county

Surry County, NC

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

AI Overview

Surry County is a rural North Carolina county of 71,547 residents with an older workforce (median age 43.8) and limited college attainment — only 19.4% hold a bachelor's degree or higher — offering employers a cost-accessible labor pool with median worker earnings of $36,463 and a 5.0% unemployment rate. Housing costs are low, with a median home value of $166,400 and median gross rent of $741/month, though the county shows a modest population decline of 1.0% over five years, a 16.7% poverty rate, and labor force participation of just 57.9%.

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

Population

71,547

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$55,656

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-1.0% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone59,905 (83.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race3,929 (5.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,757 (3.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone2,692 (3.8%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,375 (1.9%)
  • Asian Alone476 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish6,356
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island285
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)194
  4. 4.Vietnamese165
  5. 5.Other Indo-European63

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

20.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

6.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

3,550

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$36,716

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$31,947

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

16.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance7,199
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)5,892
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)3,901
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services2,737
  5. 5.Construction (Group)2,700

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations10,177
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations6,909
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations6,288
  4. 4.Service Occupations4,825
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations3,537

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.81×)5,752
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.52×)775
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.34×)2,960
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.21×)4,206
  5. 5.Other Services (LQ 1.06×)1,598

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$166,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$741/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

73.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9992,860 (13.0%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9992,437 (11.1%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9992,046 (9.3%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9992,027 (9.2%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,647 (7.5%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,486 (6.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

19.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

82.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

57.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,463

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone24,413 (78.1%)
  • Carpooled4,311 (13.8%)
  • Worked At Home2,096 (6.7%)
  • Walked184 (0.6%)
  • Other126 (0.4%)
  • Bicycle42 (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.