2022 population: 19,986 ( 524 from 2010 , 656 from 2020)
Land area: 237.7 square miles
Population density: 84.1 persons per square mile

2022 Census data
White:	17,418	87.15%	3.9%
Black:	752	3.76%	17.5%
Indian:	83	0.42%	102.4%
Asian:	195	0.98%	219.7%
2+ races:	342	1.71%	45.5%
Hispanic:	1,196	5.98%	6.6%

Total non-White:	2,568	12.85%	7.7%

2020-2022 Components	Number	Rate
Births:	290	7.5
Deaths:	791	20.5
Net Migration:	1,153	29.8
Net Immigration:	20	0.5

Change in White population:	-708	-3.5
Change in Non-White pop.:	184	0.9

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

[Display all years]

Year:

Total population:

White:

Black:

Indian:

Asian:

2+ races:

Hispanic:

Total non-White:

2010
20,510
18,126	88.38%
911	4.44%
41	0.20%
61	0.30%
235	1.15%
1,122	5.47%
2,384	11.62%

2000
18,324
16,504	90.07%
1,061	5.79%
28	0.15%
43	0.23%
117	0.64%
551	3.01%
1,820	9.93%

1990
14,416
13,204	91.59%
1,050	7.28%
14	0.10%
42	0.29%
n/a
106	0.74%
1,212	8.41%

1980
12,984
11,700	90.11%
1,172	9.03%
32	0.25%
16	0.12%
n/a
64	0.49%
1,284	9.89%

1970
11,735
10,035	85.51%
1,620	13.80%
9	0.08%
8	0.07%
n/a
58	0.49%
1,700	14.49%

Decade:

Components:

Births:

Deaths:

Net Migration:

Net Immigration:

Change in White population:

Change in Non-White pop.:

Number	Rate
2000's
1,517	8.3
2,634	14.4
1,890	10.3
260	1.4

1,622	8.9
564	3.1

Number	Rate
1990's
1,640	11.4
2,333	16.2
3,353	23.3
57	0.4

3,300	22.9
608	4.2

Number	Rate
1980's
1,358	10.5
1,801	13.9
1,801	13.9
n/a

1,504	11.6
-72	-0.6

Number	Rate
1970's
n/a
n/a
1,199	10.2
n/a

1,665	14.2
-416	-3.5

Age, Family & Household Data for Polk County, NC

[Display all years]

Year:

Median Age:

Under 18:

Voting Age Population:

Over 65:

Households:

Persons Per HH:

Families (%HH):

Married Couples (%Fams):

Single Mothers (%Fams):

Non-Family (%HH):

2022
Number	Percent
54.2
3,070	15.4%
16,916	84.6%
6,186	31.0%

8,541
2.25

5,346	62.6%
4,472	83.7%
333	6.2%
3,195	37.4%

2010
Number	Percent
49.1
3,938	19.2%
16,572	80.8%
4,993	24.3%

8,989
2.24

5,781	64.3%
4,630	80.1%
387	6.7%
3,208	35.7%

2000
Number	Percent
44.9
3,678	20.1%
14,646	79.9%
4,340	23.7%

7,887
2.28

5,306	67.3%
4,557	85.9%
279	5.3%
2,581	32.7%

1990
Number	Percent
42.9
2,833	19.7%
11,583	80.3%
3,568	24.8%

6,058
2.34

4,300	71.0%
3,743	87.0%
158	3.7%
1,758	29.0%

1980
Number	Percent
38.8
3,110	24.0%
9,874	76.0%
2,664	20.5%

4,963
2.58

3,775	76.1%
3,280	86.9%
161	4.3%
1,188	23.9%

2022 Housing Data for Polk County, NC

Household Income
Range	Number	%
Less than $10,000	437	5.1%
$10,000 to $14,999	442	5.2%
$15,000 to $19,999	422	4.9%
$20,000 to $24,999	337	3.9%
$25,000 to $29,999	527	6.2%
$30,000 to $34,999	405	4.7%
$35,000 to $39,999	277	3.2%
$40,000 to $44,999	299	3.5%
$45,000 to $49,999	401	4.7%
$50,000 to $59,999	693	8.1%
$60,000 to $74,999	904	10.6%
$75,000 to $99,999	1,189	13.9%
$100,000 to $124,999	665	7.8%
$125,000 to $149,999	571	6.7%
$150,000 to $199,999	456	5.3%
$200,000 or more	516	6.0%

Median Household Income	60,465
Per Capita Income	35,916

Cost of Living Index (100 = average)
Compared to state	104
Compared to U.S.	87

Welfare Households
	Number	%
SSI	291	3.4%
Public Assistance	247	2.9%
Public Asst. or Food Stamps	780	9.1%

Labor Force, Ages 25-64
	Number	%
Employed	7,031	71.4%
Unemployed	323	3.3%
In Armed Forces	9	0.1%

Total Labor Force	7,363	74.7%
Not in Labor Force	2,488	25.3%

Real Unemployment Rate		28.5%

Class of Worker
	Male	Female	% Male
Private Sector	3,178	2,415	56.8%
Non-Profit	107	538	16.6%
Self-Employed	902	574	61.1%

Local Government	133	263	33.6%
State Government	75	223	25.2%
Federal Government	58	81	41.7%

Total Private + Self	4,080	2,989	57.7%
Total Non-Profit + Govt.	373	1,105	25.2%
Total	4,453	4,094	52.1%

Pct. Govt.	9.7%

Occupation
	Number	%
Management, Business, Science, Arts	1,112	13.0%
Sales and Office Occupations	1,896	22.2%
Professional, Technical	1,835	21.5%
Service Occupations	1,529	17.9%
Farming, Forestry, Fishing	188	2.2%
All others	2,181	25.5%

White Collar		56.6%

Industry
	Number	%
Health care and social assistance	1,406	16.4%
Manufacturing	1,040	12.2%
Retail trade	919	10.7%
Construction	781	9.1%
Educational services	670	7.8%
Other services	614	7.2%
Professional, scientific, technical	438	5.1%
Accommodation and food services	411	4.8%
Administrative, support, waste mgmt.	381	4.5%
Finance and insurance	362	4.2%
Real estate and rental and leasing	325	3.8%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting	321	3.8%
Transportation and warehousing	239	2.8%
Public administration	171	2.0%
Arts, entertainment, recreation	144	1.7%
Wholesale trade	133	1.6%
Information	113	1.3%
Utilities	75	0.9%
Mining, quarrying, oil/gas extraction	10	0.1%

Hispanic Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Mexican	941	4.82%
Puerto Rican	36	0.18%
Cuban	21	0.11%
Dominican	0	0.00%

Total Central American	72	0.37%
Costa Rican	0	0.00%
Guatemalan	9	0.05%
Honduran	0	0.00%
Nicaraguan	0	0.00%
Panamanian	0	0.00%
Salvadoran	63	0.32%
Other Central American	0	0.00%

Total South American	28	0.14%
Argentinean	6	0.03%
Bolivian	0	0.00%
Chilean	0	0.00%
Colombian	4	0.02%
Ecuadorian	0	0.00%
Paraguayan	0	0.00%
Peruvian	18	0.09%
Uruguayan	0	0.00%
Venezuelan	0	0.00%
Other South American	0	0.00%

Other Hispanic	64	0.33%

Asian Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Vietnamese	16	0.08%
Filipino	15	0.08%
Chinese	6	0.03%
Malaysian	3	0.02%

Language Spoken at Home
Language	Number	%
English	17,438	93.0%
Spanish	948	5.1%
German, other Germanic	226	1.2%
French, Haitian, Cajun	41	0.2%
Russian, Polish, other Slavic	34	0.2%
Other	30	0.2%
Tagalog	15	0.1%
Vietnamese	8	0.0%
Other Indo-European	7	0.0%

Ancestry
Country	Number	%
English	3,155	16.1%
Irish	2,959	15.1%
German	2,811	14.4%
American	2,047	10.5%
Scottish	964	4.9%
Italian	688	3.5%
Scotch-Irish	667	3.4%
European	383	2.0%
French	360	1.8%
Dutch	323	1.7%
British	286	1.5%
Welsh	155	0.8%
Polish	141	0.7%
Swedish	135	0.7%
Norwegian	120	0.6%

Citizenship & Nativity
	Number	%
U.S. citizen	19,182	98.2%
Not a citizen	356	1.8%

Native	18,712	95.8%
Foreign-born	826	4.2%

Educational Attainment, Population 25 Years and Older
334	2.2%	775	5.1%	4,073	26.6%	5,031	32.8%	3,285	21.4%	1,822	11.9%
Average years of education: 13.8

Population 25 Years and Older
< 9 Years	334	2.2%
9-12 Years	775	5.1%
H.S. Grad or GED	4,073	26.6%
Some College	5,031	32.8%
Bach. Degree	3,285	21.4%
Grad Degree	1,822	11.9%
Average years of education: 13.8

Labor Force Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Year	Labor Force	Employed	Unemployed	Unemp. Rate	State Avg.
1990	6,931	6,783	148	2.1%	4.1%
1991	7,362	7,137	225	3.1%	5.9%
1992	7,361	7,075	286	3.9%	6.3%
1993	7,291	7,061	230	3.2%	5.1%
1994	7,417	7,201	216	2.9%	4.4%
1995	7,585	7,381	204	2.7%	4.4%
1996	7,701	7,514	187	2.4%	4.4%
1997	7,807	7,629	178	2.3%	3.8%
1998	7,802	7,638	164	2.1%	3.5%
1999	8,266	8,001	265	3.2%	3.3%

2000	8,501	8,191	310	3.6%	3.7%
2001	8,776	8,396	380	4.3%	5.6%
2002	8,682	8,208	474	5.5%	6.9%
2003	8,971	8,524	447	5.0%	6.7%
2004	9,054	8,632	422	4.7%	5.9%
2005	9,163	8,754	409	4.5%	5.6%
2006	9,415	9,060	355	3.8%	5.1%
2007	9,723	9,364	359	3.7%	5.1%
2008	9,575	9,112	463	4.8%	6.2%
2009	9,529	8,625	904	9.5%	11.0%

2010	8,593	7,730	863	10.0%	10.7%
2011	8,490	7,699	791	9.3%	10.3%
2012	8,417	7,686	731	8.7%	9.5%
2013	8,686	8,126	560	6.4%	7.8%
2014	8,408	7,971	437	5.2%	6.1%
2015	8,653	8,217	436	5.0%	5.7%
2016	8,798	8,389	409	4.6%	5.1%
2017	8,903	8,532	371	4.2%	4.5%
2018	8,951	8,606	345	3.9%	4.0%
2019	9,170	8,836	334	3.6%	3.8%

2020	8,948	8,392	556	6.2%	7.3%
2021	9,036	8,605	431	4.8%	4.9%
2022	9,365	9,007	358	3.8%	3.7%
2023	9,469	9,158	311	3.3%	3.5%

Housing Data
	Number	%
Housing Units	10,881
Median Value	$255,000

Occupied	8,541	78.5%
Vacant	2,340	21.5%

Owned	6,537	76.5%
Rented	2,004	23.5%
Median Rent	$984

Single-Family Units	8,573	78.8%
Detached	8,350	76.7%
Attached	223	2.0%
Buldings with 5+ Units	623	5.7%
Mobile Homes	1,384	12.7%

Polk County, NC

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

Age, Family & Household Data for Polk County, NC

2022 Housing Data for Polk County, NC

2022 Income & Employment Data for Polk County, NC

2022 Ancestry, Citizenship & Language Data for Polk County, NC

2022 Educational Attainment Data for Polk County, NC

Historical Labor Force Data for Polk County, NC