Brunswick County vs Orange County

A side-by-side comparison of Brunswick County and Orange County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Orange County has the higher population (147,292 vs 145,889 in Brunswick County). Orange County has the higher median household income ($88,553 vs $74,034 in Brunswick County). Orange County has the higher median home value ($428,500 vs $314,700 in Brunswick County).

Population, income & housing

	Brunswick County	Orange County
Population	145,889	147,292
Median age	56.1 yrs	36.2 yrs
Median household income	$74,034	$88,553
Median home value	$314,700	$428,500
Median gross rent	$1,267	$1,387
Housing units	93,977	62,127
Homeownership rate	83.8%	64.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	33.2%	61.8%
Unemployment rate	5.2%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Brunswick County	Orange County
Population	131,815 → 145,889 (+10.7%)	144,836 → 147,292 (+1.7%)
Median household income	$58,236 → $74,034 (+27.1%)	$71,723 → $88,553 (+23.5%)
Median home value	$212,200 → $314,700 (+48.3%)	$308,800 → $428,500 (+38.8%)
Median gross rent	$960 → $1,267 (+32.0%)	$1,093 → $1,387 (+26.9%)

Brunswick County

Population

131,815145,889

Median household income

$58,236$74,034

Median home value

$212,200$314,700

Median gross rent

$960$1,267

Orange County

Population

144,836147,292

Median household income

$71,723$88,553

Median home value

$308,800$428,500

Median gross rent

$1,093$1,387

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Brunswick County	Orange County
Under 5	3.7%	4.2%
5 to 17	10.7%	15.2%
18 to 24	5.2%	17.3%
25 to 34	9.1%	11.9%
35 to 44	9.7%	11.6%
45 to 54	10.2%	12.4%
55 to 64	18.2%	11.9%
65 to 74	22.0%	9.8%
75 and over	11.3%	5.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Brunswick County	Orange County
White (non-Hispanic)	81.1%	66.8%
Black or African American	8.0%	10.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.3%
Asian	0.6%	7.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	5.5%	10.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Brunswick County	Orange County
No high school diploma	6.7%	6.8%
High school graduate	26.2%	12.6%
Some college or associate's	33.9%	18.8%
Bachelor's degree	21.1%	27.5%
Graduate or professional degree	12.1%	34.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Brunswick County	Orange County
Drove alone	76.0%	57.7%
Carpooled	8.2%	6.7%
Public transit	0.9%	4.2%
Walked	0.9%	4.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	1.8%
Worked from home	12.7%	24.2%
Other means	1.4%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Brunswick County	Orange County
1-unit, detached	68.8%	59.6%
1-unit, attached	3.9%	7.8%
2 to 4 units	2.2%	4.6%
5 to 19 units	4.5%	12.3%
20 or more units	2.5%	9.5%
Mobile home & other	18.1%	6.1%

Poverty & households

	Brunswick County	Orange County
Poverty rate	9.4%	12.4%
Average household size	2.25	2.40
Mean commute (minutes)	26	24
Median year structure built	2001	1989