county

Caldwell County, NC

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

AI Overview

Caldwell County is a rural western North Carolina county of roughly 80,700 residents with a manufacturing-oriented economic base, reflected in a median worker earnings of $37,108 and a GDP per capita of $30,290. The available workforce skews older (median age 45.4) with 82.8% holding a high school diploma but only 18.6% a bachelor's degree, and labor force participation sits at 58.3% against a 4.8% unemployment rate. Housing costs are low—median home value of $174,000 and median gross rent of $735/month—though the county posted a -1.4% population decline over the past five years.

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

Population

80,739

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$56,425

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

45.4 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.4% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone69,339 (86.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone3,274 (4.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone3,028 (3.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races2,534 (3.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,750 (2.2%)
  • Asian Alone426 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish3,624
  2. 2.Other Indo-European241
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island191
  4. 4.Vietnamese154
  5. 5.Arabic154

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

4,370

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$30,290

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$30,811

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Manufacturing (Group)7,406
  2. 2.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance7,181
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)4,408
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services3,067
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services2,909

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations11,422
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations7,831
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations7,614
  4. 4.Service Occupations6,260
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations3,797

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 2.16×)7,916
  2. 2.Wholesale Trade (LQ 2.11×)1,792
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.10×)2,793
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.07×)4,273
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.03×)1,793

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$174,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$735/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

73.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9993,528 (14.6%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9992,653 (11.0%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9992,563 (10.6%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9992,317 (9.6%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,841 (7.6%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,617 (6.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

82.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$37,108

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

25.9 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone29,357 (81.6%)
  • Carpooled3,523 (9.8%)
  • Worked At Home2,561 (7.1%)
  • Other268 (0.7%)
  • Walked213 (0.6%)
  • Motorcycle23 (0.1%)

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.