North Carolina boasted the nation’s hottest place for people to start calling home in 2022. This is according to the News Observer. Results published on Monday say Wilmington ranks No. 1 on a list of cities that attracted new residents last year.
Wilmington topped the list with a higher percentage of people moving into the city than out of it. Roughly 81% of moves were inbound, while 19% were outbound, results show. In comparison, Bellingham, Washington — the runner-up on the list — had an inbound move rate of about 73%.
Federal data reveals migration from other parts of the country has been driving population growth in North Carolina. North Carolina landed in the sixth spot on United Van Lines’ list of top states for inbound moves. Several cities also made their marks, including Hickory at No. 15, Greensboro at No. 21 and Charlotte at No. 22.
Does it feel like traffic keeps getting worse in Charlotte? There’s a very real reason for that. According to WCNC-TV, the Charlotte metropolitan area was recently ranked as one of America’s fastest-growing large metros.
A study by the Inspection Support Network shows the population changes among large, small, and mid-size U.S. metros based on census data to rank the fastest-growing areas across the nation. The Charlotte metro, which also includes Concord and Gastonia, came in at no. 6 on the list for large metros.
From 2016 to 2021, Charlotte’s population grew by 8.1%, or 201,349 people. That brought the total population for the metro to 2,701,046. Where are all these new Charlotteans coming from? The research indicates that the most common point of origin was the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area.
Another North Carolina metropolitan area has been growing even more dramatically. The Raleigh-Cary area was the second-fastest growing metro in the U.S. from 2106 to 2021. Their population went up 11.1%, although the overall population is still much lower than in Charlotte. However, the Raleigh-Cary metro added most of its new residents from nearby areas, such as Durham and Chapel Hill.
Top 10 Fastest-Growing Metros in the U.S. (Inspection Support Network)
