A local business owner needed to convince Ben & Jerry’s that local residents in Boone would frequent his shop. But he faced a challenge: On paper, Boone is sparsely populated, with many household incomes falling well below the state’s median.
Starting in November 2017, he began working with Carolina Demography to paint a more robust picture of the area.
We began by looking at data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, which indicated that the high-level snapshot of the county didn’t paint a complete picture. Many county residents are students at Appalachian State University and the county receives steady, year-round stream of tourists. As a result, top-line demographic and socioeconomic data did not sufficiently capture the buying power of residents or the economic impact of tourists.
Our customized report, which detailed the true economic landscape of the area, convinced Ben & Jerry’s to award the franchise in Boone.
Local business owner
To detail the true economic landscape of an area's buying power
Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2025 county population estimates. The annual estimates show the population as of July 1 of the year and it also tells us how the population has changed from July 1, 2024, to…
January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Human and labor trafficking is an evolving crisis that operates in the shadows of the major interstates and rural farmlands in North Carolina. The US Department of Justice defines human trafficking as a crime…
This blog post expands on a previous blog post that examined housing cost burden across NC by focusing on the disparities between housing cost burden for homeowners and renters. In North Carolina, 66.8% of occupied housing units are owner-occupied, while…
Your support is critical to our mission of measuring, understanding, and predicting population change and its impact. Donate to Carolina Demography today.