Migration to and from Columbus County, North Carolina
Where Columbus 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
2,960
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
2,996
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
-36
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Horry County | South Carolina | 310 |
| New Hanover County | North Carolina | 280 |
| Brunswick County | North Carolina | 202 |
| Bladen County | North Carolina | 185 |
| Robeson County | North Carolina | 160 |
| Smyth County | Virginia | 146 |
| Guilford County | North Carolina | 95 |
| Cumberland County | North Carolina | 63 |
| Sampson County | North Carolina | 63 |
| Pitt County | North Carolina | 57 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Brunswick County | North Carolina | 442 |
| Bladen County | North Carolina | 235 |
| Cumberland County | North Carolina | 166 |
| Horry County | South Carolina | 142 |
| Robeson County | North Carolina | 133 |
| Hoke County | North Carolina | 120 |
| Guilford County | North Carolina | 99 |
| Forsyth County | North Carolina | 88 |
| Cleveland County | North Carolina | 81 |
| Halifax County | North Carolina | 80 |
Explore Columbus County
- Business data for Columbus 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: 37047.