Swain County, NC
Demographic and economic profile of Swain County, NC, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.
AI Overview
Swain County is a small rural county of 14,065 residents with an economy shaped heavily by its location adjacent to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, reflected in low labor force participation of 55.8% and an unemployment rate of 8.3%. The workforce skews toward lower-wage work, with median worker earnings of $34,699 and only 21.3% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, though housing costs remain modest at a $209,800 median home value and $715/month median rent. Population has contracted 1.3% over five years, the poverty rate stands at 21.1%, and per capita income of $31,040 trails the GDP-per-capita figure of $49,262, suggesting output is concentrated outside the resident workforce.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page
Population Growth (5-year)
-1.3% since 2018
Swain County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.
Demographics
Race & Ethnicity
- White Alone8,333 (59.5%)
- American Indian & Alaska Native Alone3,855 (27.5%)
- Two Races Including Some Other Race763 (5.4%)
- Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races607 (4.3%)
- Black or African American Alone363 (2.6%)
- Asian Alone69 (0.5%)
Top Languages Spoken at Home
- 1.Spanish311
- 2.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)35
- 3.German or other West Germanic31
- 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island12
Economy
Cost of Living Index
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Not yet cached
Top Industries
- 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,463
- 2.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,318
- 3.Public Administration (Group)689
- 4.Retail Trade (Group)615
- 5.Construction (Group)522
Top Occupations
- 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,906
- 2.Service Occupations1,810
- 3.Sales & Office Occupations1,129
- 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations893
- 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations323
Housing
Education
Workforce
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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.