Charlotte area population statistics

[urbanlover568]

21 minutes ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

I moved from Metro NYC to NC and I'm glad I did.  I have found that high costs of living  but also higher salaries to be too much for me.  It Always seems like costs of living outstrip wage growth for the working class.  I'm sure Seattle is a great city 2nd to none - but my experience as being a 'refuge' fleeing from high cost areas I'd prefer lower living costs, lower wages but higher quality of life.  If I were forced to move to the West Coast I'd choose either Boise, ID or Salt Lake City, UT due to cost of living. 

I was also looking at relocating to Manhattan and I agree the taxes there are high. They have a state tax. I opted for WA with their tax friendly status. Salaries here are high and significantly so with the most powerful companies in the world here. Yes, we get cloudy days but it's more temperate here and i'm able to go the mountains any day in the winter and see snow. In NC you have to plan to go to the mountains with the mountains there receiving significantly less snow.  We don't get heatwaves and humidity like NC does. It's better for me with me for my allergies. i'm not saying Charlotte is horrible. It's not. Everyone makes a personal choice of where they want to live. I lived in Charlotte and liked it. I just needed a change and more activities. Welcome to NC and I hope you enjoy the southern hospitality there and Carolina Blue!

Edited November 18, 2019 by mpretori

[Hushpuppy321]

40 minutes ago, mpretori said:

I was also looking at relocating to Manhattan and I agree the taxes there are high. They have a state tax. I opted for WA with their tax friendly status. Salaries here are high and significantly so with the most powerful companies in the world here. Yes, we get cloudy days but it's more temperate here and i'm able to go the mountains any day in the winter and see snow. In NC you have to plan to go to the mountains with the mountains there receiving significantly less snow.  We don't get heatwaves and humidity like NC does. It's better for me with me for my allergies. i'm not saying Charlotte is horrible. It's not. Everyone makes a personal choice of where they want to live. I lived in Charlotte and liked it. I just needed a change and more activities. Welcome to NC and I hope you enjoy the southern hospitality there and Carolina Blue!

I'd still love to Visit Seattle and plan too at some point.  Thanks for the reply

[cltheel.sdl]

I am from Charlotte, moved to Seattle in 2010.  My wife's family is from the Seattle area, and I imagine I'll always be here.  My parents still live in Charlotte, my sister lives in Wilson, but my wife is a homebody.  Any sizable home (3,000+ SF) in even a halfway decent part of the Seattle area that won't be longer than a 1 hour commute to downtown is $1 MM +.  The same house in Charlotte is under $500K.  I would love to move back to Charlotte, and even if I earned what the cost of living calculators show would be the decreased salary I'd earn, I'd still have more money in my pocket at the end of the day, even when considering the income tax.  So, unless you're earning 7 figures, NC is a way better place to be from a net earnings (and affordability) standpoint.  

[Hushpuppy321]

Any chance that Seattle's City Population ever catches up with Charlotte or are they just too land locked up there?   I do understand that King County, WA dwarfs Mecklenburg, NC in size & population.

[urbanlover568]

26 minutes ago, cltheel.sdl said:

I am from Charlotte, moved to Seattle in 2010.  My wife's family is from the Seattle area, and I imagine I'll always be here.  My parents still live in Charlotte, my sister lives in Wilson, but my wife is a homebody.  Any sizable home (3,000+ SF) in even a halfway decent part of the Seattle area that won't be longer than a 1 hour commute to downtown is $1 MM +.  The same house in Charlotte is under $500K.  I would love to move back to Charlotte, and even if I earned what the cost of living calculators show would be the decreased salary I'd earn, I'd still have more money in my pocket at the end of the day, even when considering the income tax.  So, unless you're earning 7 figures, NC is a way better place to be from a net earnings (and affordability) standpoint.  

I moved here and renting. Income is 30% more here. My rent is only 300 dollars more a month than it was in Charlotte. I have a ton more and that goes into savings or enjoying hiking and going downtown. I budget wisely. If you get hired for a company here with no salary increase from North Carolina, thats not a good company to work for.

[ah59396]

2 minutes ago, Hushpuppy321 said:

Any chance that Seattle's City Population ever catches up with Charlotte or are they just too land locked up there?   I do understand that King County, WA dwarfs Mecklenburg, NC in size & population.

The city can’t expand outward so it would have to grow up.  It’s completely bound by water to the East and west and fairly large cities to the north and south; Shoreline, Lynnwood, Kent, Burien, etc.

I don’t anticipate Seattle catching Charlotte, solely due to the housing prices.  The job market is exceptional though.

My experience isn’t quite as drastic as @cltheel.sdl in terms of cost, but certainly similar.  We bought a home last year about 15 miles north of downtown because we wanted a home.  Almost anything  inside city proper that doesn’t share a wall will start at $700k.  But, you get what you pay for and I wouldn’t trade it.  The amount of outdoor options and variety is unmatched in the US, at least in my opinion.  I’m willing to pay the premium for that.  Plus I love to fly fish so I’m in heaven.

Charlotte is still awesome though, don’t let anyone tell you different.  Go Panthers.

[Dale]

2 hours ago, mpretori said:

I would rather trust Kiplinger over anecdotal statements. 

That Charlotte is tons cheaper than Seattle is an objective fact.

[Richhamleigh, DC]

The world's most powerful companies are based in Seattle?  Internet retailer Amazon (#18), coffee chain Starbucks (#146), clothing merchant Nordstrom (#197), Weyerhaeuser (#373), Expeditors International (#390), and Alaska Airlines (#459).^[1] Four more are located in the metropolitan area: Costco Wholesale (#15), Microsoft (#25), Paccar (#147), and Expedia Group (#385) (directly from Wikiworld)

There are powerful corporations in Seattle area but the "world's most powerful companies"?  That's a stretch.  We all know Atlanta, GA has the world's most powerful companies.  

[Madison Parkitect]

11 hours ago, ah59396 said:

We bought a home last year about 15 miles north of downtown because we wanted a home. 

Shoreline? We bought cheap in Shoreline in 2015 and sold in 2017, best financial decision we've ever made.

Can't believe I missed the Charlotte vs. Seattle discussion this weekend! Here are the facts: Seattle has less taxes and higher incomes. But the cost of housing evens it out, pretty much. We're making less but also spending less since we moved back to Charlotte. Seattle has better weather than Charlotte does, and during the summers there is no more beautiful place on earth than the PNW. Seattle also has a lot more to do and feels like a much bigger city, obviously. But Charlotte is nice too in its own way!

[KJHburg]

We need a new thread called Charlotte vs...  Name your city

getting back to the topic at hand population here is some information from the UNCC Urban Institute 

interesting graphics of the population in the region where it is growing etc.   Lincoln County is one ring county that has an average higher age but that maybe the presence of Trilogy the huge age restricted community in the Denver area. 

https://ui.uncc.edu/story/carolinas-urban-rural-connection-demographic-shifts

[Windsurfer]

Why is Union listed twice?  One showing a gain and the other -5%   

I must be missing something.

[kermit]

1 hour ago, Windsurfer said:

Why is Union listed twice?  One showing a gain and the other -5%   

I must be missing something.

Union NC and Union SC

They were kinda casual with the lables

Edited November 18, 2019 by kermit

[rancenc]

Not directly related to the Charlotte area's population stats, but a interesting bit of data from 2017 concerning inter-racial/ethnic marriages.  Almost 45% of these are the result of Hispanic/Non-Hispanic white unions.

https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/05/18/intermarriage-in-the-u-s-50-years-after-loving-v-virginia/

 

[ah59396]

10 hours ago, Madison Parkitect said:

Shoreline? We bought cheap in Shoreline in 2015 and sold in 2017, best financial decision we've ever made.

Can't believe I missed the Charlotte vs. Seattle discussion this weekend! Here are the facts: Seattle has less taxes and higher incomes. But the cost of housing evens it out, pretty much. We're making less but also spending less since we moved back to Charlotte. Seattle has better weather than Charlotte does, and during the summers there is no more beautiful place on earth than the PNW. Seattle also has a lot more to do and feels like a much bigger city, obviously. But Charlotte is nice too in its own way!

Close!  Edmonds.  Love the weather out here and the views (well not now because the Big Dark has arrived).  And yeah, cost of living balances out.  My wife is an RN, literally doubled her income.

 

Also agree comparing the two isn’t fair, Seattle has the benefit of being bigger and more established for longer.  Also it’s the pseudo capital of the PNW.

 

Charlotte will get there in its own unique way.  Go QC.

 

 

 

Anyways, sorry to derail.  I need to go back through here and see how my population projections from 2012 held up.

Edited November 19, 2019 by ah59396

[Madison Parkitect]

12 hours ago, ah59396 said:

Close!  Edmonds.  Love the weather out here and the views (well not now because the Big Dark has arrived).  And yeah, cost of living balances out.  My wife is an RN, literally doubled her income.

Nice! We moved from Shoreline to Edmonds and lived there for two years before moving back here. Lived near 5 Corners and Edmonds Woodway HS. Miss living there for sure, Edmonds is really great.

[KJHburg]

NC counties growing fastest with in migration (discounting births and deaths)  hint Wake County is #1 not Meck.

https://www.ncdemography.org/2019/10/10/these-nc-counties-are-experiencing-the-largest-population-gains-from-net-migration/

[videtur quam contuor]

Not population, per se, but land use changes which are related:

https://ui.uncc.edu/story/carolinas-urban-rural-connection-ecosystem-services-land-use

[thenewkage95]

NC counties growing fastest with in migration (discounting births and deaths)  hint Wake County is #1 not Meck.
https://www.ncdemography.org/2019/10/10/these-nc-counties-are-experiencing-the-largest-population-gains-from-net-migration/

Any clues why Wake is growing so much faster? I love Raleigh and have nothing against it. I used to actually live there, but I don’t think it has the amenities that can be found in Mecklenburg county.


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[KJHburg]

12 minutes ago, thenewkage95 said:

Any clues why Wake is growing so much faster? I love Raleigh and have nothing against it. I used to actually live there, but I don’t think it has the amenities that can be found in Mecklenburg county.


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the truth is going to hurt here but it is reality:  Many families view Charlotte Mecklenburg schools as not optimal option and they move out to Union, Cabarrus, York, Lancaster, Iredell etc   Singles, DINKs  and people who can find a home in great CMS district stay.  Not everyone wants or can afford private school options.  

Overall the Wake County schools are just better they don't have as much poverty in the county and Wake county being much larger than Mecklenburg has plenty of great public school options from Cary to Raleigh to Holly Springs to Wake Forest all over the county.  They just don't have as many low performing schools as CMS schools.  CMS has some of the best schools in the state but also many of the worst.  

One more thing when Wake passes Mecklenburg in population soon and it will happen in the next 2 years or so there will be no looking back or catching up.  Wake is 50% bigger than Meck in land area and has a long ways to grow.   Remember Cary a suburb but city in its own right has 168,000 people and is all in Wake County except for a small sliver.  

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by KJHburg

[CLT2014]

17 minutes ago, thenewkage95 said:

Any clues why Wake is growing so much faster? I love Raleigh and have nothing against it. I used to actually live there, but I don’t think it has the amenities that can be found in Mecklenburg county.

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For people with children, Wake County is a lot easier to have a reasonable commute to work from semi-affordable neighborhoods and excellent schools. Wake schools in general beat CMS across the board and people relocating with kids use that as a big deciding factor. 

You look at Cary for example and you are 15 - 20 minutes to the RTP and 15 minutes to downtown Raleigh with over 100 single family homes listed for less than $350,000. 

In Charlotte to get 10 / 10 or 9 /10 rated schools with home prices below $350,000 you are going to be doing long commutes, often from adjacent counties. Providence High only has 10 SFH listings under $350k and Ardrey Kell has about 20. Hence residents get pushed out to Union County, Fort Mill, etc.... and the commutes are significantly worse than Triangle area commuting. 

Edited November 21, 2019 by CLT2014

[CriticalT]

I love Durham.  It's awesome, but it is not nearly as affluent as Raleigh/Wake.   There is no Durham next door to Charlotte so Raleigh "benefits" from that.  

[Sigma]

27 minutes ago, thenewkage95 said:

Any clues why Wake is growing so much faster? I love Raleigh and have nothing against it. I used to actually live there, but I don’t think it has the amenities that can be found in Mecklenburg county.


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Further, other than the Durham suburbs, most all of Raleigh's suburbs are within Wake County.  The county is over double the size in area to Mecklenburg (365 sq mi v 857 sq mi).

[thenewkage95]

Further, other than the Durham suburbs, most all of Raleigh's suburbs are within Wake County.  The county is over double the size in area to Mecklenburg (365 sq mi v 857 sq mi).

Even still, according to the stats KJHBurg posted, the counties immediately outside of Mecklenburg are not growing as fast as Mecklenburg. Wake county seems to be growing across the board.

 

 

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[KJHburg]

Durham Chapel Hill and Raleigh Cary are separate metro areas according to the Feds.  I do think it is one huge metro but it is right most of Raleigh's suburban growth is within Wake County though nearby Johnston County is exploding in growth.  In the local metro, people are choosing everyday to raise their families in Cabarrus, Union, York etc due to housing prices being  less than in prime Charlotte areas and great public schools.  Fastest growing part of Cabarrus county is the western half closest to Charlotte dittos for Union County and of course York county fastest growing areas are right over the county/state line in Ft Mill and Lake Wylie.  School boundary changes frequently in Mecklenburg do not help the situation.  Several years ago a CMS school board member stated in interview that People should not choose a home based on school assignment.  My reply to that is they almost certainly look at that and choose to make sacrifices in terms of longer commutes, less convenient locations because of great public schools for their children.  

[tozmervo]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

the truth is going to hurt here but it is reality:  Many families view Charlotte Mecklenburg schools as not optimal option and they move out to Union, Cabarrus, York, Lancaster, Iredell etc   Singles, DINKs  and people who can find a home in great CMS district stay.  Not everyone wants or can afford private school options.  

Overall the Wake County schools are just better they don't have as much poverty in the county and Wake county being much larger than Mecklenburg has plenty of great public school options from Cary to Raleigh to Holly Springs to Wake Forest all over the county.  They just don't have as many low performing schools as CMS schools.  CMS has some of the best schools in the state but also many of the worst.  

One more thing when Wake passes Mecklenburg in population soon and it will happen in the next 2 years or so there will be no looking back or catching up.  Wake is 50% bigger than Meck in land area and has a long ways to grow.   Remember Cary a suburb but city in its own right has 168,000 people and is all in Wake County except for a small sliver.  

I actually thought Wake had already passed Mecklenburg in population, but it appears it's not "official" yet. Looks like the 2018 estimates had Wake within 5000 people.