Posts written by Jess Stanford
Keep up with our latest demographic insights
Forty-three percent of North Carolina’s adults aged 25-64 held some type of postsecondary degree in 2017—just over 2.3 million residents in the state. This share has risen five percentage points since 2010, and ten since 2000. In total, North Carolina gained 932K working-age adults with an Associate degree or higher from 2000 to 2017, and among these adults, the level of degree attainment continues to rise. In 2000, the majority of NC adults aged 25-64…
The United States economy is primarily driven by the economic activity within its metropolitan areas. From 2012 to 2017, 90% of the nation’s annual GDP was contributed by the nation’s 383 metros. This is to be expected, as 86% of the US population lives in a metropolitan statistical area. North Carolina follows a similar trend. In 2017, the state’s overall GDP was approximately $540 billion, and the combined metros totaled $476 billion, or 88%, of…
Public school systems in the United States face an ongoing shortage of highly qualified teachers, largely due to high turnover in the field. In educational reporting, turnover may refer to teachers that leave the state public school system entirely (referred to as “attrition”) as well as those who transfer to another location within the state (referred to as “mobility”). A 2017 report from the Learning Policy Institute found that as much as 90% of open…
Agriculture and agribusiness - i.e. food, fiber, and forestry - contributed nearly 17 percent (over $87 billion) to North Carolina's total economic output in 2016, and employed 730,000 of North Carolina's workers, according to a recent report from NC State. North Carolina is particularly known for two agricultural exports that will surely appear on many tables this Thanksgiving - turkey and sweet potatoes. #1 North Carolina’s rank in sweet potato production among all 50 states,…
Note: This is second in a series of posts on county health rankings from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The first post on Length of Life can be found here. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) releases annual county rankings on different aspects of community wellness across five major categories – Length of Life, Quality of Life, Health Behaviors, Clinical Care, and Social and Economic Factors. This blog focuses on Quality of Life measures in…
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) releases annual health rankings at the county-level for each state in the nation. These rankings are divided into categories measuring different aspects of community wellness: Length of Life, Quality of Life, Health Behaviors, Clinical Care, and Social and Economic Factors. Each factor is calculated by one or more markers of wellness – each deserving of a separate blog. This blog will focus on Length of Life in North Carolina…
From 2010 to 2017, 247 North Carolina municipalities experienced population decline – approximately 45% of all cities, towns, and villages in the state. This represents an increase of 22 municipalities since last year’s population estimates were reported. After accounting for municipalities growing at a stagnant pace – below the state growth rate of 8% - this figure rises to 427 in total. This means that over three-fourths of all places are declining or growing slower…
There are currently over 210,000 grandparents living with their own grandchildren (under age 18) in North Carolina, according to the 2012-16 American Community Survey 5-year Estimates. This is approximately 3.5% of the adult population 30 years and older. Of those living with their grandchildren, slightly less than half of grandparents (46%) were primary caregivers, meaning they had financial responsibility for the basic needs of grandchildren in their household. For many individuals, this is a long-term…
Population estimates from July 1, 2016 to July 1, 2017 indicate that growth may be more concentrated around urban centers than suggested by last year’s estimates. Many of the top 10 fastest-growing municipalities from 2015-2016 were exurbs – largely rural areas located a greater distance from a metro center. They were thought to be possibly absorbing suburban overflow. The majority of these municipalities had previously seen slim annual population growth from 2010-2015, and eight out…
Topline data from the Census Bureau’s recently released 2017 municipal population estimates shows little change from previous years’ estimates. Municipalities located near major metropolitan areas continue to grow, while North Carolina’s rural communities continue to experience population decline. 255 NC municipalities, or 46%, have experienced either population decline or zero-percent growth since 2010. Adding municipalities with stagnant growth – i.e. those that grew slower than the state growth rate of 8% - this totals over…
Your support is critical to our mission of measuring, understanding, and predicting population change and its impact. Donate to Carolina Demography today.