Buncombe County vs Union County

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

Buncombe County and Union 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 244,975 in Union County). Union County has the higher median household income ($99,243 vs $70,578 in Buncombe County). Union County has the higher median home value ($374,400 vs $360,000 in Buncombe County).

Population, income & housing

	Buncombe County	Union County
Population	271,790	244,975
Median age	42.4 yrs	39.1 yrs
Median household income	$70,578	$99,243
Median home value	$360,000	$374,400
Median gross rent	$1,281	$1,390
Housing units	132,191	86,730
Homeownership rate	64.4%	81.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	44.6%	39.0%
Unemployment rate	3.5%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buncombe County	Union County
Population	256,886 → 271,790 (+5.8%)	231,053 → 244,975 (+6.0%)
Median household income	$52,207 → $70,578 (+35.2%)	$80,033 → $99,243 (+24.0%)
Median home value	$238,200 → $360,000 (+51.1%)	$241,400 → $374,400 (+55.1%)
Median gross rent	$975 → $1,281 (+31.4%)	$1,030 → $1,390 (+35.0%)

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

Union County

Population

231,053244,975

Median household income

$80,033$99,243

Median home value

$241,400$374,400

Median gross rent

$1,030$1,390

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buncombe County	Union County
Under 5	4.6%	5.5%
5 to 17	13.5%	20.6%
18 to 24	7.5%	9.4%
25 to 34	13.7%	9.8%
35 to 44	13.9%	13.4%
45 to 54	12.7%	15.8%
55 to 64	13.3%	12.5%
65 to 74	12.4%	8.1%
75 and over	8.4%	5.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buncombe County	Union County
White (non-Hispanic)	81.2%	68.0%
Black or African American	5.4%	10.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	1.1%	4.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.5%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	8.3%	12.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buncombe County	Union County
No high school diploma	7.7%	9.6%
High school graduate	22.7%	22.8%
Some college or associate's	25.0%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	26.5%	25.6%
Graduate or professional degree	18.2%	13.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buncombe County	Union County
Drove alone	72.6%	70.8%
Carpooled	6.9%	9.3%
Public transit	0.8%	0.2%
Walked	2.1%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	16.2%	18.0%
Other means	1.2%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buncombe County	Union County
1-unit, detached	63.8%	86.6%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	2.9%
2 to 4 units	5.2%	2.0%
5 to 19 units	10.2%	2.7%
20 or more units	5.8%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	12.2%	4.8%

Poverty & households

	Buncombe County	Union County
Poverty rate	11.8%	7.7%
Average household size	2.58	2.95
Mean commute (minutes)	21	30
Median year structure built	1989	1999