Migration to and from Buncombe County, North Carolina
Where Buncombe County residents came from and where they went over the 5-year window 2016-2020. Census ACS County-to-County Migration Flows, 2020 5-yr (frozen vintage).
Total inflow
18,571
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
17,310
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+1,261
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Henderson County | North Carolina | 824 |
| Europe | 764 | |
| Madison County | North Carolina | 608 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 488 |
| Cook County | Illinois | 470 |
| Onondaga County | New York | 445 |
| Syracuse City | Onondaga County, New York | 445 |
| Wake County | North Carolina | 420 |
| Haywood County | North Carolina | 349 |
| Duval County | Florida | 333 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Henderson County | North Carolina | 2,012 |
| Cabarrus County | North Carolina | 1,173 |
| Haywood County | North Carolina | 896 |
| Madison County | North Carolina | 554 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 433 |
| Watauga County | North Carolina | 390 |
| Jackson County | North Carolina | 347 |
| Wake County | North Carolina | 324 |
| McDowell County | North Carolina | 305 |
| Alamance County | North Carolina | 226 |
Explore Buncombe County
- Business data for Buncombe CountyConstruction sector establishments, employment, payroll
- Cities in North CarolinaACS demographic profiles for places statewide
- ZIP code lookupSearch demographic data by ZIP code
- Opportunity IndexRank counties by business growth potential
- Federal contracts in NCGovBids: RFPs, awards, NAICS matching
- New business filings in North CarolinaNewFilings: fresh SOS registrations
Methodology
- Counts represent the number of people aged 1+ who reported a different residence at the survey reference date than they did one year earlier, aggregated across the 5-year sample window 2016-2020.
- Outbound (OUT) flows are reported less frequently than inbound (IN) because the survey captures the destination side of each move. Many county pairs have null OUT counts, which is normal.
- "Total inflow" sums the published MOVEDIN counts across all origin counties, including foreign-region inflows (Africa, Asia, Central America, etc.). It is not the same as net population change.
- Frozen vintage. The Census Bureau has not released a newer county-to-county migration flows file. The 2020 5-yr vintage (covering 2016-2020) is the latest available as of build date.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows: 2016-2020. Vintage: 2020 5-yr. Generated: 2026-05-28. FIPS: 37021.