county

Cleveland County, NC

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

AI Overview

Cleveland County, NC is a manufacturing-oriented county of 102,194 residents that grew 3.1% over five years, with a labor force participation rate of 58.7% and an unemployment rate of 5.7%. The workforce skews toward production and trades, with 21.1% holding a bachelor's degree or higher and median worker earnings of $36,491 — well below the state average — pointing to a cost-competitive labor pool. Housing costs remain low, with a median home value of $180,200 and median gross rent of $835/month, while a poverty rate of 17.2% signals ongoing income pressure across the county.

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

Population

102,194

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$58,534

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

41.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+3.1% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone72,350 (71.6%)
  • Black or African American Alone18,099 (17.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races4,706 (4.7%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,244 (2.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race2,077 (2.1%)
  • Asian Alone1,098 (1.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish3,182
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island450
  3. 3.Other Indo-European243
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)151
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic106

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

18.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

5,720

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$45,371

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$29,849

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance10,078
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)8,276
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)6,722
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services3,511
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services3,218

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations14,963
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations9,743
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations9,350
  4. 4.Service Occupations6,848
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations4,101

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.87×)8,250
  2. 2.Retail Trade (LQ 1.35×)6,503
  3. 3.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.20×)3,107
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.19×)2,489
  5. 5.Construction (LQ 0.99×)3,037

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$180,200

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$835/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

70.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9993,975 (14.4%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9993,169 (11.5%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9993,094 (11.2%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9992,346 (8.5%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9992,160 (7.8%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,857 (6.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

21.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

87.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

58.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,491

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

25.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone36,266 (82.2%)
  • Carpooled4,020 (9.1%)
  • Worked At Home3,008 (6.8%)
  • Walked568 (1.3%)
  • Other256 (0.6%)
  • Public Transit2 (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.