Lake Norman Publications

2020 Census: In north Mecklenburg, land drives growth



The delayed 2020 U.S. Census numbers released last month revealed what most Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson residents already knew.

The area is booming, and new subdivisions — along with shopping centers and office parks — are overtaking pockets of former farmland and forests that offered fading snapshots of north Mecklenburg’s rural past.

Huntersville, which grew by 31 percent from 2010 to 2020, remains the largest Lake Norman-area community and second largest in Mecklenburg County, with a population of 61,376. The town has grown by 146 percent over the past 20 years, and nearly 2,000 percent since 1990, when just 3,104 residents called Huntersville home. 

With large swaths of undeveloped land within its jurisdiction, Huntersville has the potential for continued exponential growth.

Cornelius and Davidson also experienced significant growth. Davidson’s population grew by 38 percent, to 15,106, while Cornelius now has 31,412 residents, a 26.3 percent increase.

Combined, the county’s three northernmost towns now have a combined population of 108,000.

One of those areas that was largely undeveloped a decade ago experienced the biggest population increase by percentage, according to the new figures. In Cornelius, the population of a Census tract immediately east of N.C. 115 from the Davidson line to Mayes Road exploded by nearly 500 percent. The area includes the Antiquity development in downtown, and the still-growing Bailey’s Glen 55-and-older community along Bailey Road. And there’s more to come, with large tracts of developable land remaining along Bailey Road, and the north side (Cornelius) and south side (Huntersville) of Mayes Road.

A neighboring Cornelius area was the only tract to experience a loss of population for the decade. That area — bounded by West Catawba Avenue to the north, Washam Potts Road to the south, U.S. 21 to the west and N.C. 115 to the east — includes several established neighborhoods including Mill Pond and the historically African American Smithville neighborhood, where community leaders are looking to push back against potential gentrification.

In Huntersville, areas south of the connected Gilead and Huntersville-Concord roads grew fastest among the town’s Census tracts. 

The population in an area bordered by N.C. 115 to the west, Asbury Chapel Road to the east, Gilead Road to the north and Eastfield Road to the south surged by 173 percent. That tract includes the still-growing Vermillion community near downtown; Bryton, across N.C. 115 from North Mecklenburg High School; and Olmstead, off Eastfield Road.

Another tract bordered by Gilead Road to the north, Alexandriana Road to the south, U.S. 21 to the east and Kerns Road the west grew 81 percent for the decade.

Here is a look at the percentage of population growth from 2010 to 2020 by Census tract for north Mecklenburg, including breakdowns by race. The numbers in the table below the map refer to the red numbers on the map. The red lines signify the borders of the tracts.

U.S. Census Bureau map

Census tract Overall White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic
Cornelius
62.08 40% 20% 146% 80%
62.09 27% 12% 70% 16%
62.10 29% 22% 24% 21%
62.11 5% -2% 29% 28%
62.12 18% 3% 38% 65%
62.16 17% 13% 6% 127%
62.17 11% 4% 31% 127%
62.18 15% 9% -15% 20%
62.19 16% 13% -39% 54%
62.20 7% 4% 5% 25%
62.21 81% 61% 95% 423%
62.22 17% 6% 29% 101%
64.07 13% -1% 41% 53%
64.08 20% 21% -4% -46%
64.09 492% 448% 687% 2060%
64.10 11% 1% 11% 18%
64.11 -1% -2% -3% 5%
Davidson
64.03 24% 18% -3% 118%
64.04 43% 34% 84% 120%
Huntersville
62.10 29% 22% 24% 21%
62.21 81% 61% 95% 423%
62.22 17% 6% 29% 101%
62.23 14% -4% 40% 50%
62.24 81% 35% 240% 615%
63.05 56% 35% 104% 127%
63.06 27% 3% 84% 300%
63.07 173% 145% 194% 1553%
63.08 34% 24% 70% 73%
63.09 5% -4% 5% 132%
63.10 57% 50% 110% 100%

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