Migration to and from Rowan County, North Carolina
Where Rowan 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
9,765
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
8,333
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+1,432
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabarrus County | North Carolina | 2,513 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 941 |
| Davidson County | North Carolina | 431 |
| Iredell County | North Carolina | 261 |
| Central America | 260 | |
| Horry County | South Carolina | 216 |
| Guilford County | North Carolina | 206 |
| Forsyth County | North Carolina | 193 |
| Randolph County | North Carolina | 184 |
| Stanly County | North Carolina | 176 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Cabarrus County | North Carolina | 1,136 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 419 |
| Iredell County | North Carolina | 366 |
| Wake County | North Carolina | 362 |
| Davidson County | North Carolina | 353 |
| Catawba County | North Carolina | 317 |
| Union County | North Carolina | 306 |
| Forsyth County | North Carolina | 220 |
| Guilford County | North Carolina | 212 |
| Chatham County | Georgia | 167 |
Explore Rowan County
- Business data for Rowan 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: 37159.