A local business owner needed to convince Ben & Jerry’s that local residents in Boone would frequent his shop. But he faced a challenge: On paper, Boone is sparsely populated, with many household incomes falling well below the state’s median.
Starting in November 2017, he began working with Carolina Demography to paint a more robust picture of the area.
We began by looking at data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, which indicated that the high-level snapshot of the county didn’t paint a complete picture. Many county residents are students at Appalachian State University and the county receives steady, year-round stream of tourists. As a result, top-line demographic and socioeconomic data did not sufficiently capture the buying power of residents or the economic impact of tourists.
Our customized report, which detailed the true economic landscape of the area, convinced Ben & Jerry’s to award the franchise in Boone.
Local business owner
To detail the true economic landscape of an area's buying power
Early in the pandemic, many joked about the potential for enforced proximity in March to yield a baby boom later in the year. (Many others, including most demographers, suggested otherwise.) With preliminary data for 2020 births now in, there is…
We publish an annual post with statistics about North Carolina’s veteran population. The most current version of that profile was published in November 2020. The profile contains the following information: Age of veterans vs. non-veterans Race & ethnicity of veterans…
The Verge recently published a county-by-county look at the broadband gap, showing counties across the country where less than 15 percent of households are using the internet at broadband speeds (25 Mbps or above.) In NC, 20 of our 100…