County profile
Polk County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#2097 of 3,127 US counties by GDP64th-percentile growthmore diversified than 31% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$734.5M
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+5.7%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
4,151
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
504
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$43.3k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
20,533
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.1%
Median HH income
$67.8k±$6.1k
Bachelor's degree+
36.2%±2.9%
Poverty rate
14.0%±2.8%
Business applications
280 · 2025
Retail establishments
60
29.4/10k 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
Health care40%
Food & accommodation15%
Retail trade13%
Construction13%
Manufacturing12%
Other services7%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
20,533
residents · 2025 · +6.0% since 2020
Income per capita $72.2k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+2,148
International migration−7
Natural change−994
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$529.3M2019
$517.6M2020
$579.1M2021
$634.3M2022
$695.2M2023
$734.5M2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$315.0k±$21.5k
Median gross rent
$1.2k/mo±$119/mo
Vacancy rate
18.7%±2.5%
Affordability
7.3× wages
Residential permits
$48.7M
141 units · 6.9/1k pop
FEMA risk score
36.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$983/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Landslide 98Ice storm 87Lightning 67
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
2012016
2072017
2262018
2412019
2492020
2872021
3382022
3852023
4272024
4322025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 4% since 20211352021
2272022
1532023
1432024
1412025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
4.8 km
I-26
Nearest freight rail
10.0 km
NS
Nearest port
168.6 km
BURKHART ENTERPRISES, KNOXVILLE DOCK
Nearest commercial airport
38.0 km
ASHEVILLE RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$43.3k
avg. annual pay · +30% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Polk?
Polk's economy produced $734.5M in 2024, growing 5.7% year over year — faster than most 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.