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Forests are vital to the environmental and economic health of North Carolina. Sixty percent of North Carolina’s land area is forested, representing a total of 18.6 million forest acres. Our state’s four national forests—Croatan, Uwaharrie, Nantahala, and Pisgah—offer visitors and residents alike the opportunity to see an array of wildlife and pursue a variety of outdoor activities. In addition to recreational activities, forests improve overall quality of life through clean air and water and are…
Due to decade-to-decade changes in municipal boundaries and Census tabulation boundaries, examining housing change over time at the sub-county level can be very difficult. To overcome these challenges, Carolina Demography used 2010 Census and 2006-2011 American Community Survey data to calculate historic estimates of housing units in North Carolina for each decade back to 1940 for all 6,155 Census block groups and 2,195 Census tracts in the state. These data allow us to examine, in…
I’ve heard someone joke that, prior to 1980, there were two languages spoken in North Carolina: English and bad English. This probably runs fairly true to most people’s day-to-day experiences before the more recent wave of immigration. In 1980, just over 2% of North Carolina residents age 5 and older, or 130,640 individuals, spoke a language other than English at home. Today, nearly 11% speak a language other than English at home, representing nearly a…
Half of North Carolina adults age 16 and older are currently married according to the 2012 American Community Survey. Another 5% are unmarried but living with a romantic partner; 366,000 are cohabiting with an opposite-sex partner, 37,200 with a same-sex partner. Figure 1 shows marital status by age group. In the youngest group, ages 16 to 24, the vast majority (87%) are single/never married. The proportion of younger individuals who have never been married has…
In both this blog and recent presentations, I’ve talked a lot about migration, as net migration into North Carolina is a major factor in state total population growth. But this is only one aspect of movement and migration. Each year, many more people move within the state than move into it. In the 2012 American Community Survey, nearly 1.5 million North Carolina residents reported moving in the past year. Of these movers, the vast majority…
For more than twenty years, migration has fueled North Carolina’s growth. People move from other states and countries to go to school, to work, and to retire throughout the state. Between 1990 and 2010, North Carolina gained more than 2 million new residents due to migration. New Census Bureau estimates for July 1, 2013 total population show that migration continues to drive North Carolina’s population growth: 175,000 people moved into the state since 2010, accounting…
Between 2011 and 2012, North Carolina gained nearly 35,000 net migrants. The total flows into and out of the state were nearly 8 times as large: nearly 240,000 residents moved out while another 275,000 moved in. Net migration is the total number of movers into an area minus the total number of movers out of an area. Net in-migration means more people are moving in than are moving out, while net out-migration means more people…
Each year since 1984, PNC Wealth management has calculated the total cost of purchasing all of the items in the popular holiday song the “12 Days of Christmas.” This year’s bill would set you back a hefty $27,393, more than 34 times the amount the average household plans on spending this year ($801) according to the American Research Group. If you happen to have an eccentric (and lavish) holiday gift budget—or just like to pretend…
Nationwide, there are nearly 21.5 million veterans. More than 736,000 veterans live in North Carolina, representing 9.8% of the state’s total population. Below is a snapshot of the most recent statistics on North Carolina veterans. Who are North Carolina's veterans? The median age of NC veterans is 61. The majority of veterans are 45 or older: 41% are ages 45-64 and 38% are 65 or older. 91% of NC veterans are male. 9% are female.…
1. World Births and Deaths in Real-Time Mathematician and software developer Brad Lyon previously developed a statistical simulation of the geographic location of US births and deaths and an interactive visualization that marked these events in real-time. Recently, he took the simulation and visualization global. Worldwide, more than 4 births and nearly 2 deaths occur each second. Lyon uses country-specific data to simulate both the timing and location of global births and deaths. The interactive…
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