Migration to and from Wake County, North Carolina
Where Wake 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
93,042
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
62,491
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+30,551
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Durham County | North Carolina | 6,396 |
| Asia | 3,932 | |
| Johnston County | North Carolina | 3,607 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 2,399 |
| Europe | 1,997 | |
| Orange County | North Carolina | 1,738 |
| Franklin County | North Carolina | 1,681 |
| New Hanover County | North Carolina | 1,432 |
| Guilford County | North Carolina | 1,358 |
| Pitt County | North Carolina | 1,285 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Durham County | North Carolina | 4,673 |
| Johnston County | North Carolina | 4,404 |
| Orange County | North Carolina | 1,930 |
| Mecklenburg County | North Carolina | 1,862 |
| Pitt County | North Carolina | 1,860 |
| Guilford County | North Carolina | 1,360 |
| New Hanover County | North Carolina | 1,280 |
| Harnett County | North Carolina | 1,269 |
| Nash County | North Carolina | 1,263 |
| Franklin County | North Carolina | 1,253 |
Explore Wake County
- Business data for Wake 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: 37183.