Skip to main content
USAvizUSAviz

Local data snapshots and weekly insights for every place in America.

Explore

  • Insights
  • Search
  • Browse states
  • Browse metros

Company

  • About
  • Methodology
  • Sources
  • Embed Our Data
  • Contact
Privacy·Terms·Do Not Sell or Share

© 2026 USAviz.com. All rights reserved.

USAvizUSAviz
Insights
About
Home
County
  1. Home
  2. Counties
  3. Rutherford County, NC
North Carolina (NC)Forest City828

Rutherford County, NC

Forest City metro * 69.0K residents

Compare

69.0K

Population

$51.4K

Median income

per household

$201.8K

Home value

16.8%

Poverty rate

What stands out

  • Median household income: $51.4K (bottom quartile vs US counties).
  • Median home value: $201.8K.
  • Poverty rate: 16.8%.

Categories vs U.S.

Economy

0 of 6 metrics better than U.S. benchmarks

Median household income

$51.4K

U.S.

$81K

Median home value

$201.8K

U.S.

$333K

Poverty rate

16.8%

U.S.

12.4%

Housing stress

Rent-burdened renters (≥30%)

46.8%

U.S.

51.1%

Severely rent-burdened (≥50%)

24.9%

U.S.

25.9%

Affordability Ratios

Rent-to-Income

18.3%

Below 30% threshold

Home-Value-to-Income

3.9×

Within typical 3-5x range

Income distribution

Share of households by income bracket (ACS).

Income distribution
Income bracketShare of households
< $50k48.6%
$50–100k30.3%
$100–200k17.2%
$200k+3.9%
< $50k
48.6%
$50–100k
30.3%
$100–200k
17.2%
$200k+
3.9%

Housing tenure

Owner-occupied vs renter-occupied housing (ACS).

Housing tenure
TenurePercent
Owners73.9%
Renters26.1%
73.9%
Owners
Owners
73.9%
Renters
26.1%
See Forest City metro economy→See NC state economy→

Health

1 of 6 available metrics better than U.S.

Obesity

38.1%

U.S.

33.2%

Diabetes

14.4%

U.S.

12.1%

Current smoking

17.3%

U.S.

12.8%

See Forest City metro health data→See NC state health data→

Connectivity

0 of 3 metrics better than U.S.

100+ Mbps coverage

70.2%

U.S.

89.6%

Gigabit ready

37.3%

U.S.

46.1%

5G available

54.6%

U.S.

77.4%

See Forest City metro connectivity→See NC state connectivity→

Map

Rutherford County, NC

Population

69.0K

Area

565.4 sq mi

Density

122/sq mi

Neighbors

Buncombe County, NCBurke County, NCCleveland County, NCHenderson County, NCMcDowell County, NCPolk County, NCCherokee County, SCSpartanburg County, SC

National Percentile Rankings

How this county compares to other counties nationwide.

Data Sources & Notes

Data freshness

ACS 5-year
2020–2024
CDC PLACES
2025
BLS (LAUS)
2026-02
Broadband
2024-06-arcgis
Mobile coverage
2025-11-24
Page updated
2026-04-26

Release schedule and upstream dates: Sources.

Data sources

U.S. Census (ACS 5-year)U.S. Census TIGER/LineCDC PLACESBLS (LAUS)FCC Broadband Data Collection (fixed broadband)FCC (Mobile Broadband Data Collection)

Derived statistics

  • ACS county metrics (income, housing, demographics) are sourced directly from Census county-level tables.
  • CDC health metrics are sourced from county-level CDC PLACES data.
  • Unemployment is sourced from the BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program.
  • Population density is computed as population ÷ land area.

Data accuracy & methodology

County pages use 2020–2024 ACS 5-year county-level estimates sourced directly from Census county tables. CDC health metrics come from county-level CDC PLACES. Unemployment rates come from the BLS LAUS program. Connectivity metrics use FCC coverage data.

Related Insights

America's Most Forested States, Ranked

A data-first look at which states have the most forest cover, which have the least, and why forest land is not the same as the tree canopy people actually experience.

Where College Degrees Concentrate - and Where They Don’t

More than a third of U.S. adults 25+ now hold a bachelor’s degree. But the distribution is sharply uneven across states and metros.

More Than Half of U.S. Renters Are Cost-Burdened

A majority of American renters now spend 30% or more of their income on housing. The burden is sharpest in Florida, where 6 of the 10 most-burdened metros cluster.

On this page