Chowan County vs Pamlico County

A side-by-side comparison of Chowan County and Pamlico County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Chowan County has the higher population (13,814 vs 12,315 in Pamlico County). Pamlico County has the higher median household income ($61,624 vs $56,982 in Chowan County). Pamlico County has the higher median home value ($209,800 vs $204,400 in Chowan County).

Population, income & housing

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
Population	13,814	12,315
Median age	47.9 yrs	54.1 yrs
Median household income	$56,982	$61,624
Median home value	$204,400	$209,800
Median gross rent	$766	$909
Housing units	7,169	7,239
Homeownership rate	69.7%	83.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.5%	25.4%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
Population	14,097 → 13,814 (-2.0%)	12,701 → 12,315 (-3.0%)
Median household income	$46,519 → $56,982 (+22.5%)	$46,728 → $61,624 (+31.9%)
Median home value	$131,100 → $204,400 (+55.9%)	$156,000 → $209,800 (+34.5%)
Median gross rent	$798 → $766 (-4.0%)	$767 → $909 (+18.5%)

Chowan County

Population

14,09713,814

Median household income

$46,519$56,982

Median home value

$131,100$204,400

Median gross rent

$798$766

Pamlico County

Population

12,70112,315

Median household income

$46,728$61,624

Median home value

$156,000$209,800

Median gross rent

$767$909

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
Under 5	4.6%	3.4%
5 to 17	14.9%	10.8%
18 to 24	4.5%	6.0%
25 to 34	12.0%	8.7%
35 to 44	10.9%	10.7%
45 to 54	11.5%	12.0%
55 to 64	14.3%	17.6%
65 to 74	16.9%	18.1%
75 and over	10.4%	12.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
White (non-Hispanic)	60.0%	74.0%
Black or African American	32.9%	18.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.1%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.9%	2.2%
Hispanic or Latino	3.9%	4.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
No high school diploma	12.6%	10.0%
High school graduate	35.1%	31.3%
Some college or associate's	27.7%	33.4%
Bachelor's degree	14.2%	13.9%
Graduate or professional degree	10.3%	11.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
Drove alone	81.4%	82.3%
Carpooled	8.7%	4.2%
Public transit	0.0%	0.5%
Walked	2.5%	0.3%
Bicycle	0.8%	0.1%
Worked from home	5.9%	10.7%
Other means	0.7%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
1-unit, detached	71.4%	69.6%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	0.9%
2 to 4 units	5.8%	2.2%
5 to 19 units	1.9%	1.8%
20 or more units	0.6%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	19.9%	25.3%

Poverty & households

	Chowan County	Pamlico County
Poverty rate	20.5%	12.4%
Average household size	2.26	2.19
Mean commute (minutes)	29	24
Median year structure built	1979	1988