Keep up with our latest demographic insights
With the release of the 2010-2014 American Community Survey estimates last week, data users can now compare two non-overlapping five year time periods. One trend apparent in the data is the steady increase in educational attainment: between 2005-2009 and 2010-2014, the percentage of the population age 25 or older with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased in 1,000 of the nation’s 3,142 counties. Among North Carolinians ages 25 and older, 27.8% had a bachelor’s degree…
Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released the most recent 5-year American Community Survey estimates (2010-14). This data is available for all geographies down to the block group level. Although the Census Bureau has been releasing new 5-year data sets every year since 2010, this one is important: it is the first non-overlapping 5-year data set. Users can now compare estimates from 2005-2009 and 2010-2014 to get a better sense of how their communities have changed. All data…
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,…
Nearly 440,000 or 10.4% of all North Carolina workers carpool to work according to the 2009-2013 American Community Survey estimates. Nationally, 9.8% of workers carpooled. North Carolina has the 15th highest rate of carpooling among the states. Many counties have a higher rate of carpooling than the state average; many of these counties are smaller counties. Hyde County has the highest rate of carpooling: 22% of its 2,050 workers report commuting to work via carpool.…
Net commuting flows are equal to the number of individuals commuting into a county to work minus the number of residents leaving the county to work elsewhere. A positive net flow or net in-commuting indicates that there are more jobs in the county than there are resident workers. A negative net flow or net out-commuting indicates that there are more workers living in the county than there are jobs. Across the state, 30 counties have…
North Carolina’s 4.2 million workers mainly get to work by car: 81% drive alone and 10% carpool. Working at home (4.4%) and walking (1.8%) are the next most common means of transportation according to the 2009-13 American Community Survey. Only about 1.2% or 50,000 individuals use public transportation to get to work (including taxicabs). North Carolina has the 32nd highest share of workers using public transportation to commute to work. Excluding taxi users, nearly 46,000 North Carolinians or 1.1%…
The other week, we looked at where county residents work. Today we’re using the same 2009-2013 American Community Survey estimates to examine where county workers live. According to the ACS, there were 4.23 million individuals working in North Carolina. The vast majority of these workers – 4.12 million or 97.4%—were also North Carolina residents. Nearly 65,000 of the state’s workers live in South Carolina (1.5% of NC workers) and 17,000 workers commute from Virginia (0.4%…
At Carolina Demography, we regularly field questions from individuals and organizations about demographic data availability, usage, and interpretation. Curious about what's out there? Here's our guide to key data resources for North Carolina. Decennial Census The Census is conducted every ten years on April 1st. It is a complete count of all housing units and all individuals and contains information on age and sex, race and ethnicity, household structure, and home ownership. Access data at American…
North Carolina’s 4.2 million workers 16 and older mainly get to work by car: 81% drove alone and 10% carpooled. Working at home (4.4%) and walking (1.8%) were the next most common responses in the 2009-13 American Community Survey. Only about 1.2% or 50,000 individuals reported using public transportation to get to work. How does NC compare to other states? Drive Alone Just over 81% of 3.4 million North Carolina workers drive alone to work…
Each week, more than 4.2 million North Carolina residents embark on a commute to work, according to recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Most commutes are in-county commutes In most cases, the largest commuting flow is within the county, meaning most people live and work in the same county. Within county commuting occurs among the majority of county residents in 75 of the state’s 100 counties. In another 19 counties, within county commutes are…
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