Burke County vs Nash County

A side-by-side comparison of Burke County and Nash County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Nash County has the higher population (95,451 vs 87,863 in Burke County). Nash County has the higher median household income ($60,704 vs $55,684 in Burke County). Nash County has the higher median home value ($171,100 vs $170,500 in Burke County).

Population, income & housing

	Burke County	Nash County
Population	87,863	95,451
Median age	44.9 yrs	41.6 yrs
Median household income	$55,684	$60,704
Median home value	$170,500	$171,100
Median gross rent	$805	$924
Housing units	40,058	43,537
Homeownership rate	74.8%	63.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.2%	21.7%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	6.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Burke County	Nash County
Population	89,968 → 87,863 (-2.3%)	94,030 → 95,451 (+1.5%)
Median household income	$44,557 → $55,684 (+25.0%)	$49,537 → $60,704 (+22.5%)
Median home value	$120,700 → $170,500 (+41.3%)	$128,200 → $171,100 (+33.5%)
Median gross rent	$648 → $805 (+24.2%)	$799 → $924 (+15.6%)

Burke County

Population

89,96887,863

Median household income

$44,557$55,684

Median home value

$120,700$170,500

Median gross rent

$648$805

Nash County

Population

94,03095,451

Median household income

$49,537$60,704

Median home value

$128,200$171,100

Median gross rent

$799$924

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Burke County	Nash County
Under 5	4.8%	5.6%
5 to 17	13.8%	16.5%
18 to 24	7.9%	8.2%
25 to 34	12.1%	12.0%
35 to 44	11.5%	11.6%
45 to 54	13.3%	12.9%
55 to 64	15.3%	14.3%
65 to 74	12.2%	11.7%
75 and over	9.1%	7.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Burke County	Nash County
White (non-Hispanic)	79.3%	46.9%
Black or African American	5.9%	40.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.5%
Asian	3.3%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.6%
Two or more races	2.5%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	8.2%	7.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Burke County	Nash County
No high school diploma	14.9%	13.6%
High school graduate	33.1%	33.2%
Some college or associate's	31.9%	31.5%
Bachelor's degree	12.8%	14.7%
Graduate or professional degree	7.3%	7.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Burke County	Nash County
Drove alone	83.4%	81.5%
Carpooled	9.9%	6.7%
Public transit	0.1%	0.2%
Walked	0.5%	0.5%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.4%	9.6%
Other means	0.6%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Burke County	Nash County
1-unit, detached	70.7%	65.5%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	1.6%
2 to 4 units	4.5%	8.6%
5 to 19 units	3.8%	6.8%
20 or more units	1.1%	1.3%
Mobile home & other	18.9%	16.1%

Poverty & households

	Burke County	Nash County
Poverty rate	17.9%	14.0%
Average household size	2.37	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	24	24
Median year structure built	1980	1985