county

Lenoir County, NC

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

AI Overview

Lenoir County, NC is a small rural county of 54,917 residents with a labor force participation rate of just 55.6% and an unemployment rate of 7.2%, reflecting a constrained and relatively shallow workforce pool where only 15.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median household income stands at $45,143 against a poverty rate of 22.5%, while housing costs remain low — median home values at $111,400 and gross rent at $814/month. The county's population has declined 4.0% over five years, and median worker earnings of $34,142 point to a lower-cost labor environment typical of eastern North Carolina's smaller manufacturing and agriculture-oriented economies.

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

Population

54,917

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$45,143

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

41.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-4.0% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone27,167 (49.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone21,560 (39.3%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,593 (4.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races1,928 (3.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,078 (2.0%)
  • Asian Alone425 (0.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish3,587
  2. 2.Other Asian and Pacific Island138
  3. 3.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic103
  4. 4.Vietnamese85
  5. 5.German or other West Germanic51

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

22.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

56.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

21.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

3,539

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$50,528

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$28,409

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

7.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

22.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance6,289
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)3,782
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)2,117
  4. 4.Construction (Group)1,936
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,627

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations6,989
  2. 2.Service Occupations4,432
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,377
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations3,784
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,912

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.21×)799
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.55×)3,486
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.31×)2,060
  4. 4.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.25×)6,593
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 1.20×)1,286

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$111,400

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$814/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

59.2%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $100,000 to $124,9991,591 (11.5%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,535 (11.1%)
  • $125,000 to $149,9991,164 (8.4%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9991,130 (8.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999827 (6.0%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999753 (5.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

15.8%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

82.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

55.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$34,142

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

8.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone18,164 (82.4%)
  • Carpooled2,695 (12.2%)
  • Worked At Home750 (3.4%)
  • Walked207 (0.9%)
  • Public Transit136 (0.6%)
  • Motorcycle40 (0.2%)

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.