Buncombe County vs Cabarrus County

A side-by-side comparison of Buncombe County and Cabarrus County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Buncombe County has the higher population (271,790 vs 231,262 in Cabarrus County). Cabarrus County has the higher median household income ($86,084 vs $70,578 in Buncombe County). Buncombe County has the higher median home value ($360,000 vs $318,600 in Cabarrus County).

Population, income & housing

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
Population	271,790	231,262
Median age	42.4 yrs	37.7 yrs
Median household income	$70,578	$86,084
Median home value	$360,000	$318,600
Median gross rent	$1,281	$1,303
Housing units	132,191	91,339
Homeownership rate	64.4%	72.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	44.6%	37.7%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
Population	256,886 → 271,790 (+5.8%)	206,615 → 231,262 (+11.9%)
Median household income	$52,207 → $70,578 (+35.2%)	$67,328 → $86,084 (+27.9%)
Median home value	$238,200 → $360,000 (+51.1%)	$203,100 → $318,600 (+56.9%)
Median gross rent	$975 → $1,281 (+31.4%)	$925 → $1,303 (+40.9%)

Buncombe County

Population

256,886271,790

Median household income

$52,207$70,578

Median home value

$238,200$360,000

Median gross rent

$975$1,281

Cabarrus County

Population

206,615231,262

Median household income

$67,328$86,084

Median home value

$203,100$318,600

Median gross rent

$925$1,303

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
Under 5	4.6%	6.1%
5 to 17	13.5%	19.3%
18 to 24	7.5%	8.2%
25 to 34	13.7%	12.6%
35 to 44	13.9%	14.6%
45 to 54	12.7%	14.1%
55 to 64	13.3%	11.8%
65 to 74	12.4%	8.2%
75 and over	8.4%	5.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
White (non-Hispanic)	81.2%	58.7%
Black or African American	5.4%	18.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	1.1%	5.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.7%
Two or more races	3.5%	4.2%
Hispanic or Latino	8.3%	12.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
No high school diploma	7.7%	8.2%
High school graduate	22.7%	24.9%
Some college or associate's	25.0%	29.3%
Bachelor's degree	26.5%	23.9%
Graduate or professional degree	18.2%	13.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
Drove alone	72.6%	73.5%
Carpooled	6.9%	8.1%
Public transit	0.8%	0.6%
Walked	2.1%	0.6%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	16.2%	15.8%
Other means	1.2%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
1-unit, detached	63.8%	76.7%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	5.2%	3.4%
5 to 19 units	10.2%	8.2%
20 or more units	5.8%	3.8%
Mobile home & other	12.2%	5.4%

Poverty & households

	Buncombe County	Cabarrus County
Poverty rate	11.8%	8.9%
Average household size	2.58	2.85
Mean commute (minutes)	21	28
Median year structure built	1989	1996