County profile
Cleveland County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#648 of 3,127 US counties by GDP40th-percentile growthmore diversified than 70% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$6.0B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+3.5%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
30,800
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
2,028
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$50.9k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
103,325
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
4.2%
Median HH income
$58.5k±$2.7k
Bachelor's degree+
22.0%±1.4%
Poverty rate
16.6%±1.6%
Business applications
1,226 · 2025
Retail establishments
394
38.4/10k 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
Manufacturing28%
Health care22%
Retail trade20%
Food & accommodation13%
Transportation11%
Admin & support6%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
103,325
residents · 2025 · +3.4% since 2020
Income per capita $51.2k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+4,566
International migration+521
Natural change−1,672
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$4.5B2019
$4.4B2020
$4.7B2021
$5.4B2022
$5.8B2023
$6.0B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$200.0k±$8.6k
Median gross rent
$914/mo±$50/mo
Vacancy rate
12.3%±1.3%
Affordability
3.9× wages
Residential permits
$118.5M
555 units · 5.4/1k pop
FEMA risk score
70.0
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$925/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Ice storm 94Lightning 82Earthquake 82
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
2502016
2632017
2802018
3042019
3172020
3652021
4442022
4872023
5142024
5282025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 39% since 20213982021
3552022
6412023
5132024
5552025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
20.6 km
I-85
Nearest freight rail
3.3 km
CSXT
Nearest port
217.7 km
BURKHART ENTERPRISES, KNOXVILLE DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
47.9 km
HICKORY RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$50.9k
avg. annual pay · +22% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Cleveland?
Cleveland's economy produced $6.0B in 2024, growing 3.5% 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.