Rowan County, North Carolina

• White (non-Hispanic) 101,687 67.8%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 17,788 11.9%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 23,231 15.5%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 1,200 0.8%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 5,481 3.7%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 117 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 82 0.1%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 289 0.2%

• Under 18 33,228 22.2%
• 18–24 13,068 8.7%
• 25–44 37,039 24.7%
• 45–64 39,947 26.7%
• 65 and over 26,593 17.7%

Median household income

$65,555

90% interval $61,556–$69,554

−$8,500 vs NC · 43rd of 100

Below poverty line

14.1%

90% interval 12.1%–16.1%

+1.5 pp vs NC · 53rd of 100

Unemployment (12-mo)

3.7%

−0.06 pp vs. state

County GDP

$7.9B

0.93% of state

Avg. annual pay

$60,925

Establishments

3,287

• Trade, transportation & utilities 12,876 25.2%
• Education & health services 12,328 24.1%
• Manufacturing 6,818 13.3%
• Leisure & hospitality 5,442 10.6%
• Professional & business services 5,111 10.0%
• Construction 3,211 6.3%
• Public administration 2,731 5.3%
• Other services 1,007 2.0%
• Financial activities 874 1.7%
• Natural resources & mining 550 1.1%
• Information 172 0.3%

Home ownership

72.3%

+5.7 pp vs NC · 54th of 100

Median gross rent

$1,013

−$215 vs NC · 38th of 100

Owner-occupied

42,593

Renter-occupied

16,306

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 63% 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 (Manufacturing, $75,332/yr) pays 2.9× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $25,558/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 16 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Republican 50,807 67.5%
• Democratic 23,788 31.6%
• Other / third-party 641 0.9%

• Spanish 12,906 9.1%
• German or other West Germanic 408 0.3%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 384 0.3%
• Vietnamese 256 0.2%
• Chinese 230 0.2%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 213 0.2%
• Arabic 166 0.1%
• Korean 62 0.0%
• Tagalog 29 0.0%

Households

58,899

Family households

39,760

67.5% of households

Married couples w/ children

9,440

23.7% of families

Single-mother families

3,908

9.8% of families

Veterans

8,425

7.2% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 35,769 24.4%
• Mainline Protestant 16,805 11.4%
• Catholic 10,593 7.2%
• Black Protestant 4,252 2.9%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 2,294 1.6%
• Orthodox 60 0.0%

Health insured

90.7%

±0.9 pp

Uninsured

9.3%

±0.9 pp

66th of 100

With a disability

15.4%

±1.1 pp

71st of 100

Bachelor's or higher

23.3%

±1.5 pp

−12.4 pp vs NC · 52nd of 100

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

11.2%

90% interval 10.2%–12.2% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

27th 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

Salisbury

Traffic fatalities

32

27.43 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

32