North Carolina’s population has jumped by almost half a million people since the last census in 2020. Only Texas and Florida have added more new residents.
It’s easy to see why people are flocking to the Tar Heel State. From the Outer Banks and Crystal Coast to the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina boasts some of the most majestic scenery in the country. Add in a cost-of-living that’s lower than the national average, acclaimed research universities and a robust economy, and the best barbecue on the East Coast, it’s no surprise nearly 127,000 people moved to the state in 2023 alone.
But this rapid growth comes with plenty of drawbacks — for the environment, and for existing residents’ quality of life. That’s why 81% of residents want the population growth to slow down or stop completely, according to a recent poll. Only 14% want the rapid growth to continue.
This isn’t a lack of Southern hospitality. It’s due to residents’ desire to preserve their state’s natural beauty and open spaces. Urban sprawl contributes to a host of negative environmental impacts, including air and water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and deforestation — not to mention overcrowded roadways, schools, and parks.
North Carolina State University and the Raleigh office of the U.S. Geological Survey project that if the state’s population growth continues at its current rate, each and every town from Raleigh to Charlotte will eventually be absorbed into a “continuous metropolitan area.” This would be devastating for the third of state residents who choose to live in rural areas.
More people inevitably means less open space too. Over the past four decades, North Carolina gained 4.25 million residents and lost 2.56 million acres of farmland and open space. Three quarters of this land loss is attributed to population growth, according to a study I co-authored on the environmental consequences of urban sprawl. Farms have gotten smaller and fewer.
North Carolina’s population growth is overwhelmingly due to migration, not births. People move to North Carolina from all over the country and around the world. Last year, over 29,000 foreigners settled in North Carolina, along with almost 100,000 citizens from other states — especially New York, Florida and California.
The fact that those states have disproportionately high immigrant populations isn’t a coincidence. Residents of those states frequently grow dissatisfied by the sprawl, congestion, and high cost of living there — and then move to North Carolina, attracted to its small towns and reasonable cost of living. That migration, ironically, endangers the very attributes that make North Carolina so attractive in the first place.
Of course, lawmakers can’t ban Americans from moving around internally from one state to another. But they can work — at both the state and federal level — to scale back immigration, which is set to drive almost 90% of U.S. population growth in the decades ahead.
State lawmakers, for instance, could strengthen the existing state E-Verify law to require all businesses in the state to use the free federal program that flags when a newly hired employee is an illegal immigrant. By making it harder for illegal immigrants to find work, an E-Verify mandate would discourage recent border crossers from settling in North Carolina — and push many of the nearly 500,000 illegal immigrants currently in the Tar Heel State to leave. About 75% of North Carolina voters support such an E-Verify mandate; just 12% oppose one.
North Carolina’s congressional delegation, meanwhile, could vote to scale back legal immigration by reforming the current system of “chain migration,” which gives preference for green cards to the relatives of recent immigrants, regardless of their effect on American workers’ incomes. Two-thirds of North Carolina voters want the government to reduce immigration to slow the state’s population growth.
If the status quo continues, North Carolinians can expect more overcrowded beaches and parks, worsening environmental conditions, and a loss of the rural lifestyle many of them cherish. North Carolina residents have made it clear they want an end to unsustainable population growth. Now it’s up to lawmakers to listen to their constituents.
Leon Kolankiewicz is scientific director of NumbersUSA and co-author of the 2024 report, North Carolina Sprawl.
