Migration to and from Rutherford County, North Carolina
Where Rutherford 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
4,384
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
1,929
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+2,455
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland County | North Carolina | 384 |
| Henderson County | North Carolina | 283 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 263 |
| Orange County | Florida | 208 |
| Anderson County | South Carolina | 197 |
| Miami-Dade County | Florida | 172 |
| Pike County | Georgia | 157 |
| Robeson County | North Carolina | 147 |
| Spartanburg County | South Carolina | 134 |
| Polk County | North Carolina | 126 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland County | North Carolina | 214 |
| Spartanburg County | South Carolina | 205 |
| Wake County | North Carolina | 138 |
| Brevard County | Florida | 133 |
| Buncombe County | North Carolina | 114 |
| Polk County | North Carolina | 108 |
| Sampson County | North Carolina | 90 |
| El Paso County | Colorado | 53 |
| Guilford County | North Carolina | 53 |
| Henderson County | North Carolina | 43 |
Explore Rutherford County
- Business data for Rutherford 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: 37161.