Carolina Demographics
Keep up with our latest demographic insights
A few months ago, I saw someone retweet a map with the title “Who houses more people – colleges or prisons?” In many Southern and Western states, the answer to this question was prisons. Shortly thereafter, the Washington Post published a piece on Wonkblog with the headline, “The U.S. has more jails than colleges. Here’s a map of where those prisoners live.” Taken together, these two headlines suggest that there may be more prisoners in…
“In 2011, the first of the baby boomers reached what used to be known as retirement age. And for the next 18 years, boomers will be turning 65 at a rate of about 8,000 a day. As this unique cohort grows older, it will likely transform the institutions of aging — just as it has done to other aspects of American life. Will boomers redefine this life stage, or will it redefine them? We’ll explore that question in…
Although marriage patterns in the United States have changed considerably over the past half-century, when placed within a larger global context there is still evidence that Americans value marriage. Compared with other industrialized countries, Americans have higher marriage rates and marry somewhat earlier. Marital disruption is higher in the United States compared with European nations. We see a pattern of marriage, divorce, and remarriage, or “marriage-go-round.” This pattern in the United States, along with various…
Quite frequently, North Carolina’s trends mirror national averages. Nationwide, 53% of U.S. counties lost population between 2010 and 2014. In North Carolina, 49% did. North Carolina differs slightly from the nation, however, in the county distribution of the underlying demographic processes driving population growth—or decline. In North Carolina counties it was more common for both demographic processes to move in tandem than it was nationwide. One-third of NC counties had population growth from both natural…
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…
Two fundamental processes underpin population growth—or decline. The first, natural increase (or natural decrease) captures the balance of births and deaths in an area and reflects the underlying age structure of the population. Relatively young populations tend to have more births than deaths, or natural increase. Relatively older populations, on the other hand, tend to experience natural decrease, more deaths than births. The second, net migration, reflects the appeal of an area relative to other…
Nationwide, the majority of counties have lost population since 2010, according to recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. State by state, the share of counties that have lost population varies substantially (as does the number of counties per state!). In 27 states, half or more of the counties lost population between 2010 and 2014. The highest proportion of loss—80%--was seen in Illinois and Rhode Island. North Carolina was one of the 23 states where…
When the Census Bureau releases its annual population estimates, we often focus on counties and metropolitan areas with the largest numerical growth or the fastest growth rates. Yet the majority of counties are not growing. Nationwide, 1,660 of 3,142 counties, or 53%, lost population between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2014. In North Carolina, 49 of the state’s 100 counties lost population. This is a marked increase over a decade prior. Between 2000 and…
North Carolina’s population has grown by more than 408,000 new residents since the 2010 Census. Of these, 95,000 were added between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014. New county population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau highlight how counties and metropolitan areas changed over this same time period. In many ways, the 2014 estimates are a continuation of the population trends we saw in the 2013 estimates: metropolitan regions are driving the state’s overall…
“Some places attract young singles, whereas others attract married couples and families,” writes Nathan Yau on his data visualization blog, Flowing Data. This is something that I often discuss when I present to audiences around the state: places have age-specific migration profiles that reflect both the reasons why people are moving to a place, and the potential demands that they will have when they get there. Some places, like Mecklenburg County, have net migration profiles…
Your support is critical to our mission of measuring, understanding, and predicting population change and its impact. Donate to Carolina Demography today.