Robeson County vs Wayne County

A side-by-side comparison of Robeson County and Wayne County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Wayne County has the higher population (117,606 vs 116,858 in Robeson County). Wayne County has the higher median household income ($58,082 vs $40,318 in Robeson County). Wayne County has the higher median home value ($162,700 vs $88,600 in Robeson County).

Population, income & housing

	Robeson County	Wayne County
Population	116,858	117,606
Median age	36.5 yrs	37.4 yrs
Median household income	$40,318	$58,082
Median home value	$88,600	$162,700
Median gross rent	$784	$932
Housing units	48,874	53,134
Homeownership rate	65.6%	61.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.6%	21.3%
Unemployment rate	6.3%	5.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Robeson County	Wayne County
Population	132,596 → 116,858 (-11.9%)	123,603 → 117,606 (-4.9%)
Median household income	$34,976 → $40,318 (+15.3%)	$44,416 → $58,082 (+30.8%)
Median home value	$75,600 → $88,600 (+17.2%)	$123,500 → $162,700 (+31.7%)
Median gross rent	$645 → $784 (+21.6%)	$777 → $932 (+19.9%)

Robeson County

Population

132,596116,858

Median household income

$34,976$40,318

Median home value

$75,600$88,600

Median gross rent

$645$784

Wayne County

Population

123,603117,606

Median household income

$44,416$58,082

Median home value

$123,500$162,700

Median gross rent

$777$932

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Robeson County	Wayne County
Under 5	6.8%	6.4%
5 to 17	18.7%	17.3%
18 to 24	10.1%	9.6%
25 to 34	12.5%	13.6%
35 to 44	11.5%	11.6%
45 to 54	12.2%	11.8%
55 to 64	12.4%	12.9%
65 to 74	9.9%	10.2%
75 and over	5.9%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Robeson County	Wayne County
White (non-Hispanic)	23.6%	51.0%
Black or African American	23.2%	30.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	39.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.8%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.3%	0.2%
Two or more races	2.6%	4.0%
Hispanic or Latino	10.5%	13.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Robeson County	Wayne County
No high school diploma	21.1%	13.6%
High school graduate	34.9%	30.4%
Some college or associate's	29.4%	34.7%
Bachelor's degree	9.6%	14.7%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	6.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Robeson County	Wayne County
Drove alone	85.2%	82.0%
Carpooled	8.2%	12.1%
Public transit	0.4%	0.4%
Walked	1.2%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.2%
Worked from home	3.8%	4.0%
Other means	1.2%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Robeson County	Wayne County
1-unit, detached	51.0%	60.1%
1-unit, attached	1.6%	2.4%
2 to 4 units	5.6%	6.1%
5 to 19 units	2.9%	4.4%
20 or more units	1.3%	3.1%
Mobile home & other	37.7%	23.8%

Poverty & households

	Robeson County	Wayne County
Poverty rate	28.8%	16.9%
Average household size	2.65	2.44
Mean commute (minutes)	25	23
Median year structure built	1985	1983