Banner Elk is a very small town located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 1,130 people and two associated neighborhoods, Banner Elk is the 398th largest community in North Carolina. There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Banner Elk, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. New growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Banner Elk, and putting down their money on brand new construction. Banner Elk’s real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. Banner Elk does seem to be experiencing an influx of affluent people, because the median household income is $67,917.00.

Of important note, Banner Elk is also a town of artists. Banner Elk has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Banner Elk’s character.

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

A relatively large number of people in Banner Elk telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 19.43% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. 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.

Banner Elk is a small town where college students really create the town feel and character. So many small towns have lost population over the last 20-30 years that having the local college presence in the Banner Elk area, with all of the energy of the students filling area dorms and apartments each fall, really helps Banner Elk maintain a good economy.

Another notable thing is that Banner Elk is an extremely popular destination for tourists and seasonal residents. So much of the population is seasonal such that the town’s population swells significantly during the vacation season, and drops again when the season ends. Because of this, much of the local economy is centered around tourism; some businesses may be operated only during the high season. During the low season, year-round residents will notice that the city is a substantially quieter place to live.

Residents of the town have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 12.88 minutes getting to work every day.

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

The education level of Banner Elk ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Banner Elk, 44.78% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Banner Elk in 2022 was $40,200, which is wealthy relative to North Carolina, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $160,800 for a family of four. However, Banner Elk contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Banner Elk is a somewhat ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Banner Elk home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Banner Elk residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Banner Elk include English, German, Irish, Scottish, and Italian.

The most common language spoken in Banner Elk is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Hungarian.