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.
In terms of college education, Cullowhee is substantially better educated than the typical community in the nation, which has 21.84% of the adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree: 29.42% of adults in Cullowhee have a college degree.
The per capita income in Cullowhee in 2022 was $12,587, which is low income relative to North Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $50,348 for a family of four. Cullowhee also has one of the higher rates of people living in poverty in the nation, with 51.31% 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 10.48% of the town’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Cullowhee include German, English, Irish, Italian, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Cullowhee is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.
