county

Onslow County, NC

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

AI Overview

Onslow County's economy is heavily shaped by the presence of military infrastructure, reflected in its unusually young median age of 27.7 years and a labor force participation rate of 70.2% across a population of 212,954. The workforce skews toward younger, active-duty and associated workers, with 26.1% holding a bachelor's degree or higher and median worker earnings of $33,001, keeping labor costs relatively low. The county grew 7.5% over five years, with a median home value of $219,500 and median gross rent of $1,198/month pointing to moderate housing costs compared to national benchmarks.

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

Population

212,954

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$68,148

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

27.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+7.5% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone139,725 (67.2%)
  • Black or African American Alone25,041 (12.0%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races17,042 (8.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race12,710 (6.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone7,661 (3.7%)
  • Asian Alone3,934 (1.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish14,157
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island956
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic815
  4. 4.Other Indo-European799
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)668

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

24.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

65.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

9.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

25,185

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$44,161

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$30,998

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

11.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance14,654
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)10,070
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services8,039
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services7,671
  5. 5.Public Administration (Group)5,794

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations24,407
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations16,726
  3. 3.Service Occupations12,539
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations8,294
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations7,999

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Public Administration (LQ 1.70×)5,603
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.39×)8,473
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.33×)10,043
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.28×)6,155
  5. 5.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.00×)4,075

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$219,500

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,198/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

63.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,99910,282 (21.4%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9997,860 (16.4%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9997,066 (14.7%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9994,252 (8.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9993,495 (7.3%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9993,418 (7.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

26.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

93.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

70.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$33,001

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone70,281 (65.7%)
  • Worked At Home13,699 (12.8%)
  • Carpooled12,892 (12.1%)
  • Walked7,415 (6.9%)
  • Other1,872 (1.8%)
  • Motorcycle346 (0.3%)

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.