Edgecombe County vs McDowell County

A side-by-side comparison of Edgecombe County and McDowell County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Edgecombe County has the higher population (48,777 vs 44,679 in McDowell County). McDowell County has the higher median household income ($55,527 vs $48,480 in Edgecombe County). McDowell County has the higher median home value ($168,300 vs $116,800 in Edgecombe County).

Population, income & housing

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
Population	48,777	44,679
Median age	41.7 yrs	44.3 yrs
Median household income	$48,480	$55,527
Median home value	$116,800	$168,300
Median gross rent	$818	$741
Housing units	23,258	21,475
Homeownership rate	59.4%	74.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.7%	17.6%
Unemployment rate	8.0%	4.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
Population	52,648 → 48,777 (-7.4%)	45,227 → 44,679 (-1.2%)
Median household income	$36,866 → $48,480 (+31.5%)	$43,646 → $55,527 (+27.2%)
Median home value	$85,700 → $116,800 (+36.3%)	$119,200 → $168,300 (+41.2%)
Median gross rent	$695 → $818 (+17.7%)	$645 → $741 (+14.9%)

Edgecombe County

Population

52,64848,777

Median household income

$36,866$48,480

Median home value

$85,700$116,800

Median gross rent

$695$818

McDowell County

Population

45,22744,679

Median household income

$43,646$55,527

Median home value

$119,200$168,300

Median gross rent

$645$741

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
Under 5	5.8%	4.6%
5 to 17	17.2%	15.1%
18 to 24	7.6%	7.1%
25 to 34	12.5%	12.2%
35 to 44	10.9%	12.0%
45 to 54	11.1%	13.3%
55 to 64	14.5%	14.9%
65 to 74	12.5%	12.5%
75 and over	7.9%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
White (non-Hispanic)	35.2%	86.3%
Black or African American	55.8%	3.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.4%
Asian	0.2%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.5%	1.6%
Hispanic or Latino	5.8%	6.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
No high school diploma	15.6%	13.9%
High school graduate	38.1%	35.0%
Some college or associate's	29.6%	33.5%
Bachelor's degree	11.7%	12.2%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	5.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
Drove alone	78.8%	83.6%
Carpooled	8.9%	8.9%
Public transit	0.8%	0.0%
Walked	1.2%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.0%	5.3%
Other means	2.3%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
1-unit, detached	61.8%	68.5%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	1.1%
2 to 4 units	9.5%	1.9%
5 to 19 units	4.1%	1.7%
20 or more units	1.2%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	22.4%	25.8%

Poverty & households

	Edgecombe County	McDowell County
Poverty rate	21.9%	14.0%
Average household size	2.46	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	23	25
Median year structure built	1977	1983