County’s population increases since 2000, but not by much

Beaufort County’s population has increased over the past 10 years.

While Beaufort County has seen a greater population growth than some of its neighboring counties to the east, its growth has not nearly matched that of some of the population increases seen in the Piedmont area of the state, according to population statistics recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Beaufort County’s population grew by 2,801 people over the past 10 years, from 44,958 in 2000 to 47,759 in 2010, an increase of about 6.2 percent, according to census figures released earlier this month.

This increase is about the same as its population growth over the previous 10 years, when Beaufort County grew at a rate of about 6.33 percent from a population of 42,283 in 1990.

Data for North Carolina show that the five-most populous incorporated places and their 2010 census counts are Charlotte at 731,424 residents; Raleigh, 403,892 residents; Greensboro, 269,666 residents; Winston-Salem, 229,617 residents and Durham, 228,330 residents.

Charlotte grew by 35.2 percent since the 2000 census. Raleigh grew by 46.3 percent, Greensboro grew by 20.4 percent, Winston-Salem grew by 23.6 percent and Durham grew by 22.1 percent in the past 10 years.

Greenville is the 10th-largest city in the state, according to census data. The eastern North Carolina city grew in population from 68,889 residents in 2000 to 84,554 residents, an increase of about 39.8 percent.

The largest county in the state is Mecklenburg, with a population of 919,628. Its population grew by 32.2 percent since 2000.

The other counties in the top five include Wake, with a population of 900,993 for an increase of 43.5 percent; Guilford, with a population of 488,406 for an increase of 16 percent; Forsyth, with a population of 350,679 for an increase of 14.6 percent; and Cumberland, with a population of 319,431 for an increase of 5.4 percent.

By comparison, six of the seven counties that lost population from 2000 to 2010 are in eastern North Carolina. Those counties were Halifax, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Mitchell and Washington counties.