Every day, 117 people move to the Charlotte area, latest data shows
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The Charlotte region is growing by 117 new people every day, according to the latest research from the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.
Why it matters: This fresh statistic is a jump from CLT Alliance's report last year, which tallied 113 new daily residents.
- The population growth, studied from mid-2022 to mid-2023, signals that the 15-county Charlotte region is an appealing place to live. Plus, an expanding talent pool is good for business.
Yes, but: The new research will ramp up community wide urgency to mitigate Charlotte's growing pains, from lagging infrastructure and worsening traffic congestion to a tug-of-war over building dense, more affordable housing next to longstanding, single-family homes.
The intrigue: Stakeholders regularly refer to CLT's Alliance "113 people moving to Charlotte" stat to justify public investments, such as new schools and transit.
- Now that talking point is a few digits higher.
The big picture: More than 500,000 of the people who moved to the Carolinas in 2022 did not live in either state a year ago, CLT Alliance reports.
- Most came from Virginia (45,365 new residents), New York (40,561) and California (37,922).
- 78,512 were international migrants.
Zoom out: 117 new residents is the same number as Atlanta.
- It's more than Raleigh (59), Nashville (67) and Austin (92).
- It's less than Houston (251) and Dallas (285), although CLT Alliance notes those metros are significantly larger.
Zoom in: More than 59,000 people were added to the population who have a bachelor's degree or higher (this stat includes people obtaining a degree while residing here). The population now has more than 687,000 residents with higher education.
- An educated population strengthens the area's competitiveness to lure high-tech industries and corporations, CLT Alliance suggests.
The fine print: The Charlotte region encompasses Alexander, Cabarrus, Chester, Chesterfield Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lancaster, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, Union and York counties, per CLT Alliance's definition.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that the 59,000 college graduates added to the population include those who obtained a degree here.