North Carolina's population growth continues around its cities
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
North Carolina continues to be home to some of America's fastest-growing large counties coming out of the pandemic era, per an Axios analysis of the latest census data.
- But many of the state's rural east continues to shrink significantly.
Why it matters: The latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show which parts of North Carolina are booming and which parts are struggling to keep residents.
Zoom in: Counties around the state's two largest cities of Raleigh and Charlotte still attract a large number of people thanks to their thriving economies. But so do certain parts of the coast and mountains, including areas around Wilmington and Asheville.
- The state's two fastest-growing counties — Johnston County (18.5% population growth) and Brunswick County (15%) — were both among the 50 fastest-growing in the country in the latest data, which compared the five-year average populations from 2014-2018 and 2019-2023.
- The state's largest county, Wake, saw its population grew by 10%, increasing from an average of about 1 million in 2014-2018 to about 1.2 million in 2019-2023.
At the same time, Robeson County in eastern North Carolina saw the largest population decline of any U.S. county with more than 100,000 people, with its population falling 12.4%.
- Eastern North Carolina's counties have struggled in recent years after being hit by a succession of hurricanes, and many those counties also have higher unemployment rates than the state average.
Roughly one-fifth of North Carolina's residents now live in its five largest cities — Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro and Winston-Salem — according to Carolina Demography.
- Those cities have benefitted from internal migration within North Carolina to where jobs are, but they've also attracted many new-to-NC residents.
- North Carolina had the second largest gain from domestic migration between 2023 and 2024, adding more than 82,000 out-of-state residents, according to the Census Bureau, and the state's population broke 11 million in the past year.
- And like every other state, it posted positive international migration numbers as well.
Between the lines: Although Americans sometimes relocate domestically in search of better jobs, lower costs and so on, international migration is the main driver behind population growth at the national level.
- Migration "accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million increase in population between 2023 and 2024," the Census Bureau said in a recent write-up of separate data.
- "This reflects a continued trend of rising international migration, with a net increase of 1.7 million in 2022 and 2.3 million in 2023."
What we're watching: The new census numbers are a snapshot of life here before the devastation of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina, which has displaced many residents from their homes for the long term.
