The United States Census Bureau recently released updated population estimates between July 1, 2020 and 2021. As expected, the Charlotte Region continued to grow steadily. About 84 people moved into the Charlotte Region every day in 2020-2021. The 15-county region saw its population grow to a total of 3,084,405 people – a 1.1% increase. The growth in the region outpaced the rest of the country which averaged .1% growth.
As a traditional population hub, Mecklenburg County participated in this trend, adding 3,936 people to its population, a number that represents a .4% growth rate. Mecklenburg County’s gains in population came from natural increase rather than in-migration.
However, the highest rates of growth came from counties surrounding Mecklenburg. The top three counties in terms of growth rate in the Charlotte Region are Lancaster, increasing at 3.8%; Lincoln, which grew 2.8%; and Iredell, at 2.3%.
From July 2020 – July 2021 the Charlotte Region ranked as the 7th fastest growing metro in the nation. Along with fresh population estimates, the United States Census Bureau also recently released a report finding that United States migration was on a decline from 2020-2021. However, migration across the four regions in the country experienced this trend unevenly. For example, the Northeast lost about 227,000 people, while the South gained about 253,000. Even with slowed migration across the country, the Charlotte Region has still managed to make some gains.
The Charlotte Metro Area still sees its largest migration population come from one of those Northeastern areas, with the largest number of movers, nearly 7,000, coming from the New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro Area.
Another noteworthy trend for the region came in the form of strong migration patterns from the Hickory MSA. Since 2015-2019 about 1,000 people have been on net move from the Charlotte MSA to the Hickory MSA every year. Additionally, about 500 people were on net move from the Asheville MSA to the Hickory MSA every year.
The Charlotte Region remains one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. With competitive advantages like comparatively low cost of living, low cost of doing business, strategic location for live, work, and play, there is cause to expect this trend to continue going forward.
