Posts written by Rebecca Tippett
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1920 marked the first year that more U.S. residents lived in urban areas than rural areas (51% vs. 49%). In North Carolina, this transition did not occur until 1990, when 50.4% of state residents were living in urban areas compared to 49.6% living in rural areas. In 1990, only South Dakota (50%), Mississippi (47%), Maine (45%), West Virginia (36%), and Vermont (32%) had smaller shares of their population living in urban areas. Globally, 2010 marked…
North Carolina’s redrawn congressional districts had equal population in 2010, but North Carolina’s population growth since then has been highly uneven. Two counties, Wake and Mecklenburg, have accounted for nearly half of the state’s growth between 2010 and 2014, while 49 of 100 counties lost population over this time period. How many people are currently living in the newly defined congressional districts? And how much do their current populations deviate from the equal population size that is the goal of every decennial redistricting? The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey provides annually updated demographic information for congressional districts, but it will take some time for the newly defined boundaries to appear in the ACS data. Using our neighborhood change dataset and the July 1, 2014 county estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, we estimated the number of people living in each of North Carolina’s congressional districts on July 1, 2014. Detailed information on the data and methodology used to produce these estimates is available here.
Between 2015 and 2035, North Carolina’s Office of State Budget and Management projects that the state will gain nearly 2.1 million new residents. Nearly 41% of this population growth is predicted to occur in either Mecklenburg or Wake counties. Meanwhile, 24 of the state’s counties are projected to lose population over the next 20 years and another nine—Avery, Beaufort, Columbus, Gates, Greene, Rockingham, Rowan, Surry, and Tyrrell counties—are projected to have zero population growth. Bertie…
February 14th was officially pronounced Valentine’s Day by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496. Nearly 1,350 years later, Esther Howland, a Massachusetts native, is credited with selling the first mass-produced valentine cards in the 1840s. Flowers, Jewelry, and Candy Exchanging presents? If it’s jewelry or flowers, it may be increasingly difficult to find a standalone retailer. Between 2005 and 2013, both the number of florists’ establishments and the number of jewelry stores in North Carolina…
We love playing with data. Turning the raw numbers into meaningful insights is what we do. But the process of getting raw data into a format that is ready for analysis is often time-consuming and occasionally frustrating, even for those of us who regularly work with data. First, you have to identify the source and acquire it. Then you have to make sure you understand the general structure of the file and the variables it…
On average, Wake County added 63 new residents every day between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2014, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Both natural increase, more births than deaths, and net migration, more people moving in than moving out, are important for Wake’s population growth, but the main driver is net migration. Every year since 1970, net migration into Wake County has accounted for the majority of its population growth. Since 2010, two-thirds of…
Fifty-eight of North Carolina’s state house seats and 18 of North Carolina’s state senate seats will lack representation from both major political parties in this November’s elections. Among North Carolina’s 5.2 million active voters, this means that 2.4 million or 47% will have no choice between major political parties in their state house elections. In the state senate election, 1.8 million or 35% will not be able to choose between Republican and Democrat. Looking at…
Based on the recent candidate filings, we can classify North Carolina’s 120 state house districts into one of three types: Democratic candidate(s) only, Republican candidate(s) only, and at least one candidate from both major political parties. (Although some districts do have Libertarian candidates on the ballot, this analysis focuses only on candidates from the two major political parties.) Sixty-two of the state’s 120 house seats, or 52%, have at least one Republican and one Democrat…
Based on the recent candidate filings, we can classify North Carolina’s 50 state senate districts into one of three types: Democratic candidate(s) only, Republican candidate(s) only, and at least one candidate from both major political parties. (Although some districts do have Libertarian candidates on the ballot, this analysis focuses only on candidates from the two major political parties.) Thirty-two of the state’s 50 senate seats, or 64%, have at least one Republican and one Democrat…
Following the December 21st, 2015, candidate filing deadline, the lack of competition for state House and Senate seats was the subject of many headlines. In many districts, only a single candidate is running, effectively guaranteeing them re-election. In others, the only candidates that filed are from the same party; while voters may have a choice among candidates, the only choice will occur at the primary stage. By the November 2016 general election, the outcome will…
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