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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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Someone posted this link on the General US board, and I thought it was pretty cool. You can click on any county in the US and find how many native-born residents live there. For the Triangle, it looks like this:
Wake County: 32% of adults were born in NC
Orange County: 34% of adults were born in NC
Durham County: 39% of adults were born in NC
Chatham County: 46% of adults were born in NC
Johnston County: 53% of adults were born in NC
Franklin County: 56% of adults were born in NC
Granville County: 62% of adults were born in NC
53.4% are from NC here in Lee County and 48.9% in Harnett County.
I'm surprised Wake is as high as it is. I would have expected it to be around 25%.
Washington County appears to have the highest percentage of Native North Carolinians at 80.7%, while Currituck is the lowest at 20.6%.
It is probably under 25% of people who were born/grew up in Wake County....but don't underestimate the large segment of the population in the Triangle that grew up in other areas of NC and moved here for school and/or work and stayed for a while because it is generally the most prosperous area of the state. UNC and NC State each bring thousands of new students in from other parts of the state every year. Many stick around after graduation with jobs found locally.
Also there are quite a few people like me....BORN elsewhere but moved here as an infant/small child and grew up here.
Last edited by TarHeelNick; 04-15-2019 at 07:54 AM..
It is probably under 25% of people who were born/grew up in Wake County....but don't underestimate the large segment of the population in the Triangle that grew up in other areas of NC and moved here for school and/or work and stayed for a while because it is generally the most prosperous area of the state. UNC and NC State both brings thousands of new students in from other parts of the state every year. Many stick around after graduation with jobs found locally.
This is me. Came for college 30-some years ago, with all intentions of moving back to the Triad. By the time I graduated, it was clear that the Triangle was a much better place to try to have a career. It's funny, W-S and Raleigh were very similar in size when I moved here, but W-S grew at a snails pace, while Raleigh exploded.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,779 posts, read 15,790,796 times
Reputation: 10886
As transplant heavy as many think this area is, I just took a look at the map for Northern Virginia (outside DC). Many of the counties there have only 11% native born Virginians! It truly was a diverse mix of people when I lived there. In contrast, the counties outside of Philly where I grew up all had in the 50s-60s% of native Pennsylvanians living there. Pennsylvania is definitely a homegrown state.
ETA: I think it would be hard to do the data at the county level, as many people aren't even born in the county that they live in, which would mess with the data, and I'm not sure they even keep track of where people actually live as opposed to the hospital they were born in.
As transplant heavy as many think this area is, I just took a look at the map for Northern Virginia (outside DC). Many of the counties there have only 11% native born Virginians! It truly was a diverse mix of people when I lived there. In contrast, the counties outside of Philly where I grew up all had in the 50s-60s% of native Pennsylvanians living there. Pennsylvania is definitely a homegrown state.
ETA: I think it would be hard to do the data at the county level, as many people aren't even born in the county that they live in, which would mess with the data, and I'm not sure they even keep track of where people actually live as opposed to the hospital they were born in.
When talking to some locals outside Philly, what was amazing to me was how many hadn't even left a 50 mile radius of their home....ever.
I'm a native, not to Orange County, but to NC for more generations than I care to count at the moment (pre-1776).
But I never felt the need to stay in my hometown. I don't really know many folks who felt like they were supposed to, but do know some who did because that's where they were comfortable. I happen to know a lot of Chapel Hill natives living here on this edge of the Triangle.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,779 posts, read 15,790,796 times
Reputation: 10886
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
When talking to some locals outside Philly, what was amazing to me was how many hadn't even left a 50 mile radius of their home....ever.
Oh yes, it is very true. My parents are New Yorkers who moved to Philly for a job opportunity, so we felt a bit like the "odd man" out. Growing up there, there were many extended families in my high school and also many second and third generation students. Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 kids in my grade who had cousins in the same grade with me. My best friend and her first cousins all went to the same school, too. There were a ton more.
Part of it might be explained by the ethnicities of the population. There were a lot of Greeks and Italians in my town, and they are family oriented. They also often went into business together or a son would take over dad's business, so they stayed around. My sister raised her kids in the Philly area, and she said at sporting events, not just parents, but grandparents, and sometimes other relatives (for bigger games) would come to watch for many of the kids. And of course everyone knows each other (even if not related) or their parents grew up together, etc.
And that was the Philly burbs. I imagine Central PA and the rest of Pennsylvania are even less transient. In many ways it is very nice, although is probably more difficult for newcomers. It's quite a different feel than living in a transplant-heavy area, that's for sure. Each has its pros and cons.
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