Boone is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Boone area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Boone maintain a good economy.
Boone, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the town.
Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 15.61 minutes getting to work every day.
For a small town, Boone has a lot of people who use public transit to get to work, and those that do mostly ride the bus. This suggests that a real need for low-cost transportation in Boone exists, and local transit is helping to meet that need.
Boone is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 46.12% of adults in Boone have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.
The per capita income in Boone in 2022 was $15,722, which is low income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $62,888 for a family of four. However, Boone contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Boone also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 55.90% of its population below the federal poverty line.
Boone is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Boone home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Boone residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Boone include Irish, English, German, European, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Boone is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Vietnamese.
