BCS Advantage Magazine Special Edition #1 | Page 4

BUNCOMBE COUNTY
AND SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS
Buncombe County is located at 2,134 feet in elevation in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western
North Carolina – 657 square miles of landscape bordered by the Blue Ridge, Great Craggy, and
Black Mountains to the east and the Great Smokies chain of the Appalachians to the west. Two
protected areas of the historic Blue Ridge Parkway and Pisgah National Forest rest in Buncombe
County. Asheville, located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers, is the
county seat as well as the economic and cultural center of Western North Carolina.
THE FACE OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY IS REFLECTED IN A SELECTION OF
POPULATION AND SOCIOECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHIC ATTRIBUTES ESTIMATED
BY THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.
POPULATION
253,178
 6.2%
POPULATION
INCREASE SINCE
2010
HOUSEHOLDS: 101,645
Persons per Household
2.34
63.9%
Home Ownership
Median Value Housing
$189,500
Median Household Income $45,642
Per Capita Income (2014) $26,930
Persons in Poverty (2014) 13.9%
POPULATION BY RACE AND ETHNICITY: Mean Travel Time to Work 20.4 minutes
White: 89.5% Language Other than English
Spoken at Home
Black or African American:
6.6%
Programs • Service
0.5%
s
Asian: Academics • Athletics • 1.3%
Arts
/ Other
Islander:
Native Hawaiian
Human
Re Pacific
source
s • Budget 0.2%
s
2.0%
Two or More Races:
obal Origin:
Educat
Hispanic Gl
or Latino
ion • Digital Le
6.6%
arning
S.T.E.M. • Transportation • Nutrition
Graduation • Purpose & Direction
7.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native:
EDUCATION:
Bachelor’s Degree
or Higher 35.1%
High School
Graduate or
Higher 90.0%
2
BuncombeSchools.org
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2010-2015): (http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/37021)