Buncombe County, NC

FIPS 37021 · QCEW annual data · Latest: 2024

In 2024, Buncombe County had an annual average of 136,496 jobs across 13,107 establishments, paying $8.0 billion in total annual wages. Source: BLS QCEW, all ownerships combined.

Total Jobs

136,496

-1.3% YoY

Establishments

13,107

Total Wages

$8.0B

Avg Annual Pay

$58,784

Industry Breakdown (2024 annual averages, by NAICS sector)

Employment, establishments, and pay by 2-digit NAICS industry sector. Each industry name links to its national profile. Sectors with all cells suppressed by BLS won't appear.

Industry breakdown of employment and wages for Buncombe County, NC, BLS QCEW 2024.
NAICS Industry Employment Establishments Avg Weekly Wage Total Wages
722 NAICS 722 13,650 872 $567 $402.8M
621 NAICS 621 11,387 1,025 $1,525 $902.9M
611 NAICS 611 9,176 330 $1,096 $508.4M
541 NAICS 541 6,961 2,177 $1,622 $587.1M
561 NAICS 561 6,498 830 $1,141 $330.3M
445 NAICS 445 4,747 148 $808 $134.6M
238 NAICS 238 3,926 616 $1,180 $241.0M
721 NAICS 721 3,714 164 $702 $135.6M
623 NAICS 623 3,650 88 $914 $173.6M
921 NAICS 921 3,605 14 $2,074 $248.0M
622 NAICS 622 2,889 4 $2,015 $300.5M
455 NAICS 455 2,703 91 $587 $82.5M
335 NAICS 335 2,457 10 $1,458 $186.3M
812 NAICS 812 2,360 355 $751 $92.2M
459 NAICS 459 2,292 393 $676 $80.6M
493 NAICS 493 1,930 15 $1,009 $101.3M
813 NAICS 813 1,919 209 $931 $90.2M
333 NAICS 333 1,917 25 $1,529 $152.5M
531 NAICS 531 1,874 736 $1,172 $114.2M
236 NAICS 236 1,733 505 $1,459 $131.4M
424 NAICS 424 1,730 177 $1,481 $133.3M
423 NAICS 423 1,707 285 $1,512 $134.2M
444 NAICS 444 1,582 81 $743 $61.1M
441 NAICS 441 1,556 118 $1,149 $93.0M
458 NAICS 458 1,503 203 $606 $47.3M
326 NAICS 326 1,384 15 $1,291 $93.0M
336 NAICS 336 1,291 15 $1,430 $96.0M
522 NAICS 522 1,275 163 $1,938 $109.2M
713 NAICS 713 1,242 124 $515 $33.3M
811 NAICS 811 1,165 231 $1,037 $62.8M
456 NAICS 456 1,156 116 $1,135 $68.2M
926 NAICS 926 1,152 14 $1,504 $76.8M
551 NAICS 551 1,128 64 $1,754 $102.9M
237 NAICS 237 1,106 53 $1,595 $91.7M
457 NAICS 457 1,021 136 $677 $36.0M
524 NAICS 524 864 191 $1,671 $75.1M
449 NAICS 449 797 116 $933 $38.6M
492 NAICS 492 732 20 $1,074 $40.9M
221 NAICS 221 701 24 $2,637 $85.1M
513 NAICS 513 686 182 $2,473 $88.3M
532 NAICS 532 684 59 $860 $30.6M
922 NAICS 922 649 14 $2,302 $49.6M
339 NAICS 339 620 38 $1,068 $34.4M
311 NAICS 311 592 54 $892 $27.4M
332 NAICS 332 556 43 $1,206 $34.8M
323 NAICS 323 522 31 $1,129 $30.7M
484 NAICS 484 517 104 $1,248 $33.6M
334 NAICS 334 459 18 $1,310 $31.3M
562 NAICS 562 439 36 $1,293 $29.5M
924 NAICS 924 419 8 $2,200 $43.4M
491 NAICS 491 407 20 $1,400 $29.7M
313 NAICS 313 396 7 $1,323 $27.2M
488 NAICS 488 368 34 $2,392 $23.0M
517 NAICS 517 352 28 $1,727 $31.6M
512 NAICS 512 314 64 $979 $16.0M
814 NAICS 814 312 328 $544 $8.8M
327 NAICS 327 294 21 $1,366 $20.9M
485 NAICS 485 286 18 $1,155 $15.1M
516 NAICS 516 282 31 $1,419 $20.8M
518 NAICS 518 278 57 $5,149 $74.4M
337 NAICS 337 234 19 $1,159 $14.1M
314 NAICS 314 200 8 $949 $9.9M
111 NAICS 111 182 27 $762 $7.2M
925 NAICS 925 151 1 $786 $6.2M
315 NAICS 315 139 8 $687 $5.0M
425 NAICS 425 118 46 $1,684 $10.3M
923 NAICS 923 118 4 $1,812 $6.5M
325 NAICS 325 114 13 $1,216 $7.2M
712 NAICS 712 102 2 $1,677 $7.8M
321 NAICS 321 68 7 $1,077 $3.8M
115 NAICS 115 67 9 $811 $2.8M
112 NAICS 112 32 12 $649 $1.1M
519 NAICS 519 17 19 $1,613 $1.5M
999 NAICS 999 9 49 $1,265 $0.6M
533 NAICS 533 7 7 $2,528 $0.9M
481 NAICS 481 5 3 $3,054 $0.8M
928 NAICS 928 3 1 $2,656 $0.5M

By Ownership (2024)

Four QCEW ownership classes — Federal, State, Local, and Private.

Federal Government

3,958

jobs · $101,652 avg pay

State Government

3,387

jobs · $58,324 avg pay

Local Government

8,419

jobs · $61,465 avg pay

Private

120,732

jobs · $57,206 avg pay

NC Unemployment

The statewide unemployment rate (BLS LAUS, seasonally adjusted) gives county data its broader economic backdrop.

3.7%

April 2026

Compare all state unemployment rates →

Other NC Counties

The largest counties in NC by total employment.