county

Rutherford County, NC

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

AI Overview

Rutherford County is a small rural county of 65,587 residents with an economy reflected in a GDP per capita of $28,871 and median household income of $51,410, both well below state and national norms. The labor market is constrained, with a labor force participation rate of just 53.9%, an unemployment rate of 5.5%, and only 20.7% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Housing costs are low — median home value of $180,800 and median gross rent of $748/month — though the county has seen a population decline of 2.5% over five years and carries a poverty rate of 17.6%.

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

Population

65,587

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$51,410

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

45.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-2.5% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone53,155 (81.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone4,984 (7.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races2,693 (4.1%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race1,984 (3.1%)
  • Some Other Race Alone1,628 (2.5%)
  • Asian Alone304 (0.5%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish2,772
  2. 2.German or other West Germanic149
  3. 3.Other Indo-European136
  4. 4.Vietnamese127
  5. 5.Other Asian and Pacific Island114

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

20.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

57.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

22.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

3.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

3,853

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$28,871

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$29,217

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

17.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance6,184
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)4,284
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)3,099
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services3,050
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services2,877

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations8,857
  2. 2.Service Occupations6,134
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations4,758
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,637
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations3,094

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Manufacturing (LQ 1.62×)4,371
  2. 2.Other Services (LQ 1.24×)1,577
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.20×)2,248
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.02×)1,620
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 1.01×)2,964

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$180,800

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$748/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

73.9%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9992,707 (13.8%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9992,480 (12.6%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,552 (7.9%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,527 (7.8%)
  • $100,000 to $124,9991,365 (6.9%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,363 (6.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

20.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

86.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

53.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$32,744

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

26.1 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone21,249 (79.7%)
  • Carpooled2,363 (8.9%)
  • Worked At Home2,291 (8.6%)
  • Walked382 (1.4%)
  • Other303 (1.1%)
  • Motorcycle35 (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.