[3] Brunswick County is part of the Wilmington, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

[4][5][6][7] Much of the economy of the county is built around tourism, with beach communities lying along the south-facing beaches past Cape Fear such as Bald Head Island (the southernmost point of North Carolina) and Oak Island being popular destinations.

Calabash, on the border of South Carolina, is renowned for its fried seafood, with "Calabash-style" restaurants dotting the region.

During the American Civil War, forces of the Confederate State of America erected Fort Anderson near the ruins of Brunswick Town to defend against federal attacks on the Cape Fear River and the Port of Wilmington.

8.5% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line (down from previous ACS surveys).

[37] The top nine reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (15.1%), Irish (13.1%), German (11.5%), Italian (5.3%), Polish (2.3%), Scottish (2.3%), French (except Basque) (2.2%), Subsaharan African (0.7%), and Norwegian (0.6%).

[38] Much of the recent growth has been driven by the in-migration of retirees, and as of 2023 the county has the highest median age in North Carolina.

Brunswick County is a member of the regional Cape Fear Council of Governments.

The county lies in the inner coastal plain, most of which was highly pro-secession, and part of the Democratic Solid South from the late 19th century through 1964.

However, Brunswick County was less fertile than the “Black Belt” and consequently had significant pro-Union and Populist sympathies.

Only three times since the Civil War – Grover Cleveland in 1888, Alton B. Parker in 1904 and Jimmy Carter in 1980[41] – has Brunswick County backed a losing Democratic presidential candidate.

Carter in that 1980 election remains the last Democrat to win a majority of Brunswick County’s ballots, although Bill Clinton won a plurality in 1992.

[citation needed] In recent years the county has reliably favored Republican candidates, though in 2024, elections for local office were competitive.

Jobs in the food service and retail sectors have experienced the greatest expansion in the recent past.

Owing to the large presence of retirees, a substantial amount of income in the county is generated through the collection of dividends from investments and various benefits including pensions and Social Security payments.