Polk County, North Carolina Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Polk County, North Carolina, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Polk County, North Carolina. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Polk County, North Carolina. The estimated population of Polk County, North Carolina is 19,413 people, with a median age of 54.

We can look at the total population in Polk County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
19,413
 -6.14% -5.00%
2020
20,682
+0.61%
-
2019
20,557
+0.48%
-
2018
20,458
+0.12%
-
2017
20,434
 - -

Population of Polk County, North Carolina by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
86.1%
88%
 -2.16%
Black/African American
4.8%
5.1%
 -5.88%
Native
0.1%
0.2%
 -50.00%
Hispanic
6%
5.8%
 +3.45%
Asian
0.7%
0.4%
 +75.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
1.1%
0.6%
 +83.33%
Other
1.2%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Polk County, North Carolina by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 54 +0.56% 52.3 +0.19% 54.9 -0.18%
2020 53.7 +1.9% 52.2 +1.36% 55 +0.55%
2019 52.7 +0.57% 51.5 +1.38% 54.7 +0.55%
2018 52.4 +0.58% 50.8 +1.8% 54.4 +1.3%
2017 52.1 - 49.9 - 53.7 -

The median age of Polk County, North Carolina gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 786 -6.44% 917 -13.64% 733 793
10 to 19 1,221 -34.63% 909 +15.84% 845 1,048
20 to 29 951 -6.45% 908 -12.41% 885 796
30 to 39 739 -1.53% 801 +4.84% 725 836
40 to 49 1,219 -7.28% 1,214 -15.1% 1,122 1,035
50 to 59 1,500 -8.8% 1,612 +1.28% 1,370 1,624
60 to 69 1,608 -4.4% 2,043 -10.64% 1,535 1,827
70+ 1,758 +10.71% 2,248 +3.34% 1,932 2,307

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Polk County, North Carolina is $55,058.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Polk County.

  • Under 25
    $27,276.00
  • 25 to 44
    $60,982.00
  • 45 to 64
    $68,013.00
  • 65 and over
    $47,341.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Polk County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Polk County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Polk County, North Carolina is currently $74,243.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

4.28% of households in Polk County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Polk County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    18.89%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    27.90%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    17.90%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    12.56%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    13.80%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    4.66%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.28%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Polk County is $33,485.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Polk County by the total population of Polk County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Polk County, North Carolina, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Polk County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    14.55%
  • Bachelor's degree
    35.21%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    13.82%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    34.76%
  • Less than high school diploma
    1.66%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Polk County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Polk County over the age of 16 is 16,655.

Of those people, a total of 53.80% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Polk County is 51.70%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 661 56.70% 10.70%
20 to 24 years 846 81.30% 15.80%
25 to 29 years 835 87.70% 2.00%
30 to 34 years 812 89.00% 3.00%
35 to 44 years 1,841 85.90% 2.50%
45 to 54 years 2,394 82.20% 0.90%
55 to 59 years 1,665 62.40% 4.50%
60 to 64 years 1,678 52.40% 2.00%
65 to 74 years 3,150 22.90% 3.10%
75 years and over 2,773 9.10% 2.80%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Polk County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 15,296 53.70% 3.80%
Black or African American 792 48.90% 6.20%
American Indian and Alaska Native 7 0.00% 0.00%
Asian 103 44.70% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 123 78.00% 0.00%
Two or more races 334 65.60% 2.30%
Hispanic or Latino 744 71.20% 6.80%
Not Hispanic or Latino 14,763 53.10% 3.60%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Polk County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Polk County is 8,607, with median earnings of $32,613.00.

Women in Polk County, North Carolina earning approximately 66.20% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 8,607 $32,613.00
Male 4,554 $39,241.00
Female 4,053 $25,966.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 847 $73,262.00
Business and Financial 299 $39,554.00
Computer and Mathematical 163 $104,201.00
Architecture and Engineering 214 $79,936.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 13 $106,875.00
Community and Social Service 148 $54,500.00
Legal 82 $55,893.00
Educational and Library 521 $25,229.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 190 $34,500.00
Healthcare Practitioners 644 $52,440.00
Healthcare Support 320 $17,173.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 66 $52,206.00
Law Enforcement 14 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 554 $15,108.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 396 $17,639.00
Personal Care and Service 152 $12,000.00
Sales 907 $32,734.00
Office and Administrative Support 863 $31,521.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 141 $14,574.00
Construction and Extraction 443 $32,279.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 515 $38,224.00
Production 629 $24,331.00
Transportation and Material Moving 187 $33,324.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 573 $78,053.00 274 $59,118.00
Business and Financial 172 $38,750.00 127 $39,554.00
Computer and Mathematical 144 $103,750.00 19 $0.00
Architecture and Engineering 190 $79,744.00 24 $88,000.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 11 $0.00 2 $0.00
Community and Social Service 74 $61,667.00 74 $30,417.00
Legal 32 $55,357.00 50 $58,036.00
Educational and Library 40 $48,462.00 481 $21,655.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 65 $9,410.00 125 $36,250.00
Healthcare Practitioners 116 $85,417.00 528 $51,964.00
Healthcare Support 29 $38,274.00 291 $16,887.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 48 $63,333.00 18 $0.00
Law Enforcement 14 $0.00 0 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 130 $31,538.00 424 $13,769.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 259 $33,125.00 137 $2,499.00
Personal Care and Service 25 $11,645.00 127 $12,422.00
Sales 466 $35,577.00 441 $28,398.00
Office and Administrative Support 307 $40,678.00 556 $30,089.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 56 $0.00 85 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 443 $32,279.00 0 $0.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 489 $38,794.00 26 $0.00
Production 501 $26,362.00 128 $11,042.00
Transportation and Material Moving 143 $34,375.00 44 $22,833.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 8,596 households in Polk County, with an average household size of 2.23 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 5,232 families in Polk County with an average family size of 2.85 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 4,348 232 652 3,364
Average Household Size 2.86 3 3.19 1.17
Total Families 4,348 232 652 0
Average Household Size 2.84 2.81 2.88 0

Poverty

Of the 5,232 families in Polk County, 6.20% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Polk County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 10,873 housing units in Polk County, North Carolina.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 8,596 79.06%
Vacant 2,277 20.94%

13.59% of the total 10,873 housing units in Polk County are rental units. This is approximately 1,478 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 6,582 are occupied by the owner - or 60.54% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Polk County is $870.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Polk County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    536
  • Less than $500
    211
  • $500 to $999
    725
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    323
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    89
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    7
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    39
  • $3,000 or more
    84

Property Value

The median value of a property in Polk County is $228,000.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Polk County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    235
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    650
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    910
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    1,108
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    1,358
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    1,450
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    739
  • $1,000,000 or more
    132

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Polk County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Polk County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    983
  • 1940 to 1949
    530
  • 1950 to 1959
    881
  • 1960 to 1969
    1,053
  • 1970 to 1979
    1,799
  • 1980 to 1989
    1,466
  • 1990 to 1999
    2,020
  • 2000 to 2009
    1,638
  • 2010 to 2013
    487
  • 2014 or later
    16

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Polk County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    358
  • 1 vehicle available
    2,619
  • 2 vehicles available
    3,313
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    2,306

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Polk County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Polk County that commute to work in a particular way.

26 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Polk County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    214
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    736
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    1,171
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    941
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    675
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    760
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    1,169
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    280
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    341
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    840
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    130
  • 90 or more minutes
    218

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Polk County, North Carolina in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Polk County, North Carolina

We have data for 6 places in Polk County, North Carolina. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.