County profile
Catawba County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#376 of 3,127 US counties by GDP46th-percentile growthmore diversified than 60% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$12.4B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+4.1%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
85,704
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
4,349
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$54.4k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
170,172
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.4%
Median HH income
$67.9k±$2.8k
Bachelor's degree+
26.1%±1.3%
Poverty rate
12.7%±1.2%
Business applications
2,064 · 2025
Retail establishments
687
41.1/10k pop
Public companies headquartered here
SEC EDGAR · FMPCompanySectorRevenueEA
1Fortran CorporationCommunication Services$1.6M60C2Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.Financial Services———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
Manufacturing36%
Health care18%
Retail trade16%
Food & accommodation12%
Wholesale trade10%
Transportation9%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
170,172
residents · 2025 · +5.8% since 2020
Income per capita $60.4k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+9,795
International migration+1,632
Natural change−2,245
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$9.3B2019
$9.2B2020
$10.2B2021
$11.4B2022
$11.9B2023
$12.4B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$241.6k±$6.0k
Median gross rent
$965/mo±$41/mo
Vacancy rate
9.4%±1.0%
Affordability
4.4× wages
Residential permits
$389.6M
1,944 units · 11.4/1k pop
FEMA risk score
80.6
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.1k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Ice storm 96Tornado 86Earthquake 86
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
2742016
2882017
3052018
3272019
3412020
3852021
4642022
5032023
5452024
5582025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 80% since 20211,0822021
1,6982022
1,5922023
2,0162024
1,9442025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
5.7 km
I-40
Nearest freight rail
0.3 km
Freight rail
Nearest port
239.0 km
BURKHART ENTERPRISES, KNOXVILLE DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
18.1 km
HICKORY RGNL
Filing activity
SEC EDGAR3 filings from 1 company here in the last 90 days.
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$54.4k
avg. annual pay · +23% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Catawba?
Catawba's economy produced $12.4B in 2024, growing 4.1% 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.