Places/NC/Ashe County, NC
County profile

Ashe County, NC

United States · GDP 2024
#1793 of 3,127 US counties by GDP68th-percentile growthmore diversified than 50% of counties
EA Place Score
methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$1.1B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+6.0%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
6,441
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
571
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$44.8k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
27,514
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.0%
Median HH income
$56.9k±$4.6k
Bachelor's degree+
25.9%±3.0%
Poverty rate
13.5%±2.1%
Business applications
308 · 2025
Retail establishments
103
37.6/10k pop

Public companies headquartered here

SEC EDGAR · FMP
CompanySectorRevenueEA
1Lifestore Financial Group, Inc.Financial Services$33.8M54D

HQ-based placement with total (global) headcount — local employment attribution needs firmographic data; the industry mix at right is measured county data (CBP).

Industry mix · employment
Retail trade24%
Manufacturing22%
Health care21%
Construction16%
Food & accommodation14%
Information4%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 20202025
27,514
residents · 2025 · +3.5% since 2020
Income per capita $51.5k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 20212025
Domestic migration+1,756
International migration+189
Natural change1,034

GDP trend

20192024 · nominal
$818.5M
2019
$825.4M
2020
$854.1M
2021
$905.5M
2022
$1.0B
2023
$1.1B
2024

Real estate & risk

FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$243.1k±$17.3k
Median gross rent
$859/mo±$59/mo
Vacancy rate
29.1%±2.7%
Affordability
5.4× wages
Residential permits
$83.3M
195 units · 7.1/1k pop
FEMA risk score
66.8
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$925/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Landslide 93Cold wave 83Strong wind 82
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 20162025
195
2016
191
2017
206
2018
217
2019
225
2020
252
2021
310
2022
362
2023
391
2024
392
2025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 20212025
49% since 2021
131
2021
171
2022
166
2023
191
2024
195
2025

Transport access

BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
42.4 km
I-81
Nearest freight rail
20.4 km
Freight rail
Nearest port
190.2 km
ELKHEM METALS CO., ALLOY DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
77.8 km
HICKORY RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 20192023
$44.8k
avg. annual pay · +23% since 2019
The read

What is the GDP of Ashe?

Ashe's economy produced $1.1B in 2024, growing 6.0% year over yearfaster than most US counties. Its largest employment sector is retail trade.

GDP: BEA (2024), USD-normalized · Jobs/employers/wages & industry mix: Census CBP (2023) · Population & migration: Census PEP · Income: BEA CAINC1 · Companies: SEC EDGAR + FMP, by HQ.