County profile
Caldwell County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#915 of 3,127 US counties by GDP55th-percentile growthmore diversified than 40% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$3.3B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+4.8%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
23,930
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
1,414
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$48.8k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
81,105
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.6%
Median HH income
$56.4k±$2.2k
Bachelor's degree+
18.8%±1.4%
Poverty rate
13.4%±1.6%
Business applications
822 · 2025
Retail establishments
242
29.9/10k 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
Manufacturing31%
Health care25%
Retail trade15%
Food & accommodation12%
Wholesale trade12%
Admin & support6%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
81,105
residents · 2025 · +0.6% since 2020
Income per capita $50.6k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+2,687
International migration+376
Natural change−2,566
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$2.5B2019
$2.6B2020
$2.7B2021
$3.0B2022
$3.2B2023
$3.3B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$192.2k±$9.4k
Median gross rent
$744/mo±$24/mo
Vacancy rate
12.0%±1.4%
Affordability
3.9× wages
Residential permits
$221.0M
501 units · 6.2/1k pop
FEMA risk score
67.4
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.1k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Landslide 90Ice storm 88Earthquake 78
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
1962016
2002017
2142018
2302019
2422020
2702021
3262022
3562023
3792024
3922025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 91% since 20212622021
2812022
2462023
2242024
5012025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
24.3 km
I-40
Nearest freight rail
1.6 km
CWCY
Nearest port
206.7 km
Burkhart Enterprises, Forks-of-the-River Slip.
Nearest commercial airport
27.4 km
HICKORY RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$48.8k
avg. annual pay · +21% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Caldwell?
Caldwell's economy produced $3.3B in 2024, growing 4.8% year over year — about the middle of the pack among 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.