Alexander County vs Macon County

A side-by-side comparison of Alexander County and Macon County: population, income, housing, and more.

Alexander County and Macon County are counties in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Macon County has the higher population (37,533 vs 36,440 in Alexander County). Alexander County has the higher median household income ($65,268 vs $53,298 in Macon County). Macon County has the higher median home value ($229,000 vs $190,000 in Alexander County).

Population, income & housing

	Alexander County	Macon County
Population	36,440	37,533
Median age	43.8 yrs	50.1 yrs
Median household income	$65,268	$53,298
Median home value	$190,000	$229,000
Median gross rent	$745	$791
Housing units	16,126	27,070
Homeownership rate	81.7%	76.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.4%	24.6%
Unemployment rate	5.2%	2.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Alexander County	Macon County
Population	37,213 → 36,440 (-2.1%)	34,813 → 37,533 (+7.8%)
Median household income	$48,756 → $65,268 (+33.9%)	$45,507 → $53,298 (+17.1%)
Median home value	$136,500 → $190,000 (+39.2%)	$165,600 → $229,000 (+38.3%)
Median gross rent	$654 → $745 (+13.9%)	$756 → $791 (+4.6%)

Alexander County

Population

37,21336,440

Median household income

$48,756$65,268

Median home value

$136,500$190,000

Median gross rent

$654$745

Macon County

Population

34,81337,533

Median household income

$45,507$53,298

Median home value

$165,600$229,000

Median gross rent

$756$791

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Alexander County	Macon County
Under 5	4.9%	4.4%
5 to 17	14.7%	13.6%
18 to 24	8.0%	6.8%
25 to 34	11.8%	9.6%
35 to 44	11.9%	10.1%
45 to 54	13.5%	11.3%
55 to 64	14.7%	15.4%
65 to 74	11.6%	16.8%
75 and over	8.9%	12.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Alexander County	Macon County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.8%	85.7%
Black or African American	4.0%	1.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.2%
Asian	1.1%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more races	3.7%	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	5.4%	9.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Alexander County	Macon County
No high school diploma	14.4%	10.0%
High school graduate	39.5%	30.6%
Some college or associate's	30.7%	34.9%
Bachelor's degree	10.4%	15.7%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	8.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Alexander County	Macon County
Drove alone	84.1%	81.7%
Carpooled	9.3%	8.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.2%
Walked	0.8%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.4%	7.0%
Other means	0.4%	1.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Alexander County	Macon County
1-unit, detached	71.6%	74.9%
1-unit, attached	0.6%	1.3%
2 to 4 units	1.8%	3.2%
5 to 19 units	1.0%	2.8%
20 or more units	0.1%	1.3%
Mobile home & other	24.8%	16.5%

Poverty & households

	Alexander County	Macon County
Poverty rate	12.1%	14.4%
Average household size	2.51	2.06
Mean commute (minutes)	28	23
Median year structure built	1985	1987