Migration to and from Catawba County, North Carolina
Where Catawba 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
10,442
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
9,071
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+1,371
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Burke County | North Carolina | 1,040 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 786 |
| Iredell County | North Carolina | 616 |
| Alexander County | North Carolina | 548 |
| Lincoln County | North Carolina | 503 |
| Cabarrus County | North Carolina | 474 |
| Caldwell County | North Carolina | 381 |
| Gaston County | North Carolina | 376 |
| Rowan County | North Carolina | 317 |
| Central America | 288 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Caldwell County | North Carolina | 1,093 |
| Alexander County | North Carolina | 796 |
| Lincoln County | North Carolina | 525 |
| Burke County | North Carolina | 509 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 435 |
| Iredell County | North Carolina | 329 |
| Chatham County | North Carolina | 321 |
| Horry County | South Carolina | 212 |
| Craven County | North Carolina | 180 |
| Wake County | North Carolina | 168 |
Explore Catawba County
- Business data for Catawba 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: 37035.