Canton vs West Canton

A side-by-side comparison of Canton and West Canton: population, income, housing, and more.

Canton and West Canton are places in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Canton has the higher population (4,417 vs 1,369 in West Canton). Canton has the higher median household income ($64,034 vs $35,583 in West Canton). Canton has the higher median home value ($226,400 vs $190,200 in West Canton).

Population, income & housing

	Canton	West Canton
Population	4,417	1,369
Median age	36.3 yrs	45.9 yrs
Median household income	$64,034	$35,583
Median home value	$226,400	$190,200
Median gross rent	$850	$1,129
Housing units	2,018	649
Homeownership rate	69.9%	68.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.0%	14.2%
Unemployment rate	1.2%	6.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Canton	West Canton
Population	4,277 → 4,417 (+3.3%)	1,256 → 1,369 (+9.0%)
Median household income	$44,107 → $64,034 (+45.2%)	$48,289 → $35,583 (-26.3%)
Median home value	$143,900 → $226,400 (+57.3%)	$139,100 → $190,200 (+36.7%)
Median gross rent	$683 → $850 (+24.5%)	$708 → $1,129 (+59.5%)

Canton

Population

4,2774,417

Median household income

$44,107$64,034

Median home value

$143,900$226,400

Median gross rent

$683$850

West Canton

Population

1,2561,369

Median household income

$48,289$35,583

Median home value

$139,100$190,200

Median gross rent

$708$1,129

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Canton	West Canton
Under 5	6.6%	3.5%
5 to 17	14.8%	11.0%
18 to 24	5.9%	8.5%
25 to 34	21.2%	17.2%
35 to 44	10.6%	8.0%
45 to 54	13.0%	13.8%
55 to 64	11.5%	9.9%
65 to 74	9.7%	17.5%
75 and over	6.7%	10.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Canton	West Canton
White (non-Hispanic)	91.8%	90.9%
Black or African American	1.4%	4.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.0%
Asian	0.4%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.4%
Two or more races	2.5%	1.1%
Hispanic or Latino	3.5%	2.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Canton	West Canton
No high school diploma	10.9%	7.9%
High school graduate	34.3%	37.2%
Some college or associate's	39.8%	40.6%
Bachelor's degree	10.2%	10.1%
Graduate or professional degree	4.8%	4.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Canton	West Canton
Drove alone	85.7%	90.3%
Carpooled	5.6%	4.4%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.6%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	3.1%	5.3%
Other means	5.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Canton	West Canton
1-unit, detached	77.3%	67.6%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	9.4%	11.6%
5 to 19 units	3.1%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	9.2%	20.8%

Poverty & households

	Canton	West Canton
Poverty rate	11.8%	9.1%
Average household size	2.46	2.18
Mean commute (minutes)	23	24
Median year structure built	1959	1977