Census shows US is diversifying, NC is growing

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP/WWAY) — The U.S. became more diverse and more urban over the past decade, and the non-Hispanic white population dropped for the first time on record.

That’s according to the Census Bureau, which on Thursday released a trove of demographic data that will be used to redraw the nation’s political maps.

The new figures offered the most detailed portrait yet of how the country has changed since 2010.

The figures show continued migration to the South and West at the expense of counties in the Midwest and Northeast.

Between 2010 and 2020, North Carolina’s population grew from 9,535,483 to 10,439,483, an increase of 903,905 or 9.5%. Over this same period, 51 North Carolina counties lost population and 49 grew.

Wake County officially surpassed Mecklenburg to become the most populous county in North Carolina. Otherwise, the five largest counties in North Carolina in 2020 were also the five largest in 2010:

• Wake: 1,129,410
• Mecklenburg: 1,115,482
• Guilford: 541,299
• Forsyth: 382,590
• Cumberland: 334,728

Both Wake and Mecklenburg are more than twice as populous as Guilford, the state’s third largest county. Wake, Mecklenburg, and Guilford grew faster than the state over the decade while Forsyth and Cumberland grew more slowly.

The five smallest NC counties in 2020 are the same as in 2010, with some shuffling between Jones and Camden:

• Tyrrell: 3,245
• Hyde: 4,589
• Graham: 8,030
• Jones: 9,172
• Camden: 10,355

Camden County was the only one of these counties to grow over the decade (3.8%). The other four counties had large population losses.

After a decade of population estimates suggesting that Brunswick was the fastest-growing county, Johnston County took a slight edge in the end. The five fastest-growing counties in North Carolina from 2010-2020 were:

• Johnston: 27.9%
• Brunswick: 27.2%
• Cabarrus: 26.8%
• Wake: 25.4%
• Durham: 21.4%

51 counties in North Carolina lost population over the decade. The counties with the largest numeric declines were:

• Robeson: -17,638
• Duplin: -9,790
• Edgecombe: -7,652
• Columbus: -7,475
• Halifax: -6,069

The racial and ethnic composition of North Carolina is:

• White: 60.5%
• Black: 20.2%
• Hispanic: 10.7%
• Multiracial: 3.9%
• Asian: 3.3%
• American Indian: 1.0%
• All other races: 0.5%