Surf City, NC
4 miles south
Median home built 2002 (Holly Ridge: 2015); 5,142 people to Holly Ridge's 5,908
Attic insulation in Surf CityAttic Insulation in Holly Ridge, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Holly Ridge, NC, in Onslow County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Holly Ridge and Its Homes
Holly Ridge started about 1890 as a wood station on the railroad in southern Onslow County and was incorporated in 1941, the spring Camp Davis opened beside it. The base was taken apart after the war, and the county's historic resources study found few buildings in town left from those years.
Holly Ridge, in Onslow County, grew from 4,248 people in 2020 to 5,908 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 4.23 square miles. That makes Holly Ridge the second-largest town in Onslow County.
Holly Ridge has about 2,400 housing units, 3 percent of Onslow County's; 89 percent of the town's households own their home.
Holly Ridge at a Glance
- County: Onslow County
- Population: 5,908 (2025), 4,248 (2020), up 39.1%
- Land area: 4.23 square miles (1,397 people each)
- Housing units: about 2,400 (±372)
- Median year built: 2015 (±2); Onslow County: 1998
- Owner-occupied: 89% (±5); Onslow County: 64%
- Detached houses: 77% (±8); Onslow County: 65%
- Attached houses: 14% (±8)
- Apartments: under 8%
- Mobile homes: under 14%
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Holly Ridge attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Holly Ridge, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Holly Ridge Homes and Their Attics
Camp Davis and the Houses That Came After
Camp Davis trained antiaircraft troops from April 1941 until it closed in October 1944, with as many as 60,000 men and women at its peak. Onslow County's National Register study counted about a hundred frame buildings on the base, many several stories tall, taken apart and sold once the war ended. A few stores and boarding houses in town were among the only survivors it found. Most of the homes counted in this page's housing figures were built from 1970 on, long after the base closed. In a newer house, check the ceiling lights before insulating: recessed cans marked IC-rated can be covered, but older non-IC cans need insulation held 3 inches away.
Attic Insulation in Holly Ridge
If the joists show above the insulation in a Holly Ridge attic, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
The Local Climate
Holly Ridge's center sits about 60 feet above sea level, 4 miles from NOAA's Surf City station, the best match for Holly Ridge. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 2,770 heating and 1,740 cooling degree days a year, so at Holly Ridge's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Holly Ridge: NOAA's New River Marine Corps Air Facility station, 17 miles away, averages about 2,500 heating degree days. The state energy code marks Onslow County warm and humid.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
About 77 percent of Holly Ridge housing units are detached single-family houses. With about 2,400 housing units in Holly Ridge, read the figures as rough proportions.
From 1990 to 2009, about 10 percent of Holly Ridge homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: under 1%
- 1940s: under 5%, about 45 units
- 1950s: under 9%, about 85 units
- 1960s: under 5%, about 50 units
- 1970s: under 5%, about 55 units
- 1980s: under 5%, about 45 units
- 1990s: under 14%, about 135 units
- 2000s: 5% (±4), about 125 units
- 2010s: 51% (±12), about 1,210 units
- 2020 or later: 26% (±12), about 620 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Holly Ridge
In Holly Ridge, 98 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: 98% (±5), about 1,880 households; Onslow County: 92%
- Bottled or tank gas: under 4%, about 30 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Progress serves most of Holly Ridge, Jones-Onslow EMC its edges; your bill says which. For gas, Holly Ridge is in the Onslow County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, whose mains may not reach every street in Holly Ridge. Duke's free House Call fits many Holly Ridge homes: 98 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Holly Ridge: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Holly Ridge, check its current terms; the Onslow County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Holly Ridge
In a Holly Ridge attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Holly Ridge attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Holly Ridge
Nearest to Holly Ridge first.
North Topsail Beach, NC
7 miles east
Median home built 1989 (Holly Ridge: 2015); 1,097 people, about a fifth of Holly Ridge's population
Attic insulation in North Topsail BeachTopsail Beach, NC
10 miles southwest
Median home built 1985 (Holly Ridge: 2015); 503 people, under a tenth of Holly Ridge's population
Attic insulation in Topsail BeachJacksonville, NC
19 miles northeast
Median home built 1992 (Holly Ridge: 2015); 72,732 people, about 12 times Holly Ridge's population
Insulation contractor serving JacksonvilleSt. Helena, NC
20 miles west
434 people, under a tenth of Holly Ridge's population
Attic insulation in St. Helena
Holly Ridge Insulation FAQs
Why is the bedroom over the garage in my Holly Ridge house so hard to heat and cool?
A room like that touches unheated space on several sides: the garage below and, if the room sits partly under the roof, attic pockets behind its short side walls. For a floor over a garage, Building America says to air seal it first and to keep the insulation tight against the underside of the subfloor, with no gap. The short walls and the pockets behind them leak too, by ENERGY STAR's list. We seal and insulate all three. Garage insulation is one of our services as well.
Is any house in Holly Ridge on a historic register?
No listing turns up in the state's files. The State Historic Preservation Office lists no National Register property in Holly Ridge, and the one local preservation commission it names in Onslow County, on its 2023 list, belongs to Swansboro. That means no design review stands between you and attic work. What gets checked first depends on your own house: its age, its wiring and its roof.
Does attic insulation in Holly Ridge need a permit?
Holly Ridge Town Hall can say whether Onslow County Building Guides, the town itself or another office handles permits in Holly Ridge; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Onslow County is warm and humid by the state energy code: attic condensation and mold and attic ventilation
- Median home built 2015: a hot upstairs and bonus rooms over garages
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Holly Ridge, NOAA normals for the Surf City station, Duke Energy Progress (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Holly Ridge notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Holly Ridge, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Camp Davis, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Historic and Architectural Resources of Onslow County, North Carolina, National Register multiple property documentation form (NC HPO)
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Holly Ridge town, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Floor Above Garage, Building America Solution Center (U.S. Department of Energy, PNNL)
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- NC Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- Historic Preservation Commission Staff in North Carolina, listed by county, as of 2/20/2023 (NC HPO)
Holly Ridge, NC
Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Serving Holly Ridge, NC
Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Holly Ridge and the rest of Onslow County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Holly Ridge attic, or call (336) 870-3893.