Home › Counties › Watauga County, NC
The median home value in Watauga County, NC is $516,079 as of 2026-07-31, up 0.49% from a year earlier.
Median Home Value
$516,079
Year-over-Year
+0.49%
National Rank
#184 of 3071
Watauga County ranks 4th out of 100 counties in NC by median home price, and is +120.2% above the U.S. national median of $234,352. Within NC, the typical county has a median home value of $274,146, making Watauga County +88.2% above the NC state median.
Households here earn a median of $51,693 a year against a typical home value of $516,079 — a price-to-income ratio of 10.0×, past the 5× level generally described as severely unaffordable. That makes it one of the least affordable counties in the country relative to local wages. (How this is calculated.)
Reporting agencies in Watauga County recorded a violent crime rate of 91 per 100,000 residents in 2024 — lower than most counties nationally. Property crime runs at 971 per 100,000.
Based on 4 reporting cities covering 23,182 residents (FBI UCR data — what this covers).
The median home value in Watauga County is $516,079. That's up 0.49% from a year earlier. That is about 120.2% above the U.S. national county median of $234,352, and makes Watauga County the 4th most expensive of 100 counties in North Carolina.
Median household income here is $51,693, so a typical home costs about 10.0× annual household earnings — expensive compared with other U.S. counties.
Reporting police departments in Watauga County recorded 91 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. That figure covers 23,182 residents across 4 reporting cities, so it reflects the county's incorporated areas rather than every community within its borders.
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