McDowell County vs Stokes County

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

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

Stokes County has the higher population (44,889 vs 44,679 in McDowell County). Stokes County has the higher median household income ($60,039 vs $55,527 in McDowell County). Stokes County has the higher median home value ($186,800 vs $168,300 in McDowell County).

Population, income & housing

	McDowell County	Stokes County
Population	44,679	44,889
Median age	44.3 yrs	47.6 yrs
Median household income	$55,527	$60,039
Median home value	$168,300	$186,800
Median gross rent	$741	$766
Housing units	21,475	21,353
Homeownership rate	74.0%	78.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.6%	18.5%
Unemployment rate	4.7%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McDowell County	Stokes County
Population	45,227 → 44,679 (-1.2%)	45,781 → 44,889 (-1.9%)
Median household income	$43,646 → $55,527 (+27.2%)	$48,054 → $60,039 (+24.9%)
Median home value	$119,200 → $168,300 (+41.2%)	$137,000 → $186,800 (+36.4%)
Median gross rent	$645 → $741 (+14.9%)	$687 → $766 (+11.5%)

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

Stokes County

Population

45,78144,889

Median household income

$48,054$60,039

Median home value

$137,000$186,800

Median gross rent

$687$766

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McDowell County	Stokes County
Under 5	4.6%	4.2%
5 to 17	15.1%	14.5%
18 to 24	7.1%	7.3%
25 to 34	12.2%	10.4%
35 to 44	12.0%	10.4%
45 to 54	13.3%	14.7%
55 to 64	14.9%	16.1%
65 to 74	12.5%	12.9%
75 and over	8.2%	9.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McDowell County	Stokes County
White (non-Hispanic)	86.3%	89.6%
Black or African American	3.9%	3.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.2%
Asian	1.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.3%
Two or more races	1.6%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	6.8%	3.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McDowell County	Stokes County
No high school diploma	13.9%	10.1%
High school graduate	35.0%	38.1%
Some college or associate's	33.5%	33.3%
Bachelor's degree	12.2%	12.3%
Graduate or professional degree	5.4%	6.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McDowell County	Stokes County
Drove alone	83.6%	84.8%
Carpooled	8.9%	7.5%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	1.3%	0.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.3%	6.5%
Other means	0.8%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McDowell County	Stokes County
1-unit, detached	68.5%	70.1%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	0.7%
2 to 4 units	1.9%	2.9%
5 to 19 units	1.7%	1.2%
20 or more units	0.9%	0.7%
Mobile home & other	25.8%	24.3%

Poverty & households

	McDowell County	Stokes County
Poverty rate	14.0%	12.0%
Average household size	2.34	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	25	30
Median year structure built	1983	1983