character
Other races
Why this matters
This measure groups residents who are another race or who identify with two or more races. It captures people whose backgrounds do not fit a single standard category, including a fast-growing multiracial population. As with all race data, it reflects how people choose to describe themselves.
This group has grown sharply, and it skews young: multiracial residents have one of the lowest median ages of any group. Part of the recent jump also comes from improvements in how the Census collects and codes answers, so comparisons across years should be made with care.
Tracking this share helps communities recognize a more complex, blended population and supports inclusive planning and fair representation.
About the Charlotte region
This explorer covers the 14-county, two-state Charlotte region (11 North Carolina and 3 South Carolina counties). Many of these indicators connect to a defining regional story: a landmark Harvard study ranked Charlotte last, 50th of the 50 largest U.S. metros for economic mobility (a child raised in the poorest fifth had about a 4.4% chance of reaching the top fifth), a finding that launched the region's Leading on Opportunity agenda. Updated 2024 data show Charlotte has since climbed to 38th.
Opportunity here is also unevenly mapped. An affluent “wedge” fanning southeast from uptown holds a large majority of the city's wealth on under a quarter of its land, while a ”crescent” to the north, west, and east carries higher poverty, a legacy of redlining, exclusionary zoning, and highway routing that recurs across the race, income, health, tree-canopy, and school maps in this tool. No single indicator is good or bad on its own; together they describe how the region sorted opportunity.
Companion resources: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer · UNC Charlotte Urban Institute · Opportunity Atlas · Methods & sources
Learn more
- U.S. Census Bureau — A third reporting two or more races were under 18 census.gov
Examines the youthful, fast-growing multiracial population and data-processing changes.
- U.S. Census Bureau — 2020 Census: a more diverse nation census.gov
Context on rising diversity and how multiple-race responses are measured.
About the data
Calculated from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (2014–2024), at the Census-tract level, with margins of error. ACS 5-year vintages overlap year to year, so the series is a rolling estimate; compare only non-overlapping periods.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.