County profile
Watauga County, NC
United States · GDP 2024
#935 of 3,127 US counties by GDP48th-percentile growthmore diversified than 37% of counties
EA Place Score
——methodology in progress
GDP 2024 (USD)
$3.2B
BEA · 2024
GDP growth (YoY)
+4.3%
BEA · 2024
Jobs tracked
20,781
Census CBP · 2023
Employers
1,740
Census CBP · 2023
Avg. wage
$45.9k
BLS QCEW · 2023
Population
54,786
Census PEP · 2025
Labor, income & education
Unemployment
3.3%
Median HH income
$51.7k±$3.3k
Bachelor's degree+
48.1%±3.2%
Poverty rate
25.5%±2.1%
Business applications
618 · 2025
Retail establishments
303
55.2/10k 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 care31%
Food & accommodation27%
Retail trade25%
Construction7%
Other services6%
Arts & recreation5%
share of top-6 sector employment · CBP 2023
Population & migration
Census PEP · 2020–2025
54,786
residents · 2025 · +0.6% since 2020
Income per capita $56.4k · BEA 2024
COMPONENTS OF CHANGE · 2021–2025
Domestic migration+445
International migration+470
Natural change−528
GDP trend
2019–2024 · nominal
$2.4B2019
$2.4B2020
$2.6B2021
$2.8B2022
$3.1B2023
$3.2B2024
Real estate & risk
FHFA · ACS · FEMA
Median home value
$358.9k±$18.3k
Median gross rent
$1.1k/mo±$85/mo
Vacancy rate
36.4%±1.8%
Affordability
7.8× wages
Residential permits
$300.6M
536 units · 9.8/1k pop
FEMA risk score
71.9
HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR):$1.2k/mo · 2026
TOP PERILS · FEMA NRI
Landslide 99Ice storm 82Cold wave 82
FHFA HOUSE PRICE INDEX · 2016–2025
2082016
2162017
2222018
2412019
2492020
2902021
3582022
4062023
4362024
4492025
RESIDENTIAL PERMITS · 2021–2025
↑ 51% since 20213552021
5402022
4692023
2962024
5362025
Transport access
BTS · FAA · USACE
Nearest interstate
56.1 km
I-26
Nearest freight rail
34.3 km
CWCY
Nearest port
195.2 km
Burkhart Enterprises, Forks-of-the-River Slip.
Nearest commercial airport
61.0 km
HICKORY RGNL
Wage trend
BLS QCEW · 2019–2023$45.9k
avg. annual pay · +23% since 2019
Nearby & same-state counties
by GDP rankThe read
What is the GDP of Watauga?
Watauga's economy produced $3.2B in 2024, growing 4.3% year over year — about the middle of the pack among 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.