NC in Focus: NC Born by Age, 1950-2013

Forty-two percent of North Carolina residents were born in another state or country. In 1950, this proportion was only 15%. The share of North Carolina residents born in state declines steadily with age until prime working-ages, and then begins rising again. Between ages 27 and 50, more than half of North Carolina residents were born in another state or country.

North Carolina’s trends in the proportion of native-born residents by age look similar to those of Georgia, another southern state that saw significant population growth and became a new migration destination for both domestic and foreign migrants over the past 20-30 years. In contrast, states like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have seen a declining share of their population born elsewhere, as these states have lost their allure as a migrant destination and instead lose residents to other states in the South and West.