Population Growth

Population
Two decades of sustained growth make Cabarrus County one of North Carolina’s fastest-expanding places. This topic traces the trajectory, quantifies the regional cluster, and asks what comes next.
Author

Pete Benbow

Published

April 17, 2026

Population Analysis

Between 2000 and 2023, Cabarrus County grew by 83%, adding more than 109,000 residents to reach a population of 240,016. That growth rate ranks 5th among all 100 North Carolina counties. More telling than the raw rank is the spatial pattern: a Getis-Ord Gi* hot spot analysis confirms that Cabarrus is not an isolated spike but the core of a statistically significant regional growth cluster encompassing Mecklenburg, Union, and Iredell counties. The forces driving this growth, Charlotte’s economic expansion and Cabarrus’s relative affordability, show no structural sign of reversal.