| | Banner Elk, NC | Covington, LA | United States |
| Unemployment Rate | 4.1% | 4.4% | 6.0% |
| Recent Job Growth | -0.2% | 1.4% | 1.6% |
| Future Job Growth | 31.8% | 28.3% | 33.5% |
| Sales Taxes | 6.8% | 8.7% | 6.2% |
| Income Taxes | 5.3% | 6.0% | 4.6% |
| Income per Cap. | $33,233 | $32,045 | $37,638 |
| Household Income | $58,333 | $70,511 | $69,021 |
| Family Median Income | $118,750 | $86,642 | $85,028 |
| space | | | |
| Est. Households By Income | | | |
| | Banner Elk, NC | Covington, LA | United States |
| Income Less Than 15K | 6.7% | 14.4% | 9.4% |
| Income between 15K and 20K | 3.7% | 1.4% | 3.8% |
| Income between 20K and 30K | 14.3% | 6.9% | 8.1% |
| Income between 30K and 40K | 13.1% | 7.7% | 8.0% |
| Income between 40K and 50K | 7.6% | 5.4% | 7.6% |
| Income between 50K and 60K | 5.2% | 9.0% | 7.2% |
| Income between 60K and 75K | 7.0% | 8.2% | 9.6% |
| Income between 75K and 100K | 6.7% | 13.9% | 12.8% |
| Income between 100K and 150K | 11.0% | 12.1% | 16.3% |
| Income between 150K and 200K | 12.5% | 15.3% | 7.8% |
| Income greater than 200K | 12.2% | 5.7% | 9.5% |
| space1 | | | |
| Population By Occupation | | | |
| | Banner Elk, NC | Covington, LA | United States |
| Management, business, finance | 7.6% | 25.5% | 16.4% |
| Engineering, computers, science | 7.1% | 4.5% | 6.5% |
| Community, social services | 0.7% | 2.4% | 1.8% |
| Legal | 0.0% | 2.0% | 1.2% |
| Education, library | 31.5% | 7.5% | 6.2% |
| Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment | 2.2% | 2.8% | 2.0% |
| Healthcare practitioners and technology | 3.2% | 6.5% | 6.2% |
| Healthcare support | 0.0% | 2.6% | 3.3% |
| Firefighters, law enforcement | 0.7% | 0.9% | 2.1% |
| Food preparation, serving | 13.4% | 4.8% | 5.4% |
| Building maintenance | 3.7% | 3.1% | 3.6% |
| Personal care | 2.2% | 1.2% | 2.6% |
| Sales, office, administrative support | 22.4% | 17.9% | 20.9% |
| Farming, fishing, forestry | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.6% |
| Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair | 1.9% | 12.0% | 8.1% |
| Production, transportation, material moving | 3.2% | 6.4% | 13.1% |