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McDowell County, North Carolina
McDowell County spans the foothills and mountains of western North Carolina along the I-40 corridor, with Marion as its seat and Old Fort and Nebo anchoring smaller communities near the Blue Ridge Parkway. Interstate access has drawn manufacturing and logistics growth around Marion, while steep terrain and post-Hurricane Helene floodplain remapping along the river corridor near Old Fort are reshaping which parcels can be built on.
Open the live McDowell County map →
McDowell County at a glance
- 45,000Population (2025)
- MarionCounty seat
- 440 sq miLand area
- 102 / sq miDensity
- $57,000Median household income
- $170,000Median home value
What the live McDowell County map shows
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- City Boundaries: 2
- School Boundaries: 1
- Congressional Districts: 1
- Soils: 117
- State House Districts: 5
- State Senate Districts: 3
Cities and towns in McDowell County
Marion, Old Fort.
Neighboring counties
- Yancey County, NC · map
- Mitchell County, NC · map
- Burke County, NC · map
- Rutherford County, NC · map
- Avery County, NC · map
- Buncombe County, NC · map