Jury Pool Profile

Buncombe County, North Carolina

Democratic +24.8 (2024)

County seat: Asheville
Judicial district: 40th Judicial District Superior Court
Population (July 2025 estimate): 277,417; Census PEP. The five-year ACS survey average is 274,360.

At a glance

Buncombe County is a 277,417-person venue. The county population is 82% White (Census race-alone categories). Median household income is $78,993, $4,938 above the NC state median of $74,055; 45.9% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher. 9.4% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, most commonly Spanish and Russian, Polish, or other Slavic. The largest employment sector is Education & health services, at 25.6% of covered employment, average pay $68,331/year. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.6%, below the 3.75% state average. The county carried the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024, taking 56% to 62% of the vote across the three.

Population: 274,360
Median household income: $74,436
Unemployment: 3.6%

Who sits on a jury?

Predominantly White

≥70% White (race-alone) and <20% Black. This county: 82% / 5%.

Buncombe County has a population of 274,360, with a median age of 42.6. By Census race-alone categories, White residents make up 82.0%; Black residents 4.8%. Independently, 8.6% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The median household earns $78,993; 45.9% of residents 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher; 12.4% live below the federal poverty line.

Race & ethnicity

White (non-Hispanic) 221,607 80.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 23,475 8.6%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 13,207 4.8%
Asian (non-Hispanic) 3,085 1.1%
Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 11,717 4.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 165 0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 86 0.0%
Some other race (non-Hispanic) 1,018 0.4%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Age distribution

Median age 42.6

Under 18 48,925 17.8%
18–24 20,483 7.5%
25–44 76,023 27.7%
45–64 70,638 25.7%
65 and over 58,291 21.2%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Income & poverty

Median household income: $78,993; 90% interval $74,869–$83,117; +$4,938 vs NC · 17th of 100
Below poverty line: 12.4%; 90% interval 10.6%–14.2%; −0.2 pp vs NC · 71st of 100

U.S. Census SAIPE 2024

Economic context

Healthcare & education anchored

Largest sector in BLS QCEW: Education & health services, about 26% of covered jobs.

Education & health services is the largest employment sector at 25.6% of covered employment, followed by Trade, transportation & utilities at 19.5%. Trailing-12-month unemployment is 3.6%, below the North Carolina state average.

Local economy

Unemployment (12-mo): 3.6%; −0.15 pp vs. state
County GDP: $21.3B; 2.52% of state
Avg. annual pay: $61,596
Establishments: 12,693

U.S. BLS 2026M07 · U.S. BEA 2024 · BLS QCEW 2025

Top employment sectors

Average annual employment by supersector

Education & health services 34,500 25.6%
Trade, transportation & utilities 26,227 19.5%
Leisure & hospitality 19,569 14.5%
Professional & business services 15,179 11.3%
Manufacturing 12,875 9.6%
Construction 7,285 5.4%
Public administration 6,135 4.6%
Other services 5,620 4.2%
Financial activities 5,182 3.8%
Information 1,687 1.3%
Natural resources & mining 426 0.3%
Unclassified 2 0.0%

BLS QCEW 2025

Housing

Home ownership: 66.2%; −0.4 pp vs NC · 77th of 100
Median gross rent: $1,362; +$134 vs NC · 8th of 100
Owner-occupied: 67,411
Renter-occupied: 34,444

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Local economy in 3 reads

Moderately concentrated

Top three sectors employ 60% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.
Moderate wage spread

Highest-paid sector (Information, $116,436/yr) pays 3.5× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $33,705/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.
Mixed business scale

Average establishment employs 11 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

BLS QCEW 2025

Political composition

Consistently Democratic

Democratic candidate carried this county in 2016, 2020, and 2024 (avg winning share: 59%). 'Strongly' threshold: ≥60% avg.

Buncombe County was carried by the Democratic candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 cycles, with 61.7% in 2024, 59.7% in 2020, 55.7% in 2016.

Presidential results

2024 presidential · 159,885 votes cast

Republican
Democratic

Democratic 98,662 61.7%
Republican 59,016 36.9%
Other / third-party 2,207 1.4%

Election results 2024

Languages, households, faith & health

Family-majority, English-speaking

Family households are 61% of all households (thresholds: ≥70% = 'family-dominant'; 50–70% = 'family-majority'; <50% = 'singles/nonfamily-majority'). 9.4% of residents 5 and older speak a language other than English at home (threshold for 'linguistically diverse' is ≥10%).

9.4% of residents 5 years and older speak a language other than English at home. The most common are Spanish, Russian, Polish, or other Slavic, French, Haitian, or Cajun. Veterans account for 6.3% of the adult civilian population (14,160 individuals).

Languages spoken at home

90.6% speak only English at home

Spanish 16,719 6.4%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 2,235 0.9%
French, Haitian, or Cajun 1,225 0.5%
German or other West Germanic 745 0.3%
Arabic 554 0.2%
Chinese 446 0.2%
Tagalog 259 0.1%
Korean 197 0.1%
Vietnamese 171 0.1%

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Household composition

Households: 101,855
Family households: 62,025; 60.9% of households
Married couples w/ children: 14,853; 23.9% of families
Single-mother families: 4,655; 7.5% of families
Veterans: 14,160; 6.3% of civilians 18+

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Religious composition

52.5% overall adherence rate

Evangelical Protestant 91,279 33.9%
Mainline Protestant 19,592 7.3%
Catholic 19,486 7.2%
Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 5,859 2.2%
Black Protestant 4,740 1.8%
Orthodox 440 0.2%

US Religion Census 2020

Health & education

Health insured: 89.1%; ±0.7 pp
Uninsured: 10.9%; ±0.7 pp; 35th of 100
With a disability: 14.4%; ±0.7 pp; 80th of 100
Bachelor's or higher: 45.9%; ±1.4 pp; +10.2 pp vs NC · 7th of 100
Uninsured, under 65 (2024): 11.7%; 90% interval 10.7%–12.7% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

U.S. Census ACS 2024

Court infrastructure

Trial court: 40th Judicial District Superior Court
Judges: 2 (Superior Court judges per primary district (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); District Court judges (limited jurisdiction) separate. Vintage 2026 nccourts.gov; counts cross-checked against N.C.G.S. § 7A-41.1. Where an urban county (Wake, Mecklenburg, Guilford, Forsyth) is statutorily split into multiple Superior Court districts, all sub-district seats are aggregated under the primary district number used in counties.json. ~109 Superior Court judgeships statewide.)
Court seats: Asheville

Court reference

Traffic safety context

Buncombe totals, 2024

Traffic fatalities: 44; 19.52 per 100k adults (18+)
Fatal crashes: 40

NHTSA FARS 2024

Presidential vote share by year
Year	Republican	Democratic
2016	41.1%	55.7%
2020	38.6%	59.7%
2024	36.9%	61.7%