Welcome to our blog
Keep up with our latest demographic insights
Monday, September 15th, through Wednesday, October 15th, marks National Hispanic Heritage Month. North Carolina’s Hispanic population grew from fewer than 77,000 residents in 1990 to nearly 867,000 in 2013. Between 1990 and 2010, the majority of population growth was due to net migration. As a consequence, the most common birthplace for North Carolina Hispanics was Mexico. In 2000, nearly half (47.4%) of North Carolina’s Hispanic residents were Mexican-born. As the Hispanic population settled in the state,…
Monday, September 15th, through Wednesday, October 15th, marks National Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic enrollment in North Carolina public schools has steadily increased over the past 25 years. The graph below shows the size of the Hispanic student population from the fall of 1989 to the fall of 2014. In two years, 1989 and 1990, there were fewer than 10,000 Hispanic students enrolled in North Carolina public schools. This number steadily increased to surpass 56,000 by the…
Between 1920 and 2010, North Carolina's population increased from 2.6 million residents to more than 9.5 million residents. With nearly 80,700 residents in 1920, Mecklenburg was the state's most populous county then as it is today. But in 1920, Mecklenburg only held 3.2% of the state's population compared to its current share of 10 percent. This share is projected to increase to nearly 12% by 2030. The video below highlights shifts in North Carolina population across…
Only 83 of the nation’s 3,142 counties had a population of 750,000 or more in 2014. Two of these counties—Mecklenburg (Charlotte) and Wake (Raleigh)—were in North Carolina. Among these larger counties, population growth between the 2010 Census and the July 1, 2014 population estimates ranged from a loss of nearly 56,000 residents in Wayne County, MI (home to Detroit) to a gain of more than 348,000 new residents in Harris County, TX (Houston). With a…
“Since 1978, voting rates have been consistently higher in presidential election years than in congressional election years. In 2014, the overall voting rate was the lowest for a congressional election since the CPS first asked about voting and citizenship status in 1978. At 41.9 percent, the 2014 turnout rate was 3.6 percentage points lower than in 2010 and 5.9 percentage points lower than in 2006.” – Thom File, “Who Votes? Congressional Elections and the American…
At Carolina Demography, we don’t just answer questions about basic demographics. We also regularly field questions from individuals and organizations about economic data availability, usage, and interpretation. We discussed demographic data resources in this post; here’s our guide to key data resources for information about the economic well-being of North Carolina residents and labor force details. Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) SAIPE are produced annually for school districts, counties, and states. The main…
Nearly 3.2 million North Carolina adults (18+) were unmarried in 2014, representing 3% of the 107 million unmarried adults nationwide. In both the United States and North Carolina, never married individuals comprise the majority of unmarried adults—63%. Nationwide, a higher share of unmarried adults report being divorced (24%) than in North Carolina (21%). In North Carolina, it is more common for unmarried adults to be widowed (17% vs. 13% nationwide).Among unmarried adults, there are significant…
“The Buckeye Singles Council started “National Singles Week” in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. The week is now widely observed during the third full week of September (Sept. 20-26 in 2015) as “Unmarried and Single Americans Week,” an acknowledgment that many unmarried Americans do not identify with the word “single” because they are parents, have partners or are widowed.” – U.S. Census Bureau Nationwide,…
“The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing[. T]hese changes are taking place across the religious landscape, affecting all regions of the country and many demographic groups. While the drop in Christian affiliation is particularly pronounced among young adults, it is occurring among Americans of all ages. The same trends are seen among whites, blacks and Latinos; among…
We’ve been digging into the recently released county-to-county commuting flows in some detail over the past few weeks. The 2009-2013 American Community Survey (ACS) provides rich insight into where workers live, where they work, and how they travel between home and work. At multiple points, readers and colleagues expressed surprise about patterns emerging in the data that contradicted their on-the-ground perceptions of transportation use. Upon reflection, it was clear that these contradictions were due, in…
Your support is critical to our mission of measuring, understanding, and predicting population change and its impact. Donate to Carolina Demography today.