Catawba County vs Orange County

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

Catawba 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.

Catawba County has the higher population (162,051 vs 147,292 in Orange County). Orange County has the higher median household income ($88,553 vs $64,544 in Catawba County). Orange County has the higher median home value ($428,500 vs $218,100 in Catawba County).

Population, income & housing

	Catawba County	Orange County
Population	162,051	147,292
Median age	41.8 yrs	36.2 yrs
Median household income	$64,544	$88,553
Median home value	$218,100	$428,500
Median gross rent	$891	$1,387
Housing units	72,028	62,127
Homeownership rate	72.7%	64.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.9%	61.8%
Unemployment rate	4.2%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Catawba County	Orange County
Population	157,613 → 162,051 (+2.8%)	144,836 → 147,292 (+1.7%)
Median household income	$52,056 → $64,544 (+24.0%)	$71,723 → $88,553 (+23.5%)
Median home value	$143,600 → $218,100 (+51.9%)	$308,800 → $428,500 (+38.8%)
Median gross rent	$738 → $891 (+20.7%)	$1,093 → $1,387 (+26.9%)

Catawba County

Population

157,613162,051

Median household income

$52,056$64,544

Median home value

$143,600$218,100

Median gross rent

$738$891

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)

	Catawba County	Orange County
Under 5	5.4%	4.2%
5 to 17	16.5%	15.2%
18 to 24	8.4%	17.3%
25 to 34	12.1%	11.9%
35 to 44	11.7%	11.6%
45 to 54	13.5%	12.4%
55 to 64	14.1%	11.9%
65 to 74	11.0%	9.8%
75 and over	7.4%	5.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Catawba County	Orange County
White (non-Hispanic)	72.6%	66.8%
Black or African American	7.9%	10.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.3%
Asian	4.1%	7.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.0%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	11.1%	10.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Catawba County	Orange County
No high school diploma	12.5%	6.8%
High school graduate	28.8%	12.6%
Some college or associate's	33.7%	18.8%
Bachelor's degree	17.7%	27.5%
Graduate or professional degree	7.3%	34.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Catawba County	Orange County
Drove alone	80.8%	57.7%
Carpooled	9.4%	6.7%
Public transit	0.2%	4.2%
Walked	0.7%	4.0%
Bicycle	0.1%	1.8%
Worked from home	7.5%	24.2%
Other means	1.2%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Catawba County	Orange County
1-unit, detached	67.7%	59.6%
1-unit, attached	3.8%	7.8%
2 to 4 units	5.6%	4.6%
5 to 19 units	7.0%	12.3%
20 or more units	2.9%	9.5%
Mobile home & other	12.9%	6.1%

Poverty & households

	Catawba County	Orange County
Poverty rate	12.8%	12.4%
Average household size	2.45	2.40
Mean commute (minutes)	23	24
Median year structure built	1984	1989