Charlotte's white-collar workforce has a baby face

• "What Charlotte offers, the growth that we've had here, and just that buzz around the city is really driving that younger demographic," says Dave Holtzman, president and partner at Search Solution Group, a Charlotte-based recruiting and headhunting firm.

By the numbers: In a single year, the population of 25- to 34-year-olds living in Mecklenburg County jumped by nearly 4,600 people — from roughly 213,800 in 2025 to about 218,300 in 2026.

• The age group makes up about 17% of the county's population but roughly a third of the workforce in some of the region's fastest-growing, highest-skill industries.

State of play: Charlotte's fast population and job growth are helping drive the influx of young people.

• Scout Motors and Japanese banking giant SMBC are just two of several companies actively setting up headquarters in the city. They're collectively hiring for thousands of roles, many of which are expected to be filled by people just a few years into their careers.
• Honeywell and other companies that expanded in Charlotte years ago also helped shift the demographics. Fintech — an industry that attracts younger people — is growing in Charlotte with 12,700 employees.
• And the traditional financial institutions that Charlotte was built on tend to hire younger, too, Holtzman says. Some employers perceive younger workers as more adaptable to AI and other technological advancements.

Case in point: About a third of Mecklenburg County's software developers are between 25 and 34 years old — nearly 4,900 workers. Other notable occupations that skew especially young include:

• Data scientists: 36%
• Market research analysts and marketing specialists: 35%
• Financial and investment analysts: 33%

The intrigue: A decade ago, Charlotte was struggling to recruit tech firms because of a shortage of skilled workers.

• The number of software developers ages 25-34 has increased 151% since 2016.
• Now, economic developers call tech talent Charlotte's secret weapon.

Zoom out: Charlotte is consistently ranked a top destination for movers. But it is especially popular among Gen Z (born 1997-2012), according to U-Haul's midyear migration report.

• Among the cities sending large numbers of Gen Zers to Charlotte are Atlanta, Greenville, S.C., Cincinnati, Columbus, Indianapolis, Memphis, and Raleigh.

• "Raleigh definitely beats Charlotte on the education front, but where Charlotte wins is ... people go to school in the Raleigh market, but then come to work in the Charlotte market," Holtzman says.
• Charlotte ranks among the top metro areas for college grads, based on payroll processor ADP's ranking of 20-something hiring rates, wages and affordability.

The big picture: Charlotte's baby-faced crowd is not just driving the economy. It's influencing how the city grows, explaining why luxury apartments keep rising and Instagrammable chains, like PopUp Bagels and Maman, are expanding here.

Yes, but: Can Charlotte convince the young talent to stick around? One survey found young childless adults in Charlotte think more about leaving than their peers in other cities.

• It's often the intangible emotional connection or sense of belonging — not the economic opportunity — that makes people consider leaving cities, researchers say.
• U-Haul's data show that Gen Zers departing Charlotte tend to head toward New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Miami and Charleston, S.C.
• "Charlotte could maybe benefit from a little bit of an identifier," Holtzman says. "But I don't think it's necessarily holding people back from giving it a chance, either."

The bottom line: Charlotte's workforce should look older as the people who move here age. But the question is whether they'll stay long enough for that to happen.