Migration
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Population can grow—or decline—from one of two components of change: net migration (both domestic and international) or natural growth (births and deaths). Though both components have contributed to North Carolina’s population growth, net migration has been the driving force of growth in North Carolina since 1990. This has substantially changed the makeup of North Carolina’s population. More than 9 out of 10 North Carolina residents were native to the state a hundred years ago. By…
North Carolina’s population grew to an estimated 10.5 million people as of July 1, 2019, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. From July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019, the state’s population increased by nearly 106,500 individuals. This marks the fourth year in a row that North Carolina has grown by more than 100,000 new residents. Among the states, North Carolina had the 4th largest numeric increase since 2018. Only Texas (367K),…
This is the third installment of a three-part series looking at migration in and out of North Carolina. Read the first and second posts in the series to learn where NC's residents are moving from and which NC counties are experiencing the largest population increases due to net migration. In 2017, nearly 367,000 people moved to North Carolina from another state or country and nearly 281,000 North Carolina residents moved out of the state. We’ve…
This is the second post in a three-post series looking at in-migration and out-migration in North Carolina. Read the first post in the series, "NC is rapidly growing. Where are our new residents moving from?" Between 2017 and 2018, North Carolina grew by nearly 87,000 new residents from net in-migration from other states and countries. But that growth was concentrated in several areas within the state. Today, we’re looking at which NC counties have seen…
North Carolina’s population has grown by 848,000 new residents, or 8.9%, since the 2010 Census, rising to 10.4 million residents as of 2018. The state’s annual growth slowed during the Great Recession of 2008 and subsequent recovery period but began to accelerate mid-decade. Since 2015, North Carolina has averaged more than 110,000 new residents each year. Most of this growth is from net migration, meaning more people are moving to our state than those who…
Nationally, there are 383 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), which are defined as an economically integrated set of counties with a core central city with a population of 50,000 or more. They range in size from Carson City, Nevada (55,414) to the New York-Newark-Jersey City MSA (19,979,477) which crosses New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Within North Carolina, there are 17 unique metro regions, ranging from Goldsboro (123,248) to Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia (2,569,213 across NC and SC). With…
When we focus on educational attainment, we generally focus on prime working-age adults, defined here as adults between the ages of 25 and 64. There were 5.4 million prime working-age adults in North Carolina in 2017. Of these individuals, 2.3 million or 43.2% held a postsecondary degree: 545,000 or 10% had an associate degree 2 million or 22% had a bachelor’s degree 446,400 or 8% had a master’s degree 92,900 or 2% had a professional…
Migration is the main driver of North Carolina’s population growth. Three of every four new residents added to the state between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017, were from net migration, primarily from other states. (Note: individuals are classified as domestic or international migrants based on their country of prior residence, not on individual characteristics such as place of birth or citizenship status.) Between 2016 and 2017, the Census Bureau estimates that North Carolina…
July 2015 to July 2016 was the largest year of population growth for the state of North Carolina for any single-year period since the last decennial Census (2010). This was also the case for 124 of North Carolina’s municipalities, including several with previously slim or even declining population growth. These places are labeled and represented by colored markers on the Story Map below. The table accompanying each point compares the numeric and percentage growth year-to-year…
After the Great Recession, the volume of Mexican immigration to the United States—and North Carolina—dropped sharply. Between 2009 and 2014, the Pew Hispanic Center found that more Mexican immigrants had returned to Mexico than immigrated to the U.S., with an estimated net migration of -140,000 individuals. During this same time period, Asian countries, such as China and India, emerged as leading senders of immigrants. Similar trends were documented in North Carolina. New data from the…
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