Cashiers is a census-designated place and unincorporated village located in southern Jackson County, North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the community had a total population of 157. Cashiers is pronounced locally as if it were spelled "cashers," and is one of several communities in the area popular with tourists and owners of vacation homes. The town is served by U.S. 64 to Highlands and Rosman, and NC 107 to Sylva and Walhalla. The village is centered on the crossroads of the two. In 2003, the North Carolina General Assembly passed local legislation allowing Cashiers to incorporate as a village, but this was turned down by a vote of 161 to 302 in a local referendum on August 12. In North Carolina, the village status would allow it to have its own government and levy taxes, but not require it to provide any services as cities must, and not allow it any extraterritorial jurisdiction as towns have. It was apparently the issue of potential taxes that caused the referendum to be turned down. Instead, the county created zoning for Cashiers, which does not exist for most of the county, even in other similar places like Dillsboro. The zoning council for Cashiers is run by the county, therefore there are no extra local taxes supporting it. Five properties near Cashiers are listed on the National Register of Historic Places—Camp Merrie-Woode, the Church of the Good Shepherd, Fairfield Inn, the High Hampton Inn Historic District, and the Mordecai Zachary House.
Cashiers receives an average of 87.57 inches of precipitation annually, over 7.25 inches a month, making it one of the rainiest places in the eastern United States. It is also one of the coolest places in the mountains, with an average daily July temperature of 78 degrees.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 196 people, 96 households, and 48 families residing in the community. The population density was 182.0 people per square mile. There were 182 housing units at an average density of 169.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the community was 98.98% White, and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.51% of the population. There were 96 households, out of which 15.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couplesliving together, 3.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.0% were non-families. 39.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.76. In the community, the population was spread out, with 14.3% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 36.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females, age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males. The median income for a household in the community was $37,500, and the median income for a family was $51,458. Males had a median income of $26,339 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,845. None of the families and 4.2% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under 18s and 15.2% of those over 64.
