county

Buncombe County, NC

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

AI Overview

Buncombe County, NC has a population of 279,210 that grew 6.8% over the past five years, with a labor force participation rate of 59.7% and an unemployment rate of 3.5%. Of the resident workforce, 44.6% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while median worker earnings stand at $38,409 against a median household income of $74,436. Median home values have reached $360,000 and median gross rent is $1,281 per month, with a GDP per capita of $57,198 and a poverty rate of 11.8%.

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

Population

279,210

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$74,436

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

42.6 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+6.8% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone224,885 (82.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race16,167 (5.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone13,276 (4.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races10,260 (3.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone6,038 (2.2%)
  • Asian Alone3,089 (1.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish17,042
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic2,376
  3. 3.Other Indo-European1,864
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)855
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic606

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

61.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

6.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

14,160

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$57,198

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$40,879

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

11.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance32,208
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services16,813
  3. 3.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services16,532
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)15,713
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)12,449

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations58,130
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations25,940
  3. 3.Service Occupations22,779
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations13,121
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations10,696

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.58×)18,276
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 1.18×)10,770
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.08×)15,400
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.04×)31,976
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 0.99×)6,132

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$360,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,281/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

66.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,99912,074 (17.9%)
  • $500,000 to $749,99911,834 (17.6%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99910,737 (15.9%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9995,915 (8.8%)
  • $750,000 to $999,9995,350 (7.9%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9994,263 (6.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

44.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

92.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

59.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,409

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

21.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone90,934 (70.5%)
  • Worked At Home22,701 (17.6%)
  • Carpooled9,801 (7.6%)
  • Walked2,488 (1.9%)
  • Other1,127 (0.9%)
  • Public Transit868 (0.7%)

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.