Ashe County vs Cherokee County

A side-by-side comparison of Ashe County and Cherokee County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Cherokee County has the higher population (29,197 vs 26,831 in Ashe County). Cherokee County has the higher median household income ($51,496 vs $50,827 in Ashe County). Ashe County has the higher median home value ($221,900 vs $208,700 in Cherokee County).

Population, income & housing

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
Population	26,831	29,197
Median age	49.8 yrs	53.3 yrs
Median household income	$50,827	$51,496
Median home value	$221,900	$208,700
Median gross rent	$774	$800
Housing units	17,111	18,182
Homeownership rate	78.4%	83.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.4%	24.2%
Unemployment rate	5.4%	5.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
Population	26,863 → 26,831 (-0.1%)	27,969 → 29,197 (+4.4%)
Median household income	$40,962 → $50,827 (+24.1%)	$41,438 → $51,496 (+24.3%)
Median home value	$153,200 → $221,900 (+44.8%)	$159,100 → $208,700 (+31.2%)
Median gross rent	$634 → $774 (+22.1%)	$724 → $800 (+10.5%)

Ashe County

Population

26,86326,831

Median household income

$40,962$50,827

Median home value

$153,200$221,900

Median gross rent

$634$774

Cherokee County

Population

27,96929,197

Median household income

$41,438$51,496

Median home value

$159,100$208,700

Median gross rent

$724$800

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
Under 5	3.9%	3.8%
5 to 17	13.1%	12.3%
18 to 24	6.2%	5.9%
25 to 34	10.5%	8.5%
35 to 44	10.6%	9.5%
45 to 54	12.6%	12.4%
55 to 64	16.2%	16.4%
65 to 74	15.7%	19.2%
75 and over	11.2%	12.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.2%	90.1%
Black or African American	1.0%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	1.6%
Asian	0.4%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more races	1.2%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	5.8%	3.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
No high school diploma	12.5%	8.6%
High school graduate	30.9%	32.3%
Some college or associate's	34.2%	35.0%
Bachelor's degree	14.4%	16.1%
Graduate or professional degree	8.0%	8.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
Drove alone	79.5%	77.5%
Carpooled	9.6%	7.8%
Public transit	0.1%	0.3%
Walked	1.3%	2.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.4%	10.7%
Other means	0.2%	1.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
1-unit, detached	74.8%	76.0%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	0.6%
2 to 4 units	4.7%	2.2%
5 to 19 units	1.5%	0.7%
20 or more units	1.3%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	16.7%	20.3%

Poverty & households

	Ashe County	Cherokee County
Poverty rate	14.1%	14.6%
Average household size	2.20	2.21
Mean commute (minutes)	25	27
Median year structure built	1981	1993