After a historic loss in population in the previous decade, rural, or nonmetropolitan, counties grew by 0.13% from 2020-21, according to Census estimates.
Carolina Public Press provides in-depth, investigative reporting on issues affecting Western North Carolina in a nonprofit, nonpartisan setting.
Before you go ...
If you like what you are reading and believe in independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan journalism like ours—journalism the way it should be—please contribute to keep us going. Reporting like this isn’t free to produce and we cannot do this alone. Thank you!