Charlotte Metro’s Population Keeps Climbing

The Charlotte metro area increased its population count by nearly 44,000 people in a year’s span — an uptick of 1.7%, according to the latest U.S.

The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area numbered 2,636,883 denizens as of July 1, 2019, the new population figures show. Its annual numeric increase of 43,933 from July 1, 2018, which equates to an average of about 120 new people each day, was seventh-highest of the nation’s 384 metro areas. Percentage-wise, the metro’s population growth ranked 38th.

That's down slightly from the 44,350 new people added in the metro area between July 2017 and July 2018.

When looking at the past decade, the Charlotte metro also saw its number of new residents climb more than most of its U.S. counterparts. The local population rose by 392,920 people between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2019 — the 15th-highest increase in the nation. That represented a 17.5% increase from the metro area's population of 2,243,863 in 2010 — growth that ranked 31st nationwide.

Of those nearly 400,000 residents added in the metro area, about 111,000 resulted from natural occurrences, with the number of births far outpacing deaths. Net migration, however, accounted for more than 280,000 people coming to the area.

About 33,300 people moved to the area from 2018-19, averaging more than 91 people per day.

The metro remains the 22nd-largest in the nation.

Nationwide, Southern cities dominated the list of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas in the last decade — in both numeric and percentage growth, according to the Census estimates.