Boone, NC
Metro Area Profile
55,123 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Boone, NC metropolitan area.
Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.
Residential permitting has slowed: 354 units authorized over the past twelve months, 31% below the prior year.
Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 6.9 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 26% of it.
A typical July reaches 79°F and a typical January falls to 22°F, on thirty-year normals.
At a glance
Jobs & opportunity
48% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 96% of measured US metros.
Median household income of $51,693 is below 91% of measured US metros.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income ±$3,285 | $51,693 | Bottom 9%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$2,046 | $34,167 | Bottom 40%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate | 25.5% | Top 3%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute | 22.0 min | Bottom 29%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 48.1% | Top 4%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Labor force participation | 59.0% | Bottom 42%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated →Median rent of $1,127 takes 26% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.
A median home costs 6.9 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home price to income | 6.94 | Top 3%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate | 62.1% | Bottom 13%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±69 | 33,355 | Bottom 47%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$85 | $1,127 | Top 28%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$18,269 | $358,900 | Top 17%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income | 26.2% | Top 2%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate | 36.4% | Top 1%of 935 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated →An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.
Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 54,997 in 2024.
New construction is predominantly single-family: only 19% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.
At 6.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.
Weather & climate
5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 79°F and January a low of 22°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 59.1 inches, including 25.6 inches of snow.
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation | 59.1" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Annual snowfall | 25.6" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low | 22°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high | 79°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing | 37°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and earthquake.
Low or minimal exposure: landslide, hurricane, tornado, winter weather, strong wind, wildfire, hail.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
What this profile does not cover
Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.
- Reported crime
- Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- Taxes
- Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
- Anything about a specific address
- Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.
Access
4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 42 miles away.
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tri-Cities | TRI | 42 mi | 8,000 ft |
| Asheville Rgnl | AVL | 72 mi | 8,002 ft |
| Charlotte/Douglas Intl | CLT | 82 mi | 10,000 ft |
Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.
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Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle | 28-day NASR cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) | Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current) |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals | Every ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period) |
| Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year | Annual (5-year estimates released each December) |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 | Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate | Annual (vintage released each spring) |
Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.