Halifax County vs McDowell County

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

Halifax 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.

Halifax County has the higher population (48,219 vs 44,679 in McDowell County). McDowell County has the higher median household income ($55,527 vs $45,071 in Halifax County). McDowell County has the higher median home value ($168,300 vs $102,500 in Halifax County).

Population, income & housing

	Halifax County	McDowell County
Population	48,219	44,679
Median age	43.8 yrs	44.3 yrs
Median household income	$45,071	$55,527
Median home value	$102,500	$168,300
Median gross rent	$776	$741
Housing units	24,849	21,475
Homeownership rate	63.5%	74.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.5%	17.6%
Unemployment rate	8.7%	4.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Halifax County	McDowell County
Population	51,190 → 48,219 (-5.8%)	45,227 → 44,679 (-1.2%)
Median household income	$35,502 → $45,071 (+27.0%)	$43,646 → $55,527 (+27.2%)
Median home value	$86,300 → $102,500 (+18.8%)	$119,200 → $168,300 (+41.2%)
Median gross rent	$717 → $776 (+8.2%)	$645 → $741 (+14.9%)

Halifax County

Population

51,19048,219

Median household income

$35,502$45,071

Median home value

$86,300$102,500

Median gross rent

$717$776

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)

	Halifax County	McDowell County
Under 5	5.5%	4.6%
5 to 17	15.8%	15.1%
18 to 24	7.2%	7.1%
25 to 34	12.0%	12.2%
35 to 44	11.2%	12.0%
45 to 54	11.8%	13.3%
55 to 64	14.9%	14.9%
65 to 74	13.0%	12.5%
75 and over	8.6%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Halifax County	McDowell County
White (non-Hispanic)	36.7%	86.3%
Black or African American	51.7%	3.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.9%	0.4%
Asian	0.9%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.4%	1.6%
Hispanic or Latino	3.2%	6.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Halifax County	McDowell County
No high school diploma	19.1%	13.9%
High school graduate	36.4%	35.0%
Some college or associate's	29.1%	33.5%
Bachelor's degree	10.2%	12.2%
Graduate or professional degree	5.2%	5.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Halifax County	McDowell County
Drove alone	77.0%	83.6%
Carpooled	10.9%	8.9%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.9%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.2%	5.3%
Other means	3.9%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Halifax County	McDowell County
1-unit, detached	62.6%	68.5%
1-unit, attached	2.7%	1.1%
2 to 4 units	4.7%	1.9%
5 to 19 units	3.1%	1.7%
20 or more units	2.0%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	24.9%	25.8%

Poverty & households

	Halifax County	McDowell County
Poverty rate	25.2%	14.0%
Average household size	2.32	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	24	25
Median year structure built	1979	1983