County profile
Columbus County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#1317 of 3,127 US counties by GDPbottom-quartile growthmore diversified than 42% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$1.9B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+1.1%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
11,658
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
997
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$45.6k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
50,487
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
4.2%
Median HH income
$49.4k±$4.9k
Bachelor's degree+
14.6%±1.6%
Poverty rate
18.2%±2.2%
Business applications
708 · 2025
Retail establishments
192
38.2/10k 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
Health care28%
Retail trade24%
Manufacturing20%
Food & accommodation14%
Admin & support10%
Construction5%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
50,487
residents · 2025 · +0.0% since 2020
Income per capita $49.0k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+786
International migration+364
Natural change−1,166
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$1.6B2019
$1.5B2020
$1.7B2021
$1.8B2022
$1.9B2023
$1.9B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$146.0k±$11.9k
Median gross rent
$824/mo±$40/mo
Vacancy rate
14.9%±1.7%
Affordability
3.2× wages
Residential permits
$13.7M
55 units · 1.1/1k pop
FEMA risk score
86.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$925/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Strong wind 98Hurricane 97Lightning 95
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
1742016
1612017
1722018
1752019
1862020
2112021
2462022
2702023
2932024
3002025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 175% since 2021202021
332022
132023
552024
552025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
50.3 km
I-74
Nearest freight rail
6.7 km
RJCS
Nearest port
35.0 km
ELWELL FERRY - CARVERS
Nearest commercial airport
69.2 km
WILMINGTON INTL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$45.6k
avg. annual pay · +27% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Columbus?
Columbus's economy produced $1.9B in 2024, growing 1.1% year over year — slower than 76% of US counties. Its largest employment sector is health care.
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.