‘Migration’ fuels growth in Currituck, Dare counties

UNC group releases population data from April 2020-July 2021

While new data from the University of North Carolina estimates that the state of North Carolina increased its population by 1.1% from April 2020 to July 2021, both Currituck and Dare counties grew at a more rapid rate during that period.

The research, from Carolina Demography, which is part of the Carolina Population Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, starts with a population number from the 2020 census and adjusts that base by adding births, subtracting deaths and using a net migration number which represents the difference between people moving into a county and those moving out of a county.

The data snapshots confirm that Dare and Currituck counties’ estimated populations grew in that 15-month period thanks to an influx (or at least a notable increase) of new residents moving in.

• From April 2020 to July 2021, Currituck County grew rapidly, up 5.5% from a population of 28,100 to 29,653. While births and deaths essentially neutralized themselves during that period, the net migration added 1,556 new residents.
• In the same period, Dare County’s estimated population rose by 2.5%, from 36,915 to 37,826. Deaths outstripped births in the county by 167, but the net migration added 1,078 new residents to the population.
• Hyde County, however, lost some population, dropping by 1.8% from 4,589 to 4,508 in the period from April 2020 to July 2021. There were 45 more deaths than births in that period, and unlike its neighbors, the county lost 36 residents to migration.

Providing a fuller overview of the numbers, Carolina Demography reported that “between 2010 and 2020, about 70% of North Carolina's population growth was from net migration, meaning more people moving here than moving away. And between 2020 and 2021, North Carolina experienced natural decrease (more deaths than births) for the first time; net migration was the only source of growth over the year.