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  3. Watauga County, NC
North Carolina (NC)Boone828

Watauga County, NC

Boone metro * 50.9K residents

Compare

50.9K

Population

$50.4K

Median income

per household

$373.8K

Home value

27.0%

Poverty rate

What stands out

  • Median household income: $50.4K (bottom quartile vs US counties).
  • Median home value: $373.8K (top quartile vs US counties).
  • Poverty rate: 27.0% (high poverty; top 10% vs US counties).

Categories vs U.S.

Economy

2 of 6 metrics better than U.S. benchmarks

Median household income

$50.4K

U.S.

$81K

Median home value

$373.8K

U.S.

$333K

Poverty rate

27.0%

U.S.

12.4%

Housing stress

Rent-burdened renters (≥30%)

63.5%

U.S.

51.1%

Severely rent-burdened (≥50%)

45.0%

U.S.

25.9%

Affordability Ratios

Rent-to-Income

26.4%

Approaching 30% threshold

Home-Value-to-Income

7.4×

Above typical 3-5x ratio

Income distribution

Share of households by income bracket (ACS).

< $50k
49.6%
$50–100k
24.5%
$100–200k
18.7%
$200k+
7.1%
See Boone metro economy →See NC state economy →

Health

5 of 6 available metrics better than U.S.

Obesity

33.0%

U.S.

33.2%

Diabetes

9.8%

U.S.

12.1%

Current smoking

12.3%

U.S.

12.8%

See Boone metro health data →See NC state health data →

Connectivity

2 of 3 metrics better than U.S.

Best available speed

1,000Mbps

Gigabit speeds reported

100+ Mbps coverage

97.8%

U.S.

85.3%

Gigabit ready

59.9%

U.S.

8.6%

5G available

57.4%

U.S.

77.4%

See Boone metro connectivity →See NC state connectivity →

Map

Watauga County, NC

Population

50.9K

Area

312.4 sq mi

Density

162.9/sq mi

Neighbors

Ashe County, NCAvery County, NCCaldwell County, NCWilkes County, NCJohnson County, TN
Data Sources & Notes

Data freshness

ACS 5-year
2020–2024
CDC PLACES
2025
BLS (LAUS)
2025-12
Broadband
2020-12
Mobile coverage
2025-11-24
Page updated
2026-02-23

Release schedule and upstream dates: Sources.

Data sources

U.S. Census (ACS 5-year)U.S. Census TIGER/LineCDC PLACESBLS (LAUS)FCC (Form 477 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.