Homes grown in North Carolina.

• Position: Statewide

The more things change, the more they stay the same--at least when it comes to the amount of housing in North Carolina. Between 2000 and 2011, the number of housing units in the state skyrocketed 23.2%, far above the national increase of 13.8%. (Both numbers corresponded closely with population growth, which was 19.5% and 10.4%, respectively.) Still, North Carolina ranked ninth among states in 2000 and, despite its vast growth, ranked ninth in 2011.

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But there are signs suggesting that it could soon start creeping higher up the ladder. Of the states that had more units than North Carolina, only Texas had a higher percentage of growth between 2010 and 2011 than the Tar Heel rate of 0.8%. Ohio, which ranked seventh in total housing, was 48th in growth, and Michigan, which ranked eighth, was last.

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Housing units by state 1 California 13.7 million 2 Texas 10.1 million 3 Florida 9 million 4 New York 8.1 million 5 Pennsylvania 5.6 million 9 North Carolina 4.4 million % growth in housing units UNITED STATES 2001 1.4 2002 1.3 2003 1.4 2004 1.4 2005 1.5 2006 1.4 2007 1.3 2008 0.9 2009 0.5 2010 1.4 2011 0.4 NORTH CAROLINA 2001 2.6 2002 2.3 2003 2.1 2004 2.0 2005 2.2 2006 2.3 2007 2.3 2008 1.9 2009 1.1 2010 1.8 2011 0.8 COUNTY INDEX

1. Alamance

2. Alexander

3. Alleghany

4. Anson

5. Ashe

6. Avery

7. Beaufort

8. Bertie

9. Bladen

10. Brunswick

11. Buncombe

12. Burke

13. Cabarrus

14. Caldwell

15. Camden

16. Carteret

17. Caswell

18. Catawba

19. Chatham

20. Cherokee

21. Chowan

22. Clay

23. Cleveland

24. Columbus

25. Craven

26. Cumberland

27. Currituck

28. Dare

29. Davidson

30. Davie

31. Duplin

32. Durham

33. Edgecombe

34. Forsyth

35. Franklin

36. Gaston

37. Gates

38. Graham

39. Granville

40. Greene

41. Guilford

42. Halifax

43. Harnett

44. Haywood

45. Henderson

46. Hertford

47. Hoke

48. Hyde

49. Iredell

50. Jackson

51. Johnston

52. Jones

53. Lee

54. Lenoir

55. Lincoln

56. Macon

57. Madison

58. Martin

59. McDowell

60. Mecklenburg

61. Mitchell

62. Montgomery

63. Moore

64. Nash

65. New Hanover

66. Northampton

67. Onslow

68. Orange

69. Pamlico

70. Pasquotank

71. Pender

72. Perquimans

73. Person

74. Pitt

75. Polk

76. Randolph

77. Richmond

78. Robeson

79. Rockingham

80. Rowan

81. Rutherford

82. Sampson

83. Scotland

84. Stanly

85. Stokes

86. Surry

87. Swain

88. Transylvania

89. Tyrrell

90. Union

91. Vance

92. Wake

93. Warren

94. Washington

95. Watauga

96. Wayne

97. Wilkes

98. Wilson

99. Yadkin

100. Yancey

Source: U.S. Census Bureau