Dare County generated $2.1 billion in 2024 visitor spending, a modest drop from 2023

By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice on August 29, 2025

By Mark Jurkowitz | Outer Banks Voice

(Credit: outerbansk.org)

The North Carolina Department of Commerce (DOC) reported on Aug. 27, there was a record $36.7 billion in visitor spending in the state in 2024, a 3.1% increase over 2023 numbers as 71 of the state’s 100 counties saw visitor dollars grow last year.

In Dare and Hyde Counties, however, the 2024 numbers were marginally down from 2023, while they increased negligibly in Currituck County.  And while overall visitor 2024 visitor spending in the state increased by just over 3%, that is less than half the 6.9% increase reported for 2023.

Dare County, which ranked 4^th in the state in visitor spending revenue at just under $2.1 billion in 2024, saw a drop of 2.3% from the previous year. Currituck County, which generated the 14^th highest level of visitor spending at about $581 million in 2024, saw an increase of 1.2%.

The considerably smaller Hyde County, which came in at No. 68 in the state with about $61 million in visitor spending, experienced a very modest drop of .8%.

The research, conducted by Tourism Economics, provides other data about the impact of visitor spending at the state and county level.

In Dare County, according to the report, there are 12,260 jobs in 2024 related to tourism and visitor spending saved each resident about $3,860 in state and local taxes.  In Currituck, the industry generated about 2,500 jobs and saved each resident $1,200 in taxes. In Hyde County, the report says there were 389 industry-related jobs, and each resident saved about $957 in taxes.

The DOC characterized these findings as preliminary, also noting that “while the study includes the three months of 2024 that followed Helene, the report does not fully quantify hurricane-related losses statewide or in counties in western North Carolina that were most heavily affected.”