Ashe County vs Montgomery County

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

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

Ashe County has the higher population (26,831 vs 25,874 in Montgomery County). Montgomery County has the higher median household income ($55,849 vs $50,827 in Ashe County). Ashe County has the higher median home value ($221,900 vs $150,300 in Montgomery County).

Population, income & housing

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
Population	26,831	25,874
Median age	49.8 yrs	43.6 yrs
Median household income	$50,827	$55,849
Median home value	$221,900	$150,300
Median gross rent	$774	$753
Housing units	17,111	14,930
Homeownership rate	78.4%	73.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.4%	19.3%
Unemployment rate	5.4%	2.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
Population	26,863 → 26,831 (-0.1%)	27,252 → 25,874 (-5.1%)
Median household income	$40,962 → $50,827 (+24.1%)	$44,146 → $55,849 (+26.5%)
Median home value	$153,200 → $221,900 (+44.8%)	$117,700 → $150,300 (+27.7%)
Median gross rent	$634 → $774 (+22.1%)	$576 → $753 (+30.7%)

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

Montgomery County

Population

27,25225,874

Median household income

$44,146$55,849

Median home value

$117,700$150,300

Median gross rent

$576$753

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
Under 5	3.9%	5.1%
5 to 17	13.1%	15.8%
18 to 24	6.2%	7.2%
25 to 34	10.5%	12.8%
35 to 44	10.6%	10.8%
45 to 54	12.6%	12.1%
55 to 64	16.2%	14.5%
65 to 74	15.7%	13.0%
75 and over	11.2%	8.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.2%	62.8%
Black or African American	1.0%	16.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.4%
Asian	0.4%	1.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.4%
Two or more races	1.2%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	5.8%	15.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
No high school diploma	12.5%	16.0%
High school graduate	30.9%	33.6%
Some college or associate's	34.2%	31.1%
Bachelor's degree	14.4%	12.8%
Graduate or professional degree	8.0%	6.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
Drove alone	79.5%	83.3%
Carpooled	9.6%	8.5%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	1.3%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.4%	5.7%
Other means	0.2%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
1-unit, detached	74.8%	65.7%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	0.1%
2 to 4 units	4.7%	3.9%
5 to 19 units	1.5%	1.7%
20 or more units	1.3%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	16.7%	28.4%

Poverty & households

	Ashe County	Montgomery County
Poverty rate	14.1%	16.1%
Average household size	2.20	2.49
Mean commute (minutes)	25	27
Median year structure built	1981	1983