Dobson vs Elkin

A side-by-side comparison of Dobson and Elkin: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Elkin has the higher population (4,025 vs 1,521 in Dobson). Elkin has the higher median household income ($60,434 vs $44,531 in Dobson). Elkin has the higher median home value ($187,200 vs $168,300 in Dobson).

Population, income & housing

	Dobson	Elkin
Population	1,521	4,025
Median age	37.9 yrs	41.3 yrs
Median household income	$44,531	$60,434
Median home value	$168,300	$187,200
Median gross rent	$544	$765
Housing units	606	1,903
Homeownership rate	41.3%	62.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.0%	28.0%
Unemployment rate	6.6%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dobson	Elkin
Population	1,646 → 1,521 (-7.6%)	4,097 → 4,025 (-1.8%)
Median household income	$35,956 → $44,531 (+23.8%)	$51,286 → $60,434 (+17.8%)
Median home value	$133,200 → $168,300 (+26.4%)	$137,800 → $187,200 (+35.8%)
Median gross rent	$553 → $544 (-1.6%)	$549 → $765 (+39.3%)

Dobson

Population

1,6461,521

Median household income

$35,956$44,531

Median home value

$133,200$168,300

Median gross rent

$553$544

Elkin

Population

4,0974,025

Median household income

$51,286$60,434

Median home value

$137,800$187,200

Median gross rent

$549$765

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Dobson	Elkin
Under 5	1.6%	4.1%
5 to 17	9.9%	19.8%
18 to 24	12.6%	10.1%
25 to 34	18.5%	9.9%
35 to 44	14.5%	11.2%
45 to 54	15.4%	9.4%
55 to 64	9.2%	13.8%
65 to 74	9.4%	12.4%
75 and over	8.9%	9.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dobson	Elkin
White (non-Hispanic)	65.7%	66.8%
Black or African American	13.6%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	4.4%	1.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.2%	1.4%
Hispanic or Latino	13.1%	29.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dobson	Elkin
No high school diploma	20.7%	15.3%
High school graduate	24.1%	23.7%
Some college or associate's	36.2%	33.0%
Bachelor's degree	13.0%	22.5%
Graduate or professional degree	6.1%	5.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dobson	Elkin
Drove alone	69.0%	72.6%
Carpooled	27.8%	17.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.0%	0.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	0.0%	10.1%
Other means	3.2%	0.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dobson	Elkin
1-unit, detached	55.0%	65.1%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	1.7%
2 to 4 units	11.4%	6.2%
5 to 19 units	25.7%	11.8%
20 or more units	4.8%	10.8%
Mobile home & other	2.3%	4.5%

Poverty & households

	Dobson	Elkin
Poverty rate	16.1%	23.0%
Average household size	2.13	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	18	25
Median year structure built	1979	1967