Understanding a community after redistricting

North Carolina’s 4^th congressional district is currently represented by Congressman David Price. Mandatory redistricting in 2019 changed the boundaries of the district, which now encompasses all of Durham County, Orange County, Granville County, and Franklin County, as well as parts of Chatham County, Wake County, and Vance County.

In 2020, David Price’s office approached us because they wanted to better understand the context of their new district and learn more about who their new constituents were. They asked us to create a comprehensive demographic and economic profile of the redrawn 4^th district, and to detail how the new district might have different or new needs compared to the prior district.

Approach

We began by reviewing their data needs and the key questions they needed to answer. We then collected data from a variety of sources that would help the Congressman and his staff better understand:

• Population growth and projected change
• General social and demographic trends
• Local economic conditions and top employers
• County commuting patterns
• Housing characteristics

Results

We wove these data elements into a cohesive, integrated picture of the district. We provided this as a formatted databook for the Congressman and his office staff to use. In addition, we walked Representative Price and his staff through the databook and key findings during one of their staff meetings, and answered questions that they had based on the data.