County profile
Rowan County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#531 of 3,127 US counties by GDP45th-percentile growthmore diversified than 78% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$7.9B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+4.0%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
49,366
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
2,908
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$55.2k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
155,096
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.5%
Median HH income
$65.7k±$2.0k
Bachelor's degree+
23.3%±1.5%
Poverty rate
16.0%±1.7%
Business applications
1,935 · 2025
Retail establishments
431
28.0/10k 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
Manufacturing29%
Health care25%
Retail trade14%
Food & accommodation13%
Transportation11%
Construction8%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
155,096
residents · 2025 · +5.6% since 2020
Income per capita $51.7k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+8,018
International migration+1,897
Natural change−1,838
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$5.7B2019
$5.7B2020
$6.5B2021
$7.0B2022
$7.6B2023
$7.9B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$238.4k±$7.9k
Median gross rent
$1.0k/mo±$35/mo
Vacancy rate
9.4%±1.1%
Affordability
4.3× wages
Residential permits
$370.5M
957 units · 6.2/1k pop
FEMA risk score
82.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.2k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Ice storm 95Cold wave 95Tornado 86
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
3992016
4192017
4512018
4732019
5062020
5792021
7152022
7742023
8082024
8422025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 42% since 20216752021
8382022
5922023
5922024
9572025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
2.7 km
I-85
Nearest freight rail
0.9 km
NS
Nearest port
235.2 km
ELWELL FERRY - KELLY
Nearest commercial airport
32.6 km
CONCORD-PADGETT RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$55.2k
avg. annual pay · +22% since 2019
Similar US counties
nearest by GDPNearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Rowan?
Rowan's economy produced $7.9B in 2024, growing 4.0% 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.