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In 1870, fewer than 3% of U.S. workers were employed in professional services, a category that includes educational, engineering, legal, and medical services (including individuals working in hospitals). Just 1.5% of North Carolina workers were employed in professional service industries in 1870. Nationally, employment in professional services represented less than 5% of all employees until 1930. After that, the share of employees in professional services grew steadily through 1960, and grew even more rapidly between…
We know that Raleigh and Charlotte are among the fastest growing urban areas in the nation, while many rural areas of the state are facing population losses and stagnation. But if we know anything about the future with certainty, it’s that the future is inherently uncertain! How likely are these patterns? A new interactive tool from the Urban Institute uses historical trends and census data to map population projections for every state and metro area…
According to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, the 10 largest employers in the state of North Carolina are universities, hospitals, public schools, and banks. Duke University in Durham was the state’s largest employer in the 2nd Quarter of 2014, followed by Charlotte Mecklenburg Hospital and Wake County Public Schools. The Triangle’s other major research institutions—UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University—were the 4th and 8th largest employers in the state, respectively. Four of the 10 largest…
“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.…
Forty-two percent of North Carolina residents were born in another state or country. In 1950, this proportion was only 15%. The share of North Carolina residents born in state declines steadily with age until prime working-ages, and then begins rising again. Between ages 27 and 50, more than half of North Carolina residents were born in another state or country. North Carolina’s trends in the proportion of native-born residents by age look similar to those of…
Gross domestic product or GDP captures the market value of all goods or services produced within a country (or other defined region) in a given year. Put another way, GDP = Personal Consumption + Business Investment + Government Spending + (Exports – Imports) In 2013, the United States had a GDP of nearly $17 trillion – the largest GDP for a single country in the world. To put this in perspective, the U.S. GDP is…
Recently, I’ve had some fun mapping the 13 counties that contain half of the state’s population, as well as the 42 least populated counties with 10% of North Carolina’s total population. In Monday’s post, I mentioned that there are significant racial/ethnic differences in the likelihood of living in a municipality. In particular, Asian residents are highly clustered in the state’s largest urban areas. To put this clustering in perspective, it takes 16 counties with the…
The turn of the century marked a key moment in North Carolina’s rural to urban transition: it was the first time in state history that a majority of residents were living in incorporated municipalities. Today, nearly 5.5 million individuals—56% of the state’s population—reside in one of the state’s 552 incorporated municipalities. These municipalities vary widely in key characteristics related to future growth and planning. The smallest—Fontana Dam Village in Graham County—contains 20 residents. At the…
North Carolina is now the 9th most populous state according to recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014, North Carolina gained an additional 95,047 residents to reach a population of 9.94 million, surpassing Michigan’s estimated 2014 population of 9.91 million. Some have noted that this is one of the smallest numerical increase in population the state has had since 1990. Like the nation, the combined impacts of…
2010 marked the first time the majority of the world’s population was living in urban areas (52%), up from 47% in 2000. The global share of population living in urban areas is projected to increase to two-thirds by 2050. In 1990, the nation’s population was heavily urban (78%). By 2010, more than four of every five U.S. residents was living in an urban area. In some states, such as California (95%) and New Jersey (94.7%), nearly…
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