Have you ever wondered how North Carolina ranks for new business starts? How about how our state compares to the national average for households with internet access? Using the How NC Ranks State Comparisons report in LINC you can compare North Carolina’s performance on key metrics to the national average and other states of your choosing.
The LINC platform pulls data from a variety of data sets. Looking at the data story on How NC Ranks gives users the ability to see North Carolina’s stats and national ranking in those data sets without combing through complex databases to find state-specific information. Users can also pick other states to compare. For example, with a couple of clicks on the site, you can compare the poverty level in North Carolina to that of neighboring states.
Some key takeaways from this year’s How NC Ranks:
- NC is 4th in the nation for new privately-owned housing units, although it is the 9th largest state. This demonstrates North Carolina is a growing state.
- North Carolina’s COVID-19 infection and death rates per 100,000 people are better than the national average, coming in at 37th and 33rd in the nation as of July.
- The average salary for elementary and secondary school teachers in North Carolina is more than $15,000 less than the U.S. average and among the lowest in the nation.
Scroll below the 17 key indicators on the How NC Ranks page and users can use the dataset icons to dig deeper. Selecting different variables in these datasets allows users to compare a data point over time or look at how North Carolina compares to national averages or any other state.
For example, click the Environment and Recreation icon and you can compare the yearly number of visits to National Parks in North Carolina from 2018-2020. Click the icon for Employment and Income and you can compare the 2020 Unemployment Rate for the civilian labor force across states and see that North Carolina ranked 20th in the nation, tied with Colorado. Explore the COVID-19 dataset and you can discover that in June of 2020, 47.3% of North Carolinians 18 years and over reported some loss of employment income due to the pandemic; 14 states reported rates of 50% or higher. Under Business and Industry you can map trends in the value of North Carolina’s agricultural exports over the last 25 years—which has more than tripled over that period.
Thirteen state comparison datasets can be explored with variables and time periods you can adjust. Any report you create can be exported as an Excel or CSV file. Users can also share created reports to a website or social media site using the URL below the report.
How NC Ranks is an annual data report produced each year by the Office of State Budget and Management. An updated version of this report will be provided in summer 2022.
For more on LINC (Log Into North Carolina) see LINC: A Treasure Trove of NC Data at Your Fingertips