Harnett County vs Orange County

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

Harnett 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.

Orange County has the higher population (147,292 vs 136,503 in Harnett County). Orange County has the higher median household income ($88,553 vs $69,012 in Harnett County). Orange County has the higher median home value ($428,500 vs $220,700 in Harnett County).

Population, income & housing

	Harnett County	Orange County
Population	136,503	147,292
Median age	35.4 yrs	36.2 yrs
Median household income	$69,012	$88,553
Median home value	$220,700	$428,500
Median gross rent	$1,080	$1,387
Housing units	54,051	62,127
Homeownership rate	69.5%	64.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.9%	61.8%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Harnett County	Orange County
Population	132,283 → 136,503 (+3.2%)	144,836 → 147,292 (+1.7%)
Median household income	$53,554 → $69,012 (+28.9%)	$71,723 → $88,553 (+23.5%)
Median home value	$154,000 → $220,700 (+43.3%)	$308,800 → $428,500 (+38.8%)
Median gross rent	$893 → $1,080 (+20.9%)	$1,093 → $1,387 (+26.9%)

Harnett County

Population

132,283136,503

Median household income

$53,554$69,012

Median home value

$154,000$220,700

Median gross rent

$893$1,080

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)

	Harnett County	Orange County
Under 5	7.1%	4.2%
5 to 17	18.6%	15.2%
18 to 24	8.4%	17.3%
25 to 34	15.2%	11.9%
35 to 44	14.1%	11.6%
45 to 54	12.0%	12.4%
55 to 64	11.2%	11.9%
65 to 74	8.2%	9.8%
75 and over	5.3%	5.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Harnett County	Orange County
White (non-Hispanic)	58.9%	66.8%
Black or African American	20.3%	10.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.6%	0.3%
Asian	0.9%	7.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.9%	3.9%
Hispanic or Latino	14.6%	10.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Harnett County	Orange County
No high school diploma	11.3%	6.8%
High school graduate	29.0%	12.6%
Some college or associate's	35.8%	18.8%
Bachelor's degree	15.9%	27.5%
Graduate or professional degree	8.1%	34.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Harnett County	Orange County
Drove alone	80.0%	57.7%
Carpooled	10.3%	6.7%
Public transit	0.0%	4.2%
Walked	1.7%	4.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	1.8%
Worked from home	7.0%	24.2%
Other means	0.8%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Harnett County	Orange County
1-unit, detached	70.4%	59.6%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	7.8%
2 to 4 units	5.3%	4.6%
5 to 19 units	2.3%	12.3%
20 or more units	0.5%	9.5%
Mobile home & other	18.6%	6.1%

Poverty & households

	Harnett County	Orange County
Poverty rate	14.5%	12.4%
Average household size	2.74	2.40
Mean commute (minutes)	32	24
Median year structure built	1996	1989