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The United States economy is primarily driven by the economic activity within its metropolitan areas. From 2012 to 2017, 90% of the nation’s annual GDP was contributed by the nation’s 383 metros. This is to be expected, as 86% of the US population lives in a metropolitan statistical area. North Carolina follows a similar trend. In 2017, the state’s overall GDP was approximately $540 billion, and the combined metros totaled $476 billion, or 88%, of…
According to the 2014 American Community Survey, there were nearly 6.7 million adults ages 25 and older living in North Carolina. More than 1.9 million, or 29%, of these adults had attained a bachelor’s degree or higher. Across North Carolina’s 14 largest metropolitan regions, adult educational attainment varied significantly. Fewer than 20% of adults had completed a bachelor’s degree in three metropolitan regions: Rocky Mount (15%), Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton (18%), and Jacksonville (19%). At the other end…
The map below highlights population change and components of change for North Carolina counties between 2010 and 2014. The dark teal shows counties with population growth from both natural increase (more births than deaths) and net in migration. With few exceptions—such as Watauga in the northwestern portion of the state—these counties are located within metropolitan regions. Counties with natural decrease, more deaths than births, are relatively older, and highlight rural/urban differences in the impacts of…
“More and more, the U.S. economy is defined by its metropolitan areas,” writes Richard Florida at The Atlantic’s CityLab blog. Just over 90% of the nation’s economic activity occurs in metro regions. In North Carolina, the state’s 15 major metropolitan regions also comprised the majority of economic activity, but at a level less than the national share. In 2013, the state’s combined metro GDP was $407 billion out of a total GDP of $471 billion.…
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