Hoke County vs Watauga County

A side-by-side comparison of Hoke County and Watauga County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Watauga County has the higher population (54,607 vs 53,102 in Hoke County). Hoke County has the higher median household income ($60,095 vs $51,367 in Watauga County). Watauga County has the higher median home value ($321,500 vs $196,000 in Hoke County).

Population, income & housing

	Hoke County	Watauga County
Population	53,102	54,607
Median age	33.7 yrs	32.2 yrs
Median household income	$60,095	$51,367
Median home value	$196,000	$321,500
Median gross rent	$1,047	$1,066
Housing units	20,583	33,028
Homeownership rate	71.7%	61.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.3%	47.7%
Unemployment rate	7.4%	9.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hoke County	Watauga County
Population	53,957 → 53,102 (-1.6%)	54,925 → 54,607 (-0.6%)
Median household income	$48,072 → $60,095 (+25.0%)	$47,526 → $51,367 (+8.1%)
Median home value	$139,300 → $196,000 (+40.7%)	$238,000 → $321,500 (+35.1%)
Median gross rent	$929 → $1,047 (+12.7%)	$870 → $1,066 (+22.5%)

Hoke County

Population

53,95753,102

Median household income

$48,072$60,095

Median home value

$139,300$196,000

Median gross rent

$929$1,047

Watauga County

Population

54,92554,607

Median household income

$47,526$51,367

Median home value

$238,000$321,500

Median gross rent

$870$1,066

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hoke County	Watauga County
Under 5	8.1%	3.0%
5 to 17	19.1%	9.4%
18 to 24	8.0%	30.5%
25 to 34	16.7%	10.2%
35 to 44	14.3%	9.4%
45 to 54	11.4%	9.6%
55 to 64	11.0%	11.2%
65 to 74	7.6%	10.2%
75 and over	3.8%	6.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hoke County	Watauga County
White (non-Hispanic)	36.6%	88.9%
Black or African American	32.5%	1.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	6.8%	0.2%
Asian	1.4%	1.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	6.4%	2.0%
Hispanic or Latino	15.3%	6.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hoke County	Watauga County
No high school diploma	11.1%	7.6%
High school graduate	29.0%	20.8%
Some college or associate's	38.6%	24.0%
Bachelor's degree	14.7%	25.8%
Graduate or professional degree	6.6%	21.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hoke County	Watauga County
Drove alone	81.1%	74.7%
Carpooled	10.0%	9.9%
Public transit	0.8%	1.2%
Walked	0.9%	3.9%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.1%
Worked from home	6.2%	9.6%
Other means	0.8%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hoke County	Watauga County
1-unit, detached	71.9%	64.7%
1-unit, attached	0.6%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	2.8%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	1.5%	12.1%
20 or more units	1.4%	5.7%
Mobile home & other	21.8%	8.0%

Poverty & households

	Hoke County	Watauga County
Poverty rate	17.4%	24.7%
Average household size	2.78	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	30	21
Median year structure built	1999	1987