Surry County vs Wilson County

A side-by-side comparison of Surry County and Wilson County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Wilson County has the higher population (78,648 vs 71,407 in Surry County). Surry County has the higher median household income ($56,095 vs $51,381 in Wilson County). Wilson County has the higher median home value ($171,800 vs $166,400 in Surry County).

Population, income & housing

	Surry County	Wilson County
Population	71,407	78,648
Median age	43.7 yrs	40.7 yrs
Median household income	$56,095	$51,381
Median home value	$166,400	$171,800
Median gross rent	$741	$915
Housing units	33,609	36,702
Homeownership rate	73.3%	59.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.4%	20.3%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	6.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Surry County	Wilson County
Population	71,971 → 71,407 (-0.8%)	81,435 → 78,648 (-3.4%)
Median household income	$43,597 → $56,095 (+28.7%)	$43,877 → $51,381 (+17.1%)
Median home value	$126,900 → $166,400 (+31.1%)	$123,600 → $171,800 (+39.0%)
Median gross rent	$628 → $741 (+18.0%)	$753 → $915 (+21.5%)

Surry County

Population

71,97171,407

Median household income

$43,597$56,095

Median home value

$126,900$166,400

Median gross rent

$628$741

Wilson County

Population

81,43578,648

Median household income

$43,877$51,381

Median home value

$123,600$171,800

Median gross rent

$753$915

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Surry County	Wilson County
Under 5	5.2%	5.9%
5 to 17	15.9%	17.1%
18 to 24	7.8%	8.2%
25 to 34	11.2%	12.1%
35 to 44	11.3%	12.0%
45 to 54	13.2%	12.2%
55 to 64	14.6%	13.6%
65 to 74	12.0%	11.6%
75 and over	8.7%	7.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Surry County	Wilson County
White (non-Hispanic)	81.6%	44.8%
Black or African American	3.5%	39.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	0.6%	1.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.6%
Two or more races	1.8%	2.4%
Hispanic or Latino	12.1%	11.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Surry County	Wilson County
No high school diploma	17.4%	15.6%
High school graduate	28.5%	34.2%
Some college or associate's	34.7%	29.9%
Bachelor's degree	13.0%	12.3%
Graduate or professional degree	6.4%	8.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Surry County	Wilson County
Drove alone	80.9%	81.1%
Carpooled	12.1%	9.3%
Public transit	0.1%	0.1%
Walked	0.9%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	5.5%	6.5%
Other means	0.4%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Surry County	Wilson County
1-unit, detached	66.4%	63.1%
1-unit, attached	1.4%	3.0%
2 to 4 units	4.1%	12.4%
5 to 19 units	3.4%	5.3%
20 or more units	1.9%	1.9%
Mobile home & other	22.8%	14.3%

Poverty & households

	Surry County	Wilson County
Poverty rate	16.7%	21.0%
Average household size	2.40	2.35
Mean commute (minutes)	25	22
Median year structure built	1980	1985