Keep up with our latest demographic insights
North Carolina’s population grew by 112,000 between 2015 and 2016, the largest single year increase since 2010, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. With a growth rate of 1.1%, North Carolina’s 2015-16 growth was faster than the national growth rate (0.7%) and similar to the South’s regional rate (1.1%). Overall, North Carolina’s population has grown by 611,000 since 2010, an increase of 6.4%. The uptick in population growth was fueled by an…
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…
When the Census Bureau releases its annual population estimates, we often focus on counties and metropolitan areas with the largest numerical growth or the fastest growth rates. Yet the majority of counties are not growing. Nationwide, 1,660 of 3,142 counties, or 53%, lost population between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2014. In North Carolina, 49 of the state’s 100 counties lost population. This is a marked increase over a decade prior. Between 2000 and…
North Carolina’s population has grown by more than 408,000 new residents since the 2010 Census. Of these, 95,000 were added between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014. New county population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau highlight how counties and metropolitan areas changed over this same time period. In many ways, the 2014 estimates are a continuation of the population trends we saw in the 2013 estimates: metropolitan regions are driving the state’s overall…
1) Total births are not rebounding to 2007 levels. North Carolina births peaked in 2007, with nearly 131,000 babies born to North Carolina residents. Since then, total births have steadily declined. In 2013, 119,000 babies were born, a decline of 9% from the 2007 peak. 2) NC fertility rates are at their lowest level since 1996. The general fertility rate, measured as the number of live births per 1,000 women of childbearing age (women age…
Monday, September 15th, through Wednesday, October 15th, marks National Hispanic Heritage Month. In 1990, 76,726 North Carolina residents identified as Hispanic, 1.2% of the state’s population. Twenty-two years later, the state’s Hispanic population had increased eleven-fold. According to the American Community Survey, there were 845,420 Hispanic individuals living in North Carolina in 2012, representing 8.7% of the state’s population. Both components of population growth—net migration and natural increase, or more births than deaths—drove the rapid…
My friend and colleague Christopher Marcum is expecting his first child (congratulations, Chris!) and “wanted to know what the timing of births looked like throughout the day.” So, he pulled 2012 births data from the Centers for Disease Control and produced an eye-catching series of plots. Each dot represents the total number of births that occurred in 2012 at each minute between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. (1,440 total minutes represented). The colors represent different…
1. World Births and Deaths in Real-Time Mathematician and software developer Brad Lyon previously developed a statistical simulation of the geographic location of US births and deaths and an interactive visualization that marked these events in real-time. Recently, he took the simulation and visualization global. Worldwide, more than 4 births and nearly 2 deaths occur each second. Lyon uses country-specific data to simulate both the timing and location of global births and deaths. The interactive…
Your support is critical to our mission of measuring, understanding, and predicting population change and its impact. Donate to Carolina Demography today.