Polk County, North Carolina

• White (non-Hispanic) 17,234 86.6%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1,118 5.6%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 876 4.4%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 154 0.8%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 413 2.1%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 26 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 0 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 70 0.4%

• Under 18 3,047 15.3%
• 18–24 1,017 5.1%
• 25–44 3,626 18.2%
• 45–64 5,714 28.7%
• 65 and over 6,487 32.6%

Median household income

$74,525

90% interval $67,491–$81,559

+$470 vs NC · 21st of 100

Below poverty line

12.3%

90% interval 9.7%–14.9%

−0.3 pp vs NC · 74th of 100

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.4%

−0.38 pp vs. state

County GDP

$734.5M

0.09% of state

Avg. annual pay

$46,328

Establishments

706

• Education & health services 1,905 34.0%
• Leisure & hospitality 818 14.6%
• Professional & business services 669 12.0%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 574 10.3%
• Public administration 438 7.8%
• Manufacturing 393 7.0%
• Other services 159 2.8%
• Financial activities 158 2.8%

The sectors listed cover 91.4% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

76.9%

+10.3 pp vs NC · 27th of 100

Median gross rent

$1,178

−$50 vs NC · 19th of 100

Owner-occupied

6,902

Renter-occupied

2,074

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 61% 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 2.4× the lowest ($64,569 vs $26,595/yr), a relatively flat local wage distribution.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 7.9 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 8,107 62.2%
• Democratic 4,827 37.0%
• Other / third-party 98 0.8%

• Spanish 857 4.5%
• German or other West Germanic 86 0.4%
• Chinese 20 0.1%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 13 0.1%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 10 0.1%

Households

8,976

Family households

5,680

63.3% of households

Married couples w/ children

1,277

22.5% of families

Single-mother families

340

6.0% of families

Veterans

1,451

8.6% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 4,869 25.2%
• Catholic 1,937 10.0%
• Mainline Protestant 1,671 8.6%
• Black Protestant 964 5.0%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 287 1.5%

Health insured

90.1%

±2.1 pp

Uninsured

9.9%

±2.1 pp

50th of 100

With a disability

17.1%

±2.2 pp

51st of 100

Bachelor's or higher

36.2%

±2.9 pp

+0.5 pp vs NC · 17th of 100

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

12.2%

90% interval 10.8%–13.6% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

42nd 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

Brevard, Columbus, Hendersonville

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

5

29.68 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

5