Macon County, North Carolina

• White (non-Hispanic) 32,344 85.2%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3,806 10.0%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 521 1.4%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 237 0.6%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 900 2.4%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 89 0.2%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 44 0.1%

• Under 18 6,723 17.7%
• 18–24 2,486 6.6%
• 25–44 8,012 21.1%
• 45–64 9,641 25.4%
• 65 and over 11,079 29.2%

Median household income

$58,888

90% interval $53,118–$64,658

−$15,167 vs NC · 62nd of 100

Below poverty line

12.2%

90% interval 9.4%–15.0%

−0.4 pp vs NC · 76th of 100

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.5%

−0.22 pp vs. state

County GDP

$2.1B

0.25% of state

Avg. annual pay

$48,238

Establishments

1,428

• Trade, transportation & utilities 2,710 21.5%
• Leisure & hospitality 2,516 20.0%
• Education & health services 2,356 18.7%
• Professional & business services 1,451 11.5%
• Construction 1,109 8.8%
• Public administration 915 7.3%
• Other services 520 4.1%
• Information 23 0.2%

The sectors listed cover 92.1% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

77.6%

+11.0 pp vs NC · 23rd of 100

Median gross rent

$803

−$425 vs NC · 75th of 100

Owner-occupied

14,285

Renter-occupied

4,121

• 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.

• Compressed wage spread

  Highest-paid sector pays only 1.8× the lowest ($67,296 vs $38,341/yr), a relatively flat local wage distribution.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 8.8 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 14,981 68.6%
• Democratic 6,675 30.6%
• Other / third-party 190 0.9%

• Spanish 2,495 6.9%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 168 0.5%
• German or other West Germanic 79 0.2%
• Chinese 79 0.2%
• Vietnamese 68 0.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 44 0.1%

Households

18,406

Family households

11,259

61.2% of households

Married couples w/ children

2,648

23.5% of families

Single-mother families

454

4.0% of families

Veterans

2,916

9.4% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 13,906 37.6%
• Mainline Protestant 3,553 9.6%
• Catholic 2,126 5.7%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 867 2.3%
• Black Protestant 150 0.4%

Health insured

86.3%

±1.9 pp

Uninsured

13.7%

±1.9 pp

11th of 100

With a disability

15.4%

±1.5 pp

70th of 100

Bachelor's or higher

27.9%

±2.7 pp

−7.8 pp vs NC · 32nd of 100

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

14.6%

90% interval 13.1%–16.1% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

43rd Judicial District Superior Court

Judges

1 (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

Bryson City, Franklin, Hayesville, Murphy, Robbinsville, Sylva, Waynesville

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

8

25.63 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

7