county

Gaston County, NC

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

AI Overview

Gaston County, a manufacturing-rooted county in the Charlotte metro area, has a population of 242,010 that grew 6.9% over five years, with a labor force participation rate of 62.6% and an unemployment rate of 4.8%. Workers earn a median of $42,037, and 26.0% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, reflecting a workforce oriented toward trade and production over professional services. Housing costs remain relatively contained, with a median home value of $235,000 and median gross rent of $1,085 per month, while median household income stands at $67,478.

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

Population

242,010

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$67,478

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

39.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+6.9% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone160,677 (68.4%)
  • Black or African American Alone41,145 (17.5%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races9,511 (4.0%)
  • Some Other Race Alone9,272 (3.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race9,259 (3.9%)
  • Asian Alone4,032 (1.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish15,437
  2. 2.Other Indo-European1,215
  3. 3.Other Asian and Pacific Island947
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic482
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic405

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

61.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

6.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

12,211

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$35,004

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$35,557

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance22,117
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)15,126
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)12,997
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services12,105
  5. 5.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities9,445

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations40,879
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations23,122
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations20,110
  4. 4.Service Occupations16,975
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations11,003

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.40×)15,369
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.40×)9,008
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.17×)8,953
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.11×)5,764
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.11×)13,280

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$235,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,085/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

66.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,99911,533 (18.4%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9998,935 (14.3%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9998,129 (13.0%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9996,710 (10.7%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9994,755 (7.6%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9994,139 (6.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

26.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

88.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$42,037

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

27.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone84,450 (76.7%)
  • Worked At Home13,622 (12.4%)
  • Carpooled9,583 (8.7%)
  • Walked1,003 (0.9%)
  • Other808 (0.7%)
  • Public Transit386 (0.4%)

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.