Division of Research & Evaluation

Appalachian Regional Commission

Industrial snapshot: Appalachian North Carolina

Largest industrial share in 2017: Health & Social Services, 123,000 jobs, 13.1 percent of total employment

Fastest growth in employment from 2012 to 2017: Utilities, 31.9 percent growth

Fastest growth in earnings per employee from 2012 to 2017: Farming & Forestry, 33.5 percent growth

For more information, please see the complete report, Industrial Make-up of the Appalachian Region, Employment and Earnings, 2002-2017, available 

for download at www.arc.gov/research. The report includes county-level maps for each industry in the region, allowing for comparisons across states and 

subregions, as well discussion about how trends in the Region compare with those in the United States as a whole.

App. Non-App. Total App. Non-App. Total App. Non-App. Total

Total Employment 936 4,984 5,920 13,420 196,132 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 $42,601 $52,294 $50,762 $46,697 $57,187

Health, Social Services 123 448 571 1,562 22,199 13.1 9.0 9.6 11.6 11.3 $52,999 $53,318 $53,249 $53,807 $56,340

Professional, Technical Services 112 746 857 1,619 28,479 11.9 15.0 14.5 12.1 14.5 $39,559 $50,737 $49,283 $43,107 $61,372

Retail Trade 103 500 603 1,493 19,222 11.0 10.0 10.2 11.1 9.8 $9,872 $15,819 $14,801 $17,906 $22,477

Food, Lodging, Entertainment 102 480 582 1,240 19,155 10.9 9.6 9.8 9.2 9.8 $21,664 $24,242 $23,790 $21,308 $27,685

State & Local Government 102 557 658 1,488 19,619 10.9 11.2 11.1 11.1 10.0 $51,801 $59,924 $58,671 $58,113 $69,677

Manufacturing 90 404 494 1,342 13,307 9.7 8.1 8.3 10.0 6.8 $57,647 $70,401 $68,068 $63,583 $77,469

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate 74 457 531 1,040 19,616 7.9 9.2 9.0 7.8 10.0 $32,160 $55,652 $52,368 $37,716 $60,386

Construction 60 286 345 775 10,636 6.4 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.4 $45,317 $56,357 $54,453 $53,773 $64,788

Personal & Other Services 56 278 334 793 11,170 6.0 5.6 5.6 5.9 5.7 $30,882 $33,135 $32,755 $32,180 $36,353

Wholesale Trade, Transportation 47 342 389 874 14,148 5.0 6.9 6.6 6.5 7.2 $93,262 $86,252 $87,103 $80,686 $83,878

Education, Information Services 29 206 235 432 8,075 3.1 4.1 4.0 3.2 4.1 $82,627 $80,256 $80,549 $79,670 $82,520

Farming, Forestry 22 69 91 325 3,552 2.3 1.4 1.5 2.4 1.8 $24,057 $45,228 $40,125 $13,726 $28,111

Federal Government, Military 11 191 202 241 4,786 1.2 3.8 3.4 1.8 2.4 $71,141 $82,779 $82,136 $78,938 $91,808

Utilities 3 15 18 57 664 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 $79,433 $114,430 $109,227 $109,314 $125,893

Coal, Gas, Other Mining 2 7 10 140 1,505 0.2 0.2 0.2 1.0 0.8 $34,843 $25,769 $27,748 $48,966 $67,769

2017

Employment (thousands) Industrial Share Earnings per employee

North Carolina App. U.S. North Carolina App. U.S. North Carolina App. U.S.

App. Non-App. Total App. Non-App. Total

Total Employment 7.5 11.1 10.5 4.7 9.6 6.0 1.1 1.8 3.7 3.4

Health, Social Services 11.3 7.6 8.4 5.3 10.5 7.1 6.3 6.5 4.7 4.1

Professional, Technical Services 6.9 14.6 13.6 7.1 12.0 20.0 12.0 13.1 9.3 7.8

Retail Trade 7.4 10.5 10.0 2.5 6.4 -15.7 16.9 12.0 22.4 15.6

Food, Lodging, Entertainment 18.5 18.0 18.1 11.6 15.1 11.7 10.3 10.5 6.2 8.0

State & Local Government -1.7 1.6 1.1 -0.7 2.3 7.0 6.8 6.9 6.8 7.9

Manufacturing 11.1 6.6 7.4 5.5 5.6 4.2 1.9 2.1 3.4 1.4

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate 10.4 16.0 15.2 8.6 11.7 -2.8 -24.3 -22.5 -2.5 2.9

Construction 12.0 19.2 17.9 7.2 19.0 11.0 14.3 14.0 3.5 7.9

Personal & Other Services 4.4 10.1 9.1 3.7 7.7 4.6 3.0 3.3 3.1 2.5

Wholesale Trade, Transportation 1.4 18.3 16.0 6.2 16.8 9.9 -1.3 0.1 -0.6 -5.6

Education, Information Services -5.6 16.5 13.2 2.4 8.7 6.4 1.8 2.4 4.4 6.5

Farming, Forestry 1.2 5.9 4.7 0.7 1.3 33.5 -9.6 -4.6 -6.2 -18.9

Federal Government, Military -6.4 -3.6 -3.8 -3.9 -2.9 4.4 -1.4 -1.1 3.4 2.8

Utilities 31.9 35.6 35.1 11.0 14.9 -17.7 -23.1 -22.4 0.3 -2.6

Coal, Gas, Other Mining 0.2 4.0 3.2 -17.3 -2.7 23.0 21.5 21.7 -23.3 -36.4

2012-2017

Percent change in employment Percent change in earnings per employee

North Carolina App. U.S. North Carolina App. U.S.