Appendix I Population

Appendix I

Population and Growth Trends
in the
Roanoke River Basin

Appendix I – Population and Growth Trends 203
204 Appendix I – Population and Growth Trends

Population and Growth Trends

Below are three different ways of presenting population data for the Roanoke River basin.
Population data presented by county allow for analysis of projected growth trends in the basin
based on Office of State Planning information (April and May 2001). Data presented by
municipality summarizes information on past growth of large urban areas in the basin. The data
presented by subbasin allow for 2000 population data to be presented by subbasin. 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.

County Population and Growth Trends

The following Table and map show the projected population for 2020 and the change in growth
between 1990 and 2020 for counties that are wholly or partly contained within the basin. Since
river basin boundaries do not coincide with county boundaries, these numbers are not directly
applicable to the Roanoke River basin. This information is intended to present an estimate of
expected population growth in counties that have some land area in the Roanoke River basin.
For more information on past, current and projected population estimates, contact the Office of
State Planning at [phone] or visit their 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
Bertie 70 20,388 19,773 -3.1 18,347 -7.8
Caswell 90 20,662 23,501 12.1 27,918 15.8
Forsyth 21 265,855 306,067 13.1 385,079 20.5
Granville 33 38,341 48,498 20.9 68,600 29.3
Halifax 40 55,516 57,370 3.2 58,988 2.7
Martin 75 25,078 25,593 2.0 25,736 0.6
Northampton 35 21,004 22,086 4.9 23,507 6.0
Orange 2 93,662 118,227 20.8 166,971 29.2
Person 60 30,180 35,623 15.3 45,510 21.7
Rockingham 81 86,064 91,928 6.4 100,414 8.5
Stokes 85 37,224 44,711 16.7 58,515 23.6
Surry 3 61,704 71,219 13.4 88,596 19.6
Vance 52 38,892 42,954 9.5 51,151 16.0
Warren 38 17,265 19,972 13.6 24,183 17.4
Washington 13 13,997 13,723 -2.0 12,823 -7.0
Subtotals 825,832 941,245 12.3 1,156,338 18.6
♦ Source: North Carolina Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (CGIA), 1997.
Note: The numbers reported reflect county population; however, these counties are not entirely within the basin.
The intent is to demonstrate growth for counties located wholly or partially within the basin.
Appendix I – Population and Growth Trends 205
BERTIE
-7.8%
HALIFAX
2.7%
MARTIN
0.6%
STOKES
23.6%WARREN
17.4%
PERSON
21.7%CASWELL
15.8%
FORSYTH
20.5%
ROCKINGHAM
8.5%
VANCE
16.0%
NORTHAMPTON
6.0%
WASHINGTON
-7.0%
GRANVILLE
29.3%
Projected Population Growth (2000-2020) by County
for the Roanoke River Basin in North Carolina
®
0 20 40 60 8010
Miles
Planning Section
Basinwide Planning Unit
December 11, 2006

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 17 of the 42 municipalities in the basin.

Municipality County 1980
Population
1990
Population
2000
Population
Percent Change
(1980-90)
Percent Change
(1990-2000)
Eden Rockingham 15,672 15,238 15,908 -2.8 4.4
Henderson ● Vance 13,522 15,655 16,095 15.8 2.8
Kernersville ● Forsyth, Guilford 5,875 10,899 17,126 85.5 57.1
Madison Rockingham 2,806 2,371 2,262 -15.5 -4.6
Mayodan Rockingham 2,627 2,471 2,417 -5.9 -2.2
Plymouth Washington 4,571 4,328 4,107 -5.3 -5.1
Reidsville ● Rockingham 12,492 12,183 14,485 -2.5 18.9
Roanoke Rapids Halifax 14,702 15,722 16,957 6.9 7.9
Roxboro ● Person 7,532 7,332 8,696 -2.7 18.6
Rural Hall ● Forsyth 1,336 1,652 2,464 23.7 49.2
Scotland Neck ● Halifax 2,834 2,575 2,362 -9.1 -8.3
Stokesdale ● Guilford 1,973 2,134 3,267 8.2 53.1
Walkertown ● Forsyth 1,321 1,200 4,009 -9.2 234.1
Wentworth Rockingham ---- 1,989 2,779 ---- 39.7
Williamston Martin 6,159 5,503 5,843 -10.7 6.2
Windsor Bertie 2,126 2,209 2,283 3.9 3.3
Yanceyville Caswell 1,869 1,973 2,091 5.6 6.0
• - 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.

Basin Population and Population Density

Information on population density at a watershed scale is useful in determining what streams are
likely to have the most impacts as a result of population growth. This information is also useful
in identifying stream segments that have good opportunities for preservation or restoration. This
information is presented to estimate population and population density by each subbasin and for
the entire basin. It is assumed that county populations 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 data is 344,638 with approximately 98 persons/square mile. Population density
estimated by subbasin is presented in the following map.
Appendix I – Population and Growth Trends 207

208 Appendix I – Population and Growth Trends