County profile
Burke County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#859 of 3,127 US counties by GDP73rd-percentile growthmore diversified than 19% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$3.7B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+6.5%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
24,509
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
1,540
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$46.2k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
88,655
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.4%
Median HH income
$58.6k±$3.5k
Bachelor's degree+
21.0%±1.5%
Poverty rate
15.6%±2.1%
Business applications
935 · 2025
Retail establishments
251
28.3/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
No public companies loaded for this state yet — universe expands with the full ingest.
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
Manufacturing34%
Health care26%
Retail trade15%
Food & accommodation15%
Other services5%
Admin & support5%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
88,655
residents · 2025 · +1.6% since 2020
Income per capita $51.0k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+3,107
International migration+526
Natural change−2,291
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$2.7B2019
$2.7B2020
$2.9B2021
$3.2B2022
$3.5B2023
$3.7B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$185.4k±$10.6k
Median gross rent
$884/mo±$47/mo
Vacancy rate
10.0%±1.2%
Affordability
4.0× wages
Residential permits
$150.4M
588 units · 6.6/1k pop
FEMA risk score
70.2
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.1k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Ice storm 91Lightning 87Landslide 80
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
2382016
2512017
2702018
2892019
3022020
3412021
4072022
4582023
4702024
4822025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 46% since 20214022021
5432022
4322023
4222024
5882025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
3.4 km
I-40
Nearest freight rail
2.1 km
NS
Nearest port
193.8 km
BURKHART ENTERPRISES, KNOXVILLE DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
28.4 km
HICKORY RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$46.2k
avg. annual pay · +21% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Burke?
Burke's economy produced $3.7B in 2024, growing 6.5% year over year — faster than most US counties. Its largest employment sector is manufacturing.
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.