county

Polk County, NC

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

AI Overview

Polk County, NC is a small rural county of 19,689 residents with a median age of 54.9 years, reflecting a notably older population that corresponds with a low labor force participation rate of 53.6% and a workforce of limited scale. About 32.9% of residents hold a bachelor's degree or higher, median worker earnings stand at $34,699, and the unemployment rate is 4.3%, while GDP per capita of $27,991 trails median household income of $67,758, suggesting a mix of retiree and transfer income supplementing local wages. The county lost 3.8% of its population over five years, homeownership sits at 76.9% with a median home value of $281,100, and median gross rent of $1,089 per month reflects modest but not low housing costs relative to local earnings.

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

Population

19,689

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$67,758

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

54.9 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-3.8% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone17,300 (87.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,020 (5.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone876 (4.4%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races355 (1.8%)
  • Asian Alone154 (0.8%)
  • Some Other Race Alone144 (0.7%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish1,046
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic249
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)36
  4. 4.Vietnamese8
  5. 5.Other Indo-European7

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

15.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

52.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

32.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,451

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$27,991

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$38,444

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

4.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

13.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,294
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services978
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)928
  4. 4.Construction (Group)796
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)787

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations3,125
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations1,935
  3. 3.Service Occupations1,894
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,135
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations731

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.74×)381
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 1.34×)809
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.23×)504
  4. 4.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 1.20×)694
  5. 5.Educational Services & Health Care (LQ 1.14×)2,321

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$281,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,089/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

76.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,9991,132 (16.4%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999961 (13.9%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999860 (12.5%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999618 (9.0%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999556 (8.1%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999497 (7.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

32.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

91.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

53.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$34,699

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

28.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

3.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone6,080 (70.4%)
  • Worked At Home1,368 (15.8%)
  • Carpooled1,001 (11.6%)
  • Walked158 (1.8%)
  • Other24 (0.3%)
  • Bicycle4 (0.0%)

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.