870-3893.