Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Stanly County had a population increase of about 1.5 percent between April 2020 and July 2021, slightly higher than the overall state increase of 1.1 percent, according to recently-released 2021 county and municipality population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Stanly’s population improved from 62,504 in 2020 to 63,425 in 2021, a faster rate than many surrounding counties in the region, including Anson (0 percent), Mecklenburg (0.6 percent), Montgomery (0.2 percent) and Rowan (o.9 percent). Stanly was the 43rd fastest growing county in the state.

Though Stanly had a numeric gain of 921 people, in terms of net migration, 1,255 more residents moved into the county than left since during the year after the 2020 census, according to data analysis from Carolina Demography. Other large net increases included Cabarrus (+4,941) and Union (+5,008).

With Mecklenburg being the only county in the region having more people move away than in since the 2020 census (-941), Carolina Demography suggests a possible “pandemic migration” has been at play, where people have left urban areas like Charlotte for the less crowded suburbs and exurbs.

Eight of Stanly’s 10 municipalities also grew faster than the state rate of 1.1 percent, per the census data, led by Locust and Red Cross (each increased by 1.7 percent), followed by Stanfield (1.6 percent) and Norwood (1.5 percent). Albemarle, which saw the largest numeric growth with 212 people moving into the city, increased its population by 1.3 percent.