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
What’s behind the dramatic rise in the Southeast’s Asian Indian population? How can data points such as the median age of Asian American groups predict North Carolina’s future? How do the numbers match with growth trends of other populations like…
Nathan Dollar, PhD, has been named the new director of Carolina Demography, an applied demography center located within the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Most recently Dollar served as a research scientist and…
Dr. Michael Cline is the state demographer for North Carolina at the Office of State Budget and Management and has given us permission to re-post his content here. Each year, he publishes population estimates and projections for North Carolina and…
Your support is critical to our mission of measuring, understanding, and predicting population change and its impact. Donate to Carolina Demography today.