Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
7 <br />Work First Block Grant Plan <br />I. Conditions within the County <br />Orange County <br />Orange County has a total area of 401.51 square miles, with 399.84 square miles of land <br />area. Hillsborough, North Carolina is the county seat and Chapel Hill is the largest <br />town. Orange County has a population of 122,474. The racial breakdown of the <br />population for the county based on projections for 2000 is 78% Caucasian, 13.8% Black, <br />4.5% Hispanic, and 4.1% Asian and Other. The Hispanic population growth in Orange <br />County is noteworthy. This population group has nearly doubled since 1997, now <br />including about 5,273 people. <br />The per capita income for the county is $34,182. The median family income is $42,372, <br />ranked ninth in the state. Fifty one percent of adults in Orange County have a college <br />education, the highest percentage in the state of North Carolina. The state average of <br />adults with college education is 22.5%. In Orange County, 87.6% of the population has <br />a high school education compared to 78% for North Carolina. <br />Workforce by Industry (4th Qtr 2005) <br /> Workforce Average Weekly Earnings <br /> Number Percent County State <br />Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing & <br />Huntin 192 0.3% $516.00 $494.00 <br />Construction: 2,094 3.26% $626.00 $652.00 <br />Finance/Insurance/ <br />Real Estate: 1,886 3.20% $1,782.00 $1,678.00 <br />Government: 28,242 48.20% $887.00 $786.00 <br />Manufacturing: 1,494 2.50% $765.00 $795.00 <br />Retail Trade: 6,371 10.90% $438.00 $440.00 <br />Wholesale Trade: 817 1.40% $1,013.00 $945.00 <br />Professional & Technical <br />Services: 2,946 5.0% $924.00 $995.00 <br />Health Care & Social <br />Assistance: 10,220 17.40% $827.00 $676.00 <br />Accommodation & Food Service 5,027 8.60% $275.00 $243.00 <br />Total Workforce: 58,592 100.00% <br />(Source: North Carolina Department of Commerce, Economic Policy and Research Division. County <br />Profile. Available online: <br />http: //cmedis. commerce.state. nc. us/countyprofiles/countyprofile. asp?county=Orange <br />Orange County has had 22 businesses either close or lay-off workers within the past 16 <br />months. The unemployment rate has decreased 14% from July 2005-July 2006. The <br />unemployment rate in July 2005 was 4.4 decreasing to 3.8% in July 2006. Government <br />