county

Macon County, NC

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

AI Overview

Macon County is a small mountain county of 37,533 residents with a median age of 49.7 and a labor force participation rate of 53.3%, reflecting its older, largely retirement-oriented population base. The workforce of roughly 20,000 carries median earnings of $36,350, with 24.6% holding a bachelor's degree or higher and an unemployment rate of just 2.9%. Housing costs remain comparatively low—median home value of $229,000 and median gross rent of $791/month—alongside a 9.1% population gain over five years, pointing to steady in-migration into an affordable, low-density market.

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

Population

37,533

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$59,061

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

49.7 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+9.1% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone32,821 (86.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone2,105 (5.5%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,250 (3.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races806 (2.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone523 (1.4%)
  • Asian Alone295 (0.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish2,556
  2. 2.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic127
  3. 3.German or other West Germanic110
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)104
  5. 5.Vietnamese58

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

53.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

28.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

5.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,916

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$48,644

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$35,682

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

2.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance3,326
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)2,223
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services2,126
  4. 4.Construction (Group)1,946
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,725

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations5,765
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations3,752
  3. 3.Service Occupations3,267
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations2,242
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations1,520

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Construction (LQ 1.93×)2,174
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.50×)2,148
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.35×)1,034
  4. 4.Information (LQ 1.08×)331
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.04×)1,855

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$229,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$791/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9992,500 (17.5%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9992,077 (14.5%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9991,358 (9.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,132 (7.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,114 (7.8%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9991,022 (7.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

24.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

90.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

53.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$36,350

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

22.6 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone13,072 (80.3%)
  • Worked At Home1,536 (9.4%)
  • Carpooled1,378 (8.5%)
  • Walked250 (1.5%)
  • Other22 (0.1%)
  • Taxi17 (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.