N.C. Has 10 Million Residents, Census Bureau Says | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    RALEIGH     If you're thinking North Carolina is getting a bit more crowded, then you're right.

    North Carolina recently became the ninth state to cross the 10 million population threshold, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Census Bureau said that as of July 1, North Carolina had 10,042,802 residents.

    Gov. Pat McCrory heralded the milestone.

    "Those of us who live in North Carolina know why this state is such a great place to live," McCrory said in a statement. "With our growing economy, great colleges and universities and quality of life, from the mountains to the coast, nothing compares to North Carolina."

    The state is adding an average 281 people per day, the Census Bureau says.

    North Carolina trails Georgia in population in the eighth spot with just more than 10.2 million, and leads Michigan, which comes in 10th with 9.9 million.

    California remains the largest state in population, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

    The Tar Heel State gained the sixth most people over the previous year with 102,415 new residents. States gaining more residents than North Carolina over the previous year were Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, and Washington.

    While North Carolina and most other states are growing, seven states lost population over the previous year. They are Illinois, West Virginia, Connecticut, Mississippi, Maine, Vermont, and New Mexico.

    While the next official U.S. Census will occur in 2020, the Census Bureau updates its figures with estimates each year. The bureau uses administrative data to estimate population changes between census years.