Abstract:
The state's population is rapidly increasing. Between 2000 and 2005, the state had the ninth highest growth rate in the country, bringing the population to over eight-and-a-half million. A major factor in the increase was net migration, or the difference between how many people moved into and out of the state, which accounted for two-thirds of the overall population increase. The population is expected to reach twelve million by 2030, making North Carolina the nation's tenth largest state. Other changes are a more ethnically diverse population and a more urban one.