Jackson County vs McDowell County

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

Jackson 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.

McDowell County has the higher population (44,679 vs 43,089 in Jackson County). McDowell County has the higher median household income ($55,527 vs $53,479 in Jackson County). Jackson County has the higher median home value ($253,900 vs $168,300 in McDowell County).

Population, income & housing

	Jackson County	McDowell County
Population	43,089	44,679
Median age	38.9 yrs	44.3 yrs
Median household income	$53,479	$55,527
Median home value	$253,900	$168,300
Median gross rent	$855	$741
Housing units	27,385	21,475
Homeownership rate	62.6%	74.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.0%	17.6%
Unemployment rate	6.4%	4.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jackson County	McDowell County
Population	42,938 → 43,089 (+0.4%)	45,227 → 44,679 (-1.2%)
Median household income	$47,252 → $53,479 (+13.2%)	$43,646 → $55,527 (+27.2%)
Median home value	$196,100 → $253,900 (+29.5%)	$119,200 → $168,300 (+41.2%)
Median gross rent	$739 → $855 (+15.7%)	$645 → $741 (+14.9%)

Jackson County

Population

42,93843,089

Median household income

$47,252$53,479

Median home value

$196,100$253,900

Median gross rent

$739$855

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)

	Jackson County	McDowell County
Under 5	3.8%	4.6%
5 to 17	12.9%	15.1%
18 to 24	18.3%	7.1%
25 to 34	10.8%	12.2%
35 to 44	10.9%	12.0%
45 to 54	10.8%	13.3%
55 to 64	12.2%	14.9%
65 to 74	12.4%	12.5%
75 and over	8.0%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jackson County	McDowell County
White (non-Hispanic)	78.6%	86.3%
Black or African American	2.2%	3.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	7.0%	0.4%
Asian	1.2%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.0%	1.6%
Hispanic or Latino	7.7%	6.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jackson County	McDowell County
No high school diploma	10.2%	13.9%
High school graduate	29.8%	35.0%
Some college or associate's	30.0%	33.5%
Bachelor's degree	17.3%	12.2%
Graduate or professional degree	12.7%	5.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jackson County	McDowell County
Drove alone	82.1%	83.6%
Carpooled	6.6%	8.9%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	3.9%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.0%	5.3%
Other means	1.4%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jackson County	McDowell County
1-unit, detached	70.0%	68.5%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	1.1%
2 to 4 units	4.4%	1.9%
5 to 19 units	4.2%	1.7%
20 or more units	3.5%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	16.7%	25.8%

Poverty & households

	Jackson County	McDowell County
Poverty rate	19.3%	14.0%
Average household size	2.17	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	21	25
Median year structure built	1990	1983