Watauga County, North Carolina


Watauga County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 54,086 at the 2020 census. Its county seat and largest community is Boone. The county is in an exceptionally mountainous region, known as the High Country. It is the home of Appalachian State University, which has approximately 21,570 students as of Fall 2024. Watauga County comprises the Boone, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The county was formed in 1849 from parts of Ashe, Caldwell, Wilkes, and Yancey counties. It was named for the Watauga River, whose name is said to be a Native American word. Meanings include "beautiful water," "whispering waters," "village of many springs," and "river of islands."

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Watauga County is extremely mountainous, and all of the county's terrain is located within the Appalachian Mountains range. The highest point in the county is Calloway Peak, the highest peak of Grandfather Mountain, which rises to above sea level. At an elevation of above sea level, Beech Mountain is the highest incorporated community east of the Mississippi River. Boone, the county's largest city and county seat, has the highest elevation of any city over 10,000 population in the Eastern United States.
Isolated by mountainous terrain from the remainder of North Carolina to the east, Watauga County was described in the 19th and early 20th centuries as one of the Lost Provinces of North Carolina.

National protected areas

As with most of North Carolina's High Country, the climate of Watauga County is that of a humid continental climate, characterized by considerably cooler and more extreme weather than in other parts of the state. Dramatic and unexpected changes in the weather are not uncommon in the county, particularly for precipitation. This is partly due to the elevation of the county, and partly due to orographic lifting, which causes precipitation to fall more readily in Watauga County than in lowland areas to the south and east. Summers can be very warm, with temperatures commonly near 80 °F and occasionally approaching 90 °F. Snow usually starts in November, tapering off by March, and occasional snowfall occurs in April. Windy conditions tend to be amplified across the county due to the rugged terrain and high elevation.

Ski resorts

Because of the cold winter climate in Watauga County, the area is home to several ski resorts.
Watauga County, like much of the High Country, has no interstate highway. The county is served by state highways maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. The Blue Ridge Parkway in eastern portions of Watauga is sometimes used as a commuter route due to its proximity to populated areas—for example, it is the fastest route between the unincorporated community of Bamboo and the town of Blowing Rock.

Major highways

  • Airport

A small general aviation airstrip is located in Boone. However, it has no scheduled commercial service. As such, commercial airline passengers must typically utilize the airports at Charlotte, Greensboro in North Carolina, or the Tri-Cities in Tennessee.

Public Transportation

There is a public transport system in Boone provided by AppalCART that services the downtown and some outlying areas at no cost, in addition to paratransit, and rural route services for a small fee. Sunway Charters, a charter bus company, operates in cooperation with Greyhound Lines to provide coach bus service from Boone to Charlotte and Greensboro, called the Mountaineer North–South and the Mountaineer East–West, respectively.

Demographics

2024 census

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-counties/north-carolina/watauga-county
White: 50,349 92.32%
Two or more races: 1,737 3.18%
Black or African American: 981 1.8%
Asian: 767 1.41%
Other race: 348 0.64%
Native American: 339 0.62%
Native Hawaiian: 19 0.03%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 54,086 and a median age of 29.4 years; 13.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.6% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.9 males.
The racial makeup of the county was 84.5% White, 4.0% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7% Asian, less than 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 4.0% from some other race, and 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.5% of the population.
51.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 48.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 21,413 households in the county, of which 19.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.8% were married-couple households, 23.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 32,637 housing units, of which 34.4% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 56.5% were owner-occupied and 43.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.7%.

2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 42,695 people, 16,540 households, and 9,411 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 23,155 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 96.45% White, 1.59% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.45% from other races, and 0.62% from two or more races. 1.46% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
According to the 2000 Census the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Watauga County were: English, German and Irish.
Most of those claiming Irish ancestry in Watauga county are actually of Scots-Irish/Ulster-Scots Protestant background and not Irish Catholics.
There were 16,540 households, out of which 23.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.40% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.10% were non-families. 28.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.80.
The age distribution is 16.30% under the age of 18, 27.80% from 18 to 24, 23.40% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. The overall age distribution and median age are greatly affected by the presence of Appalachian State University in Boone. For every 100 females there are 99.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $32,611, and the median income for a family was $45,508. Males had a median income of $29,135 versus $22,006 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,258. About 7.20% of families and 17.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.50% of those under age 18 and 10.60% of those age 65 or over.

Government, public safety, and politics

Government

Watauga County is governed by an elected Board of Commissioners who provide administration policy for the appointed County Manager.
Watauga County is a member of the regional High Country Council of Governments.

Public safety

County sheriff and municipal police

The Sheriff's Office provides court protection, jail management, and protection of all county owned facilities for all of Watauga County and patrol and detective services for the unincorporated areas of the county. The towns of Boone, Beech Mountain, Blowing Rock, and Seven Devils have municipal police departments.

Fire protection and emergency services

Fire protection is provided by 13 fire departments in Watauga County including Beaver Dam, Boone, Beech Mountain, Cove Creek, Deep Gap, Foscoe, Meat Camp, Shawneehaw, Stewart, Simmons, Todd, and Zionville. The Emergency Management Office coordinates resources for emergency services and also provides countywide EMS service.

Politics

Historically, Watauga's strong Unionist sympathies – though not as strong as North Carolina highland-mountain counties like Avery and Mitchell, or counties with Quaker, antislavery histories like Yadkin – meant the county voted mainly Republican during the Solid South Democrat era, except in Presidential landslides. The only Democrats to gain an absolute majority of the county's vote in the 20th century were Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, and by a very narrow margin, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, while Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and Bill Clinton in 1992 obtained pluralities in three-cornered contests. The growth of Appalachian State University, with its predominantly left-leaning electorate, has strengthened the Democratic Party's standing and it carried the county in 2008, 2016, 2020 and 2024. The county has also proved favorable for Libertarians, with Watauga being Gary Johnson's best county in all of North Carolina in both his 2012 and 2016 campaigns.