McGrady, North Carolina.
. North Wilkesboro, NC metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$964 (+124%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- North Carolina$1,743
- United States$1,922
Living in McGrady, Wilkes County, North Carolina
The Census does not count McGrady on its own, so the figures here are Wilkes County's. Half the county's households earn more than $51,721 a year and half less; 17% of the county's people live below the poverty line. 74% of the county's homes are lived in by their owners and 26% are rented. Unemployment in Wilkes County was 3.7% in August 2026, and the county had 0.2% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Wilkes County work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Haiku 5.5 wrote this on 22 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. McGrady is in Wilkes County, in the hill country of northwestern North Carolina. Winters are cold, with January the coldest month, and summers are warm, with July the warmest; rain and melted snow add up to more than in most of the country. Across Wilkes County, most homes are lived in by their owners, and the typical resident is older than the typical American.
Work. Across Wilkes County, many residents work in schools, hospitals and social care, in factories, in shops, and in restaurants, hotels and entertainment. Unemployment is lower than a year earlier, and the number of jobs has held nearly steady, slipping only a little from the year before. Fewer adults hold a four-year degree than across the country, incomes sit below the national typical, and relatively few people work from home.
Things to do. The New River, a river a longer drive away, is one of the best known nearby places. Stone Mountain State Park, a protected area a short drive away, is a closer option. North Wilkesboro Speedway, a race track a longer drive away, is another place to visit.
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- 27,107households
- 45.7median age
- 17%of adults have a degree
- 17%below the poverty line
- 26 mintypical commute
- 9%work from home
What people in Wilkes County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Wilkes County had 18,897 jobs in 2025, 0.2% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 42° and lows near 22°; warmest in July, with highs near 79° and lows near 58°. About 59 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Transou weather station, 7 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Wilkes County
- Wilkes County SchoolsSchool district1,218FTE
- Tyson FarmsPoultry processing1,159
- Wilkes Community CollegeTwo-year college693
- Wrmc Hospital OperatingGeneral hospital539FTE
- Tyson PoultryPoultry processing324
- WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters307
- EcmdHome centers, building materials279
- Jeld-WenWood window and door manufacturing196
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 48 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 5,649 people in all. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24), colleges from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively moderate
- Strong windRelatively moderate
- Cold wavesRelatively moderate
- TornadoesRelatively moderate
- LightningRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms across Wilkes County, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Wilkes County and the North Wilkesboro, NC metro.
McGrady home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a McGrady address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls McGrady — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.
Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.