Johnston County vs New Hanover County

A side-by-side comparison of Johnston County and New Hanover County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

New Hanover County has the higher population (231,214 vs 226,623 in Johnston County). Johnston County has the higher median household income ($79,838 vs $72,892 in New Hanover County). New Hanover County has the higher median home value ($353,700 vs $267,600 in Johnston County).

Population, income & housing

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
Population	226,623	231,214
Median age	38.3 yrs	40.1 yrs
Median household income	$79,838	$72,892
Median home value	$267,600	$353,700
Median gross rent	$1,007	$1,343
Housing units	88,314	117,236
Homeownership rate	77.1%	60.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.6%	44.8%
Unemployment rate	3.9%	4.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
Population	196,870 → 226,623 (+15.1%)	227,938 → 231,214 (+1.4%)
Median household income	$59,865 → $79,838 (+33.4%)	$54,891 → $72,892 (+32.8%)
Median home value	$165,100 → $267,600 (+62.1%)	$243,600 → $353,700 (+45.2%)
Median gross rent	$857 → $1,007 (+17.5%)	$1,031 → $1,343 (+30.3%)

Johnston County

Population

196,870226,623

Median household income

$59,865$79,838

Median home value

$165,100$267,600

Median gross rent

$857$1,007

New Hanover County

Population

227,938231,214

Median household income

$54,891$72,892

Median home value

$243,600$353,700

Median gross rent

$1,031$1,343

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
Under 5	6.1%	4.7%
5 to 17	19.0%	13.6%
18 to 24	8.0%	12.1%
25 to 34	12.7%	13.1%
35 to 44	13.9%	12.6%
45 to 54	14.4%	12.3%
55 to 64	12.4%	13.0%
65 to 74	8.6%	11.3%
75 and over	4.9%	7.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
White (non-Hispanic)	62.7%	75.1%
Black or African American	16.5%	11.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.2%
Asian	0.8%	1.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.6%
Two or more races	3.0%	4.0%
Hispanic or Latino	16.2%	7.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
No high school diploma	10.5%	6.4%
High school graduate	27.5%	18.0%
Some college or associate's	34.3%	30.8%
Bachelor's degree	20.0%	29.1%
Graduate or professional degree	7.7%	15.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
Drove alone	77.5%	72.4%
Carpooled	8.0%	6.8%
Public transit	0.1%	0.2%
Walked	0.7%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.5%
Worked from home	13.1%	17.8%
Other means	0.6%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
1-unit, detached	75.2%	61.0%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	5.6%
2 to 4 units	3.2%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	12.3%
20 or more units	2.2%	10.4%
Mobile home & other	14.0%	2.8%

Poverty & households

	Johnston County	New Hanover County
Poverty rate	11.2%	12.4%
Average household size	2.73	2.20
Mean commute (minutes)	32	21
Median year structure built	1999	1992