County profile
McDowell County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#1037 of 3,127 US counties by GDPtop-quartile growthmore diversified than 8% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$2.8B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+7.6%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
13,495
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
822
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$45.0k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
45,198
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.7%
Median HH income
$57.2k±$4.2k
Bachelor's degree+
18.1%±1.7%
Poverty rate
14.8%±2.1%
Business applications
459 · 2025
Retail establishments
131
28.9/10k 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
Manufacturing50%
Retail trade16%
Health care12%
Food & accommodation11%
Construction6%
Other services5%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
45,198
residents · 2025 · +1.4% since 2020
Income per capita $50.5k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+1,594
International migration+477
Natural change−1,479
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$2.0B2019
$2.1B2020
$2.1B2021
$2.4B2022
$2.6B2023
$2.8B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$171.1k±$10.4k
Median gross rent
$806/mo±$45/mo
Vacancy rate
13.6%±2.1%
Affordability
3.8× wages
Residential permits
$79.4M
164 units · 3.6/1k pop
FEMA risk score
59.2
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$925/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Landslide 96Ice storm 87Lightning 68
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
1972016
2052017
2172018
2342019
2432020
2742021
3462022
3812023
4082024
4012025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↓ -15% since 20211942021
1822022
1862023
1752024
1642025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
4.1 km
I-40
Nearest freight rail
0.3 km
NS
Nearest port
164.2 km
BURKHART ENTERPRISES, KNOXVILLE DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
52.2 km
ASHEVILLE RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$45.0k
avg. annual pay · +20% since 2019
Nearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of McDowell?
McDowell's economy produced $2.8B in 2024, growing 7.6% 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.