Bessemer City is home to 5,580 people in North Carolina. Four-year degrees are less common here than nationally, at 16% of adults. This skews young, with a median age of 34.3. The typical home is worth $206,100, having roughly tripled since 2000. The foreign-born share is 5%. Households here earn about 17% less than in North Carolina as a whole.
At a glance
Lower income
median household income $60,300, below the US median
US median: $82,259
Younger
median age 34.3
US median: 38.9
Less educated
16% hold a bachelor's degree
US average: 36%
Less affordable
home values up 56%, inflation adjusted
US median home: $376,019
Unique to this place
What stands out about Bessemer City
What changed most since 1990
Poverty rate10.9% → 16.4%(+5.6 pts)US over the same years: −0.8 pts
White share87.2% → 74.9%(−12.3 pts)US over the same years: −17.8 pts
Bessemer City's population equals 2.4% of Gaston County's. Its number of people who work from home equals 1.3% of the county's. Its number of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher equals 1.4% of the county's.
Shares are "alone or in combination": a person with both Medicare and Medicaid counts in each, so categories overlap and do not sum to 100%.
Section 09 · Service history
Veterans
Veterans by period of service, 2024
Gulf War (2001 or later)12.9%(44)
US avg: 26.4%
Gulf War (1990s)11.7%(40)
US avg: 24.3%
Vietnam era47.2%(161)
US avg: 33.1%
Korean War5%(17)
US avg: 4.5%
World War II0%(0)
US avg: 1%
Share of the 341 veterans here. A veteran who served across eras counts in each, so shares can total more than 100%. Peacetime-only service is included in the total but not shown as an era.
BAR + DOT: THIS PLACE · TICK: US AVERAGE
Over time
Bessemer City, decade by decade
Bessemer City population, inflation-adjusted income and home value, education, and diversity by year
Year
Population
Median household income
Median home value
Bachelor's degree+
Diversity score
1990
4,698
$58,163
$108,003
4.9%
28.0
2000
5,119
$61,619
$131,888
7.7%
39.6
2010
5,340
$47,903
$132,061
7.4%
45.9
2020
5,428
$47,336
$133,567
8.9%
56.3
2024
5,580
$60,300
$206,100
16.1%
51.7
Census years come from the decennial census and the latest year from the American Community Survey, so part of any change between those two rows can reflect the different surveys. Dollar figures are adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars; a figure ending in "+" was at the Census Bureau's reporting cap that year. The diversity score runs from 0 to 100; see how it's calculated.
