Page 6 - City of Greensboro Data Book

Key Findings

The key findings for each section are summarized below.

Demographics
• Greensboro’s population has grown by 28.2% since 2000, more than the state and national growth rate.
• Greensboro’s population growth rate has been significantly lower than the rate of the other top ten cities
in North Carolina and is projected to remain among the lower growth rates in the state over the next 20
years.
• Between 2000 and 2016, the age categories between 55 and 74 experienced the greatest increase, and
between 20 and 44 experienced the greatest decrease.
• Greensboro has evolved into a majority non-white city over the past decade.

Land Use and Development
• Since 2003, most land use types in Greensboro have increased in acreage, which largely reflects the city’s
increase in land area over the same period.
• Decreased heavy industrial land use coincides with a decline in manufacturing employment; decreased
wooded land reflects ongoing urbanization and Greenfield development.
• Much of Greensboro’s total population growth since 2000 is attributed to annexation (42.5%).
• Although Greensboro’s population density increased between 2000 and 2016, most comparable North
Carolina cities experienced significantly greater increases.
• The number of building permits and value of construction investment has fluctuated over the past 17
years, but recent numbers are comparable to those prior to the Great Recession.

Economy
• There are 19.5% more jobs in Greensboro than there were in 2000.
• Since 2000, employment among the industry groups and sectors in Greensboro has shifted dramatically:
manufacturing lost over 4,000 jobs, while services gained around 22,000. Even with the gain in service
industry employment, Greensboro did not keep pace with other top ten North Carolina cities.
• With the exception of 2015, the poverty rate in Greensboro has been higher than state and national rates
since 2005.
• Median earnings in Greensboro have increased, but lag behind state and national averages, as well as
behind several of the top ten cities in North Carolina.
• Combined costs of housing and transportation in Greensboro in 2015 were higher than the national
average and higher than many of the top ten cities in North Carolina.

Health and Wellness

• The percentage of Greensboro’s population with high school degrees is higher than state and national
levels.
• Since 2000, the increasing percentage of Greensboro’s population attaining either a high school education
or bachelor’s degree has not kept pace with the state or the nation.
• Greensboro’s high school dropout rate has decreased significantly since 2000, following the state trend.
• Guilford County’s teen pregnancy rates have decreased significantly since 2000.
• Guilford County’s infant mortality rate has increased since 2000.
• Rates of high school dropout, teen pregnancy and infant mortality all vary greatly by race and ethnicity.
• There are 19 census tracts identified as Food Deserts in Greensboro.

DRAFT 2 FEBRUARY 23, 2018