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What language do you speak at home? Nearly one million North Carolinians reported speaking a language other than English at home, representing 11% or 1 in 9 state residents age 5 and older. Recently released tables from the U.S. Census Bureau provide detail on up to 380 unique languages and language groups spoken in states and select metro areas and counties based on the 2009-2013 American Community Survey. Non-English speakers are concentrated in the state’s…
North Carolina’s foreign-born population has grown by more than 800% over the past 35 years. In 1980, fewer than 80,000 North Carolina residents had been born in another country to non-citizen parents. By the 2012-2014 time period, more than 750,000 North Carolina residents were foreign-born. Most of this growth was driven by the increases in the populations born in Latin America (Central and South America) and Asia. This post focuses on trends in the foreign-born…
A growing number of North Carolinians are working at home. Since 2012, more than 200,000 North Carolina workers have reported working at home each year, about 4.7% of all state workers according to the American Community Survey data. Are teleworkers similar to individuals who don’t work at home? An examination of the last three years of ACS data—2012 through 2014—suggests they are not. Compared to all North Carolina workers, individuals who report working from home…
A century ago, in 1910, Wake County had a total population of 63,229. Out of 2,964 counties nationwide, Wake was the 196th most populous. Among North Carolina counties, Wake’s population was second only to Mecklenburg's population of 67,031. During the first half of the twentieth century, Wake’s population grew steadily, but other counties within the state grew faster. Buoyed by the strength of the manufacturing industry in Greensboro, Guilford County grew to be the most…
North Carolina officially passed the 10 million mark in the 2015 state population estimates, growing by more than half a million new residents since 2010. New county population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau highlight how counties and metropolitan areas changed over this same time period. Here are 5 things you should you need to know about the 2015 county population estimates: 1. Brunswick is the fastest growing North Carolina county. Coastal Brunswick County’s population…
As we’ve mentioned in the past, North Carolina has a large population residing in areas that the U.S. Census Bureau classifies as rural. Among the 10 most populous states, North Carolina has the largest proportion of individuals living in rural areas. In fact, North Carolina’s rural population is larger than that of any other state except for Texas. Prior to coming to Carolina Demography, I worked in a similar role producing and interpreting demographic data…
We originally discussed reapportionment and redistricting in North Carolina in a series of posts in November 2015. To reflect the newly redrawn congressional maps, we updated our 2014 population estimates for congressional districts. This post updates the 2020 population projections for North Carolina’s congressional districts. North Carolina will likely have 14 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives following the post-2020 Census reapportionment process. While we cannot guarantee a 14th seat (no matter how likely),…
When I moved into my first office at UNC, I inherited a framed, infographic poster published by the News & Observer after the release of the 2000 Census data. It’s a great overview of the significant growth and change that occurred in North Carolina between 1990 and 2000, and highlights many trends that continued in the decade that followed. One of these shifts was the increasing concentration of population in mid-size towns and larger cities.…
The number of individuals who reported working from home has increased steadily over the past 35 years. In 1980, fewer than 50,000 North Carolinians reported working at home. Twenty years later, this number had more than doubled, with just over 100,000 individuals working at home in 2000. The number of teleworkers increased sharply in 2006. Since 2012, more than 200,000 North Carolina workers reported working at home each year. In the past, the majority of…
Following the decennial Census, political districts, such as U.S. Congressional Districts and state legislative districts, are reapportioned to states and counties on the basis of population and their boundaries are redrawn in a process called redistricting. Broadly speaking, the goal of redistricting is to make each district as close in population size in possible. North Carolina is not the only state with uneven patterns of population growth. Across the United States, population is increasingly concentrated in urban and…
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