90 North Carolina Counties Grew Faster Than Nation, But Income Lags Behind

Ninety counties in North Carolina expanded more quickly than the United States after 2010. Yet the state lags the nation in critical measures. The state hit 98.4 on a new County Economic Vitality Index in 2024, which means it performed 1.6% lower than the U.S. benchmark. This marked the best score since at least 2010.

LEAD built the index. It measures four factors across 100 counties: median household income, average wage, unemployment rate, and educational attainment. Each factor gets compared to U.S. benchmarks, then averaged to create a composite score tracked over 15 years. A score above 100 shows better performance than the nation.

Eleven counties beat the U.S. in 2024. Most sit in the Triangle, Charlotte, and Virginia Beach metro areas. Seven more counties are nearing the U.S. score: Moore, Cabarrus, Lincoln, Henderson, Davie, Franklin, and Pender.

The top 29 counties had index scores above 0.915 in 2024. Their populations climbed from 2010 to 2024. The 30 lowest-scoring counties fell below 0.825. They lost population during those years. Twenty-eight of the 29 highest performers added residents.

Suburbs and western regions showed the quickest improvement. Several mid-size metro areas barely kept up or fell behind the U.S. These included Fayetteville, the Triad, Goldsboro, Rocky Mount, and Greenville.

Hurricane Helene impacted the 2024 data for western regions. Buncombe showed the steepest drop, falling below its 2010 score.

Growth has been broad but uneven across the state. Understanding both the sources of recent gains and barriers to progress will be needed for shaping policies that sustain growth and expand opportunity statewide.