county

Ashe County, NC

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

AI Overview

Ashe County is a small rural county of 26,831 residents with a median age of 49.8 years and a labor force participation rate of just 51.6%, reflecting an older population base; 22.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and median worker earnings stand at $33,516. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $221,900 and median gross rent of $774 per month, alongside a homeownership rate of 79.4%. Population growth has been nearly flat at +0.2% over five years, unemployment sits at 5.4%, and a poverty rate of 14.1% points to constrained household economic capacity.

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

Population

26,831

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$56,866

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

49.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.2% since 2018

Ashe County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone25,019 (92.8%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race676 (2.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races411 (1.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone314 (1.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone272 (1.0%)
  • American Indian & Alaska Native Alone139 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,211
  2. 2.Vietnamese72
  3. 3.Other Indo-European44
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)23
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic17

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

56.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

27.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

2.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,482

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$29,810

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$31,486

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,680
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)1,744
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,618
  4. 4.Construction (Group)1,167
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services897

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,215
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations2,272
  3. 3.Service Occupations1,883
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,778
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,466

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Construction (LQ 1.67×)1,294
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.49×)266
  3. 3.Manufacturing (LQ 1.43×)1,591
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.14×)1,395
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.05×)270

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$221,900

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$774/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

79.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9991,348 (13.9%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,104 (11.4%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9991,080 (11.2%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999931 (9.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999851 (8.8%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999788 (8.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

22.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

87.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

51.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$33,516

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

25.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone8,915 (79.3%)
  • Carpooled1,127 (10.0%)
  • Worked At Home1,010 (9.0%)
  • Walked155 (1.4%)
  • Other25 (0.2%)
  • Public Transit4 (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.