As local food increases in popularity, WNC’s small agricultural businesses make big impacts on the community and the economy.

According to Riverbird Research, the number of jobs in the region’s agriculture industry increased during the five-year span between 2019 and 2024. 

The 8% increase in the number of industry jobs in an 18-county region of WNC was contradictory to the state’s overall loss of 7%, though there were 22% fewer jobs in this sector when compared to the national average. The total 2,260 jobs were supported by 305 payrolled business locations and earned an average annual salary of $47,195, excluding supplements. Agriculture may also have a heavy presence of self-employed or otherwise non-census-reported employment.

The highest concentration of reported jobs occurred in Henderson County, which supported 1,252 agriculture jobs, followed by Buncombe County which supported 318 of these jobs.