Madison County, North Carolina

• White (non-Hispanic) 19,947 91.2%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 796 3.6%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 239 1.1%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 107 0.5%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 597 2.7%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 21 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 8 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 152 0.7%

• Under 18 3,773 17.3%
• 18–24 2,148 9.8%
• 25–44 5,149 23.5%
• 45–64 5,718 26.1%
• 65 and over 5,079 23.2%

Median household income

$61,754

90% interval $56,080–$67,428

−$12,301 vs NC · 53rd of 100

Below poverty line

14.9%

90% interval 11.5%–18.3%

+2.3 pp vs NC · 47th of 100

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.7%

−0.07 pp vs. state

County GDP

$632.1M

0.07% of state

Avg. annual pay

$49,104

Establishments

573

• Education & health services 1,350 31.0%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 756 17.4%
• Manufacturing 484 11.1%
• Leisure & hospitality 477 11.0%
• Public administration 457 10.5%
• Construction 357 8.2%
• Professional & business services 215 4.9%
• Other services 135 3.1%
• Financial activities 63 1.4%
• Information 40 0.9%
• Natural resources & mining 16 0.4%
• Unclassified 1 0.0%

Home ownership

77.5%

+10.9 pp vs NC · 24th of 100

Median gross rent

$780

−$448 vs NC · 78th of 100

Owner-occupied

6,461

Renter-occupied

1,881

• 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 2.5× the lowest ($68,373 vs $27,438/yr), a relatively flat local wage distribution.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 7.6 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 8,275 61.0%
• Democratic 5,090 37.5%
• Other / third-party 196 1.4%

• Spanish 274 1.3%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 44 0.2%
• German or other West Germanic 17 0.1%
• Vietnamese 4 0.0%
• Korean 3 0.0%
• Tagalog 2 0.0%

Households

8,342

Family households

5,418

64.9% of households

Married couples w/ children

1,309

24.2% of families

Single-mother families

293

5.4% of families

Veterans

1,245

6.9% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 8,820 41.6%
• Mainline Protestant 613 2.9%
• Catholic 605 2.9%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 399 1.9%
• Black Protestant 150 0.7%

Health insured

91.6%

±1.8 pp

Uninsured

8.4%

±1.8 pp

84th of 100

With a disability

18.1%

±1.9 pp

33rd of 100

Bachelor's or higher

32.2%

±3.4 pp

−3.5 pp vs NC · 22nd of 100

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

10.2%

90% interval 9.0%–11.4% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

35th 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

Bakersville, Boone, Burnsville, Marshall, Newland

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

9

49.74 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

8