county

Alexander County, NC

Demographic and economic profile of Alexander County, NC, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Alexander County is a small, rural county of 36,440 residents with a manufacturing-oriented economic base, reflected in a GDP per capita of $23,855 and median worker earnings of $39,603. The labor force is largely high-school-educated—only 15.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—with a participation rate of 55.9% and unemployment at 5.2%. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $190,000 and median gross rent of $745/month, though the county has seen a modest population decline of 1.8% over the past five years.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

36,440

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$65,354

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.8% since 2018

Alexander County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone31,805 (87.3%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,828 (5.0%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races948 (2.6%)
  • Some Other Race Alone568 (1.6%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race532 (1.5%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone368 (1.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,799
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic187
  3. 3.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)123
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island71
  5. 5.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)17

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,137

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$23,855

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$32,565

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)3,809
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,189
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,867
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,339
  5. 5.Other Services, Except Public Administration (Group)1,246

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,610
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,373
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations3,199
  4. 4.Service Occupations2,119
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,873

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.50×)4,010
  2. 2.Other Services (LQ 1.40×)1,067
  3. 3.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.29×)332
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.17×)1,102
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 0.99×)755

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$190,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$745/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

80.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,761 (15.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9991,331 (11.7%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,222 (10.7%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999901 (7.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999844 (7.4%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999728 (6.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

15.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

85.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

55.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,603

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

25.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

2.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone13,336 (84.9%)
  • Carpooled1,219 (7.8%)
  • Worked At Home962 (6.1%)
  • Walked139 (0.9%)
  • Other44 (0.3%)
  • Motorcycle7 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.