Migration to and from Union County, North Carolina
Where Union 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
18,008
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
14,345
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+3,663
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 6,192 |
| Lancaster County | South Carolina | 502 |
| Gadsden County | Florida | 477 |
| Cabarrus County | North Carolina | 393 |
| Rowan County | North Carolina | 306 |
| Anson County | North Carolina | 261 |
| Cumberland County | North Carolina | 245 |
| Lincoln County | North Carolina | 222 |
| Stokes County | North Carolina | 215 |
| Stanly County | North Carolina | 149 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 4,320 |
| Lancaster County | South Carolina | 721 |
| Wake County | North Carolina | 675 |
| Boone County | Missouri | 353 |
| New Hanover County | North Carolina | 338 |
| Marion County | Florida | 329 |
| Stanly County | North Carolina | 297 |
| York County | South Carolina | 297 |
| Gaston County | North Carolina | 270 |
| Orange County | North Carolina | 245 |
Explore Union County
- Business data for Union 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: 37179.