Appendix I Population

Appendix I

Population and Growth Trends
in the
French Broad River Basin

Appendices

Population and Growth Trends

Below are three different ways of presenting population information for the French Broad River
basin. Population estimates are first presented for the entire basin using 2000 county population
data and estimates of the percentage of the county within each subbasin. County population
data are presented to project county growth estimates based on Office of State Planning
information (June and September 2004). Data presented by municipality summarize information
on past growth of large urban areas in the basin. While the three different sets of information
cannot be directly compared, general conclusions are apparent by looking at the information.
Counties with the highest expected growth are associated with the largest municipal areas and
the most densely populated subbasins in the basin.

Basin Population and Population Density

Information on basin population and subbasin population density is useful in determining which
streams are likely to exhibit more impacts as a result of population growth. This information is
presented to estimate overall river basin population and population density by subbasin. It is
assumed that county populations (as presented below) are distributed evenly throughout each
county; therefore, subbasins that are within counties with large urban areas may overestimate the
actual population in that portion of the basin. The overall population of the basin based on 2000
census block data is 393,795, with approximately 139 persons/square mile. Population density
estimated by subbasin is presented in the following map.

County Population and Growth Trends

Information on county population projections is presented here for counties that are wholly or
partly contained within the basin; however, river basin boundaries do not directly coincide with
county boundaries. Therefore, this information is intended to present only an estimate of
expected population growth in counties that have some land area in this basin. For more
information on county population estimates, contact the Office of State Planning website at
http://demog.state.nc.us/.

County
Percent of
County in
Basin ♦
1990
Population
2000
Population
Estimated %
Growth
1990-2000
Estimated
Population
2020
Estimated %
Growth
2000-2020
Avery 38 14,867 17,167 13.4 20,523 16.4
Buncombe 93 174,357 206,310 15.5 268,001 23.0
Haywood 100 46,948 54,033 13.1 66,059 18.2
Henderson 71 69,747 89,193 21.8 127,044 29.8
Madison 100 16,953 19,635 13.7 23,972 18.1
Mitchell 100 14,433 15,687 8.0 17,508 10.4
Transylvania 82 25,520 29,334 13.0 33,997 13.7
Yancey 100 15,419 17,774 13.2 21,145 15.9
Subtotals 378,244 449,133 15.8 578,249 22.3
♦ Source: North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (CGIA), 1997.
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Municipal Population and Growth Trends

The table below presents population data from Office of State Planning for municipalities with
populations greater than 2,000 persons, located wholly or partly within the basin. These data
represent 12 of the 24 municipalities in the basin.

Municipality County 1980
Population
1990
Population
2000
Population
Percent Change
(1980-90)
Percent Change
(1990-2000)
Asheville Buncombe 54,022 61,855 68,889 14.5 11.4
Black Mountain Buncombe 4,083 5,533 7,511 35.5 35.7
Brevard Transylvania 5,323 5,388 6,789 1.2 26.0
Canton Haywood 4,631 3,790 4,029 -18.2 6.3
Flat Rock Henderson ….. 1,619 2,565 ….. 58.4
Fletcher Henderson 2,233 2,787 4,185 24.8 50.2
Hendersonville Henderson 6,862 7,284 10,569 6.1 45.1
Mars Hill Madison 2,126 1,611 1,764 -24.2 9.5
Spruce Pine Mitchell 2,282 2,010 2,030 -11.9 1.0
Waynesville Haywood 8,576 8,438 9,232 -1.6 9.4
Weaverville Buncombe 1,495 2,107 2,416 40.9 14.7
Woodfin Buncombe 3,260 2,736 3,162 -16.1 15.6
• - The numbers reported reflect municipality population; however, these municipalities are not entirely within the basin.
The intent is to demonstrate growth for municipalities located wholly or partially within the basin.
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