Cullowhee is a somewhat small town located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 7,682 people and two associated neighborhoods, Cullowhee is the 120th largest community in North Carolina. Much of the housing stock in Cullowhee was built relatively recently. The construction of new real estate can often be taken as an indication that the local Cullowhee economy is robust, and that jobs or other amenities are attracting an influx of new residents. This seems to be the case in Cullowhee, where the median household income is $35,929.00.

Cullowhee real estate is some of the most expensive in North Carolina, although Cullowhee house values don't compare to the most expensive real estate in the U.S.

Also of interest is that Cullowhee has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 10.13% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Cullowhee is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Cullowhee to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy.

Being a small town, Cullowhee does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.

The education level of Cullowhee citizens is very high relative to the national average among all cities (21.84%): 38.25% of adults in Cullowhee have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Cullowhee in 2022 was $15,461, which is low income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $61,844 for a family of four. However, Cullowhee contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Cullowhee also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 45.84% of its population below the federal poverty line.

Cullowhee is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Cullowhee home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Cullowhee residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Cullowhee also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 10.50% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Cullowhee include German, English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Cullowhee is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.