Watauga County, NC

FIPS 37189 · QCEW annual data · Latest: 2024

In 2024, Watauga County had an annual average of 25,106 jobs across 2,018 establishments, paying $1.2 billion in total annual wages. Source: BLS QCEW, all ownerships combined.

Total Jobs

25,106

+0.3% YoY

Establishments

2,018

Total Wages

$1.2B

Avg Annual Pay

$48,024

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 Watauga County, NC, BLS QCEW 2024.
NAICS Industry Employment Establishments Avg Weekly Wage Total Wages
999 NAICS 999 — 7 $2,089 $0.0M
611 NAICS 611 4,828 45 $1,246 $297.8M
722 NAICS 722 3,432 158 $404 $72.1M
624 NAICS 624 1,368 49 $1,276 $90.8M
621 NAICS 621 1,120 121 $1,208 $69.8M
541 NAICS 541 908 246 $1,598 $75.4M
721 NAICS 721 868 47 $517 $23.4M
713 NAICS 713 844 33 $550 $24.1M
445 NAICS 445 781 26 $718 $18.7M
921 NAICS 921 776 4 $908 $36.6M
531 NAICS 531 674 153 $894 $31.3M
459 NAICS 459 597 84 $439 $13.6M
455 NAICS 455 585 22 $516 $15.7M
238 NAICS 238 566 118 $966 $28.4M
236 NAICS 236 434 128 $1,051 $23.8M
444 NAICS 444 364 17 $783 $14.8M
458 NAICS 458 346 49 $406 $7.3M
424 NAICS 424 342 27 $1,053 $18.7M
441 NAICS 441 317 22 $1,170 $19.3M
551 NAICS 551 311 8 $1,470 $23.8M
811 NAICS 811 274 47 $854 $12.2M
812 NAICS 812 217 45 $579 $6.5M
456 NAICS 456 213 18 $590 $6.5M
457 NAICS 457 186 29 $838 $8.1M
423 NAICS 423 168 29 $1,492 $13.0M
522 NAICS 522 163 24 $1,488 $12.6M
813 NAICS 813 151 30 $789 $6.2M
449 NAICS 449 138 28 $741 $5.3M
312 NAICS 312 105 4 $563 $3.1M
524 NAICS 524 104 17 $1,493 $8.0M
926 NAICS 926 93 7 $1,330 $6.2M
532 NAICS 532 90 15 $892 $4.2M
485 NAICS 485 84 1 $692 $3.0M
237 NAICS 237 82 11 $1,154 $4.9M
491 NAICS 491 78 6 $1,308 $5.3M
484 NAICS 484 72 15 $851 $3.2M
517 NAICS 517 60 6 $1,420 $4.4M
712 NAICS 712 59 5 $1,189 $2.1M
332 NAICS 332 54 8 $1,129 $3.2M
924 NAICS 924 53 4 $1,987 $2.9M
513 NAICS 513 50 14 $1,762 $4.5M
922 NAICS 922 44 5 $3,569 $3.0M
314 NAICS 314 40 3 $663 $1.4M
711 NAICS 711 34 7 $505 $0.9M
814 NAICS 814 32 33 $315 $0.5M
523 NAICS 523 30 17 $2,463 $3.8M
111 NAICS 111 28 8 $466 $0.7M
327 NAICS 327 25 6 $907 $1.2M
519 NAICS 519 22 2 $500 $0.6M
113 NAICS 113 13 4 $701 $0.5M
923 NAICS 923 7 2 $1,051 $0.4M
425 NAICS 425 7 5 $1,253 $0.4M
928 NAICS 928 3 1 $1,289 $0.2M
561 NAICS 561 2 1 $934 $0.1M

By Ownership (2024)

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

Federal Government

106

jobs · $68,331 avg pay

State Government

4,082

jobs · $64,656 avg pay

Local Government

1,727

jobs · $48,749 avg pay

Private

19,191

jobs · $44,309 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.