Carolina Demography

09/29/2026

Thanks to Julian Berger News and WFAE for featuring our Director, Nathan Dollar, in their story about how proposed U.S. Census changes could affect North Carolina representation and funding. “The proposed rule will fundamentally change the quality of the 2030 census count, and then it imperils the public’s access to objective data more generally,” Dollar said. https://www.bpr.org/2026-09-28/proposed-u-s-census-changes-could-affect-nc-representation-and-funding

09/28/2026

UNC's Center for Information, Technology and Public Life (CITAP) welcomes Dr. danah boyd, author of Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census today from 3-4 p.m. at the Pleasants Family Assembly Room in Wilson Library. Join Dr. boyd to discuss how we all have a role to play in making democracy’s data and what it takes to ensure everyone counts.
Register here: https://citap.unc.edu/events/democracy-data-event/

09/04/2026

Thanks to Ben Humphries and Education NC for featuring our Director, Nathan Dollar, in their story examining how declining enrollment is leading some North Carolina school districts to make tough choices about which schools to close.
https://www.ednc.org/amid-enrollment-declines-how-should-districts-handle-school-closures/ -declines-facility-costs-and-deciding-which-schools-to-close

Photo by Katie Dukes/EdNC

09/02/2026

Central to our mission at Carolina Demography is helping people get the data they need to make informed decisions. With this in mind, we strongly advocate for a robust and transparent federal data infrastructure. That said, it's not lost on us that sometimes issues related to how data is collected or methodological policies that may impact data accessibility are not at the top of everyone's news feed. However, state agencies, local governments, nonprofits, and private businesses use federal data every day and recent policy changes at the US Department of Commerce may limit the data available to NC communities. Our friend and colleague, John Quinterno, the State Data Center Coordinator and Census Liaison, summarized what these changes mean in this piece which was originally published on September 1, 2026 here:

The US Department of Commerce's new administrative order limits the privacy protections the Census Bureau may use. What it means for you.

08/27/2026

Thanks to Carli Brosseau and The Assembly for citing the work of our Research Analyst Emma Marshall in their story on North Carolina's high ninth-grade retention rates. Ninth graders in the state fail to fulfill the requirements to advance to 10th grade at one of the highest rates in the country.
https://www.theassemblync.com/news/education/retention-k-12-schools-north-carolina/
Photo by Matt Ramey for The Assembly

06/29/2026

Thanks to Aaron Sánchez-Guerra and North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC for their story on the growth of North Carolina's Hispanic population. While U.S. Census Bureau data show the state's Hispanic population increased, it did so at a slower rate says Carolina Demography Director Nathan Dollar. "There's a whole half a year where we know there was a lot of aggressive immigration enforcement and policy prohibiting and dissuading people from coming," said Dollar. "We won't until next year really have a fuller picture of how, how much growth is slowing down."
https://www.wunc.org/race-class-communities/2026-06-26/nc-hispanic-population-rose-2025-census

06/25/2026

Thanks to The News & Observer for this insightful piece summarizing and visualizing the U.S. Census Bureau's new county population estimates by age, s*x, race, and Hispanic origin. Check it out: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article316215485.html?giftCode=b8a36fba05dac49c8407824fa98e35ea3b8fcf975887f37956351ef7caecb45e

06/15/2026

Thanks to Guile Contreras and Andressia Ramirez Herrera of Education NC for citing our data on K-12 students in North Carolina in their story about access to postsecondary education in Latine communities.
https://www.ednc.org/postsecondary-pathways-empowering-latine-students-and-families-in-rural-nc/

06/09/2026

Thanks to Ben Rappaport and the Border Belt Independent for highlighting Lisa Carlson’s recent blog post on U.S. Census Bureau city and town population estimates in their coverage of population changes across counties along the North–South Carolina border.
https://borderbelt.org/nc-border-belt-cities-see-population-losses/

06/08/2026

Thanks to Kristy Bailey and the for their report on population growth in Alamance County. Nine out of 10 municipalities in the county saw their populations increase from 2023-2025 according to U.S. Census Bureau data. https://alamancenews.com/census-findings-graham-and-mebane-fastest-growing-alamance-county-areas-between-2023-to-2025/