Thread: Census: Fewer folks moved to N.C. in '09

Census: Fewer folks moved to N.C. in '09

Increase was only 1.4% over 2008, bureau figures say

By Wesley Young | Journal Reporter

Published: December 24, 2009

Population growth in North Carolina slowed significantly in 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau said yesterday, as a recession and job losses took their toll on the state's reputation as a good place to make a new home.

Census Bureau estimates showed North Carolina's population at 9,380,884 as of July 1, 2009. The total was 1.4 percent higher than 2008, an increase of about 134,000 people. But the growth was significantly less than in the previous two years. In 2007, the state's population grew by about 200,000, and in 2008 it grew by about 183,000.

"If there are no jobs -- and we certainly don't have any excess jobs -- the incentive for coming is just not there," said Bill McCoy, a consultant with the Urban Institute at UNC Charlotte. "Also, it reflects how difficult it is to move. If you own a house, it is hard to get rid of it. People are less willing to take a risk in a down economy."

The net number of people moving to North Carolina from other countries fell slightly, with about 21,000 more people moving to the state than moved out. That total was about 600 lower than the year before.

The biggest drop was in those moving into North Carolina from other parts of the country. Where the state experienced a net gain of 104,000 through domestic migration in 2008, the number dropped to a gain of 59,000 in 2009.

"There are not too many people moving either way," said Eddie Lentz, the president of Lentz Transfer and Storage in Forsyth County. "It has been extremely slow over the last year. The housing industry is almost at a standstill in Forsyth County and this part of the Piedmont."

Lentz said he has had to reduce his work force to about 30 people, down from 60. There are young couples taking advantage of the $8,000 first-time-homebuyer tax credit, he said, but "most of them are moving out of apartments and moving in pickup trucks and that kind of thing."

Despite the slowdown, only two other states -- Texas and California -- added more people to their total population than North Carolina did during 2009. That was a bright spot in the numbers, said Keith Debbage, a geographer at UNC Greensboro who tracks population trends.

Texas added 478,000 people and California added 381,000 people.

North Carolina was ahead of Georgia (up 131,000) and Florida (up 114,000).

The Census Bureau said that growth slowed dramatically in some Western and Southern states that had previously led the population charge. Nevada, the fastest-growing state in 2007, fell to 17th place. It was replaced by Wyoming, which grew 2.1 percent in 2009.

North Carolina ranked ninth in the rate of population growth in 2009, down from a fourth-place ranking in 2008.

Although North Carolina remained a state that saw a net gain of people moving in from other countries, the number arriving has dropped by almost 30 percent from the annual highs of about 30,000 a year in the early part of the decade.

International migration figures include people moving to the country legally or illegally, and they also include the movement of people in the armed forces and elsewhere.

"People came to North Carolina because the economy was good and there was good work here," said Jane Martin, who is the president of Makin' It Work -- Pronto!, a company involved in Hispanic marketing and communications.

"If the economy has slowed down, we would suggest that immigration has slowed down as well," she said.

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People came to North Carolina because the economy was good and there was good work here," said Jane Martin, who is the president of Makin' It Work -- Pronto!, a company involved in Hispanic marketing and communications.

"If the economy has slowed down, we would suggest that immigration has slowed down as well," she said.


You mean illegal immigration don't you ?

Illegal immigration may have slowed but anchor baby births are still overwhelming the hospitals and schools and you still see Spanish speakers on almost every construction job site.