Carolina Demographics
Keep up with our latest demographic insights
Fifty-six percent of North Carolina residents (5.66 million) live in one of the state’s 553 cities, towns, and villages. Although five of the state’s municipalities are among the nation’s 100 largest cities—Charlotte (17), Raleigh (42), Greensboro (68), Durham (79), and Winston-Salem (88)—most are small. Half of North Carolina municipalities have fewer than 1,620 residents; nearly one in four have fewer than 500 residents. The majority of these places cities experienced population losses or slow growth…
“In 2014, for the first time in more than 130 years, adults ages 18 to 34 were slightly more likely to be living in their parents’ home than they were to be living with a spouse or partner in their own household. This turn of events is fueled primarily by the dramatic drop in the share of young Americans who are choosing to settle down romantically before age 35. Dating back to 1880, the most…
Between 1990 and 1995, North Carolina’s population increased by more than 550,000 new residents, a growth rate of 8.3%. The numeric growth in the next decade was even greater: the state grew by 7.9% to gain an estimated 637,000 new residents between 2000 and 2005. Though North Carolina continues to grow faster than the national average, the 2015 estimates indicate that the size and rate of growth has slowed. Between 2010 and 2015, North Carolina…
What language do you speak at home? Nearly one million North Carolinians reported speaking a language other than English at home, representing 11% or 1 in 9 state residents age 5 and older. Recently released tables from the U.S. Census Bureau provide detail on up to 380 unique languages and language groups spoken in states and select metro areas and counties based on the 2009-2013 American Community Survey. Non-English speakers are concentrated in the state’s…
North Carolina’s foreign-born population has grown by more than 800% over the past 35 years. In 1980, fewer than 80,000 North Carolina residents had been born in another country to non-citizen parents. By the 2012-2014 time period, more than 750,000 North Carolina residents were foreign-born. Most of this growth was driven by the increases in the populations born in Latin America (Central and South America) and Asia. This post focuses on trends in the foreign-born…
A century ago, in 1910, Wake County had a total population of 63,229. Out of 2,964 counties nationwide, Wake was the 196th most populous. Among North Carolina counties, Wake’s population was second only to Mecklenburg's population of 67,031. During the first half of the twentieth century, Wake’s population grew steadily, but other counties within the state grew faster. Buoyed by the strength of the manufacturing industry in Greensboro, Guilford County grew to be the most…
North Carolina officially passed the 10 million mark in the 2015 state population estimates, growing by more than half a million new residents since 2010. New county population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau highlight how counties and metropolitan areas changed over this same time period. Here are 5 things you should you need to know about the 2015 county population estimates: 1. Brunswick is the fastest growing North Carolina county. Coastal Brunswick County’s population…
As we’ve mentioned in the past, North Carolina has a large population residing in areas that the U.S. Census Bureau classifies as rural. Among the 10 most populous states, North Carolina has the largest proportion of individuals living in rural areas. In fact, North Carolina’s rural population is larger than that of any other state except for Texas. Prior to coming to Carolina Demography, I worked in a similar role producing and interpreting demographic data…
When I moved into my first office at UNC, I inherited a framed, infographic poster published by the News & Observer after the release of the 2000 Census data. It’s a great overview of the significant growth and change that occurred in North Carolina between 1990 and 2000, and highlights many trends that continued in the decade that followed. One of these shifts was the increasing concentration of population in mid-size towns and larger cities.…
Following the decennial Census, political districts, such as U.S. Congressional Districts and state legislative districts, are reapportioned to states and counties on the basis of population and their boundaries are redrawn in a process called redistricting. Broadly speaking, the goal of redistricting is to make each district as close in population size in possible. North Carolina is not the only state with uneven patterns of population growth. Across the United States, population is increasingly concentrated in urban and…
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