County Maps US

Swain County, North Carolina

A county in North Carolina, ranked 89 of 100 by population.

CountyFIPS 37173

Within North Carolina
Swain County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data.

Download SVGFull North Carolina map downloads

Population
14,024
-83 (-0.6%) since 2020
Land area
527.7
square miles. A further 2.3% of the total area is water
Population density
26.6
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Bryson City
Seat of county government.
Established
1871
154 years ago
Largest city
Bryson City town
Population 1,525.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Swain County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Swain County, North Carolina from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 545 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Swain County ranks

Position among the 100 counties of North Carolina, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn North CarolinaNationally
Population14,02489th of 1002,163rd of 3,144
Land area527.7 sq mi37th of 1001,983rd of 3,144
Population density26.6 per sq mi96th of 1002,024th of 3,144
Median household income$52,34978th of 1002,640th of 3,143

Full data for Swain County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population14,024Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202014,107Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?14,115Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area527.7 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area12.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area540.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?26.6 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$52,349American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$207,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age42.6American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households6,013American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units8,629American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-105
135 births, 240 deaths
Net migration
+82
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 6 areas bordering Swain County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Graham CountyNorth Carolina42 mi8,190
Sevier CountyTennessee31 mi101,342
Jackson CountyNorth Carolina25 mi45,039
Macon CountyNorth Carolina22 mi39,232
Blount CountyTennessee21 mi143,820
Haywood CountyNorth Carolina20 mi63,369

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 100 counties of North Carolina

Open the interactive North Carolina county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.