SafekipediaDurham County, North Carolina
Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience
Durham County is a place in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is one of the most crowded parts of the state. The biggest city there is Durham, which is also where the government for the county works.
The county has busy city parts and quiet country parts. The middle and south have many buildings and homes. The north has open fields and farms. In the southeast, there is the Research Triangle Park, a big place for science and technology jobs.
Durham County is part of a bigger group of places called the Durham–Chapel Hill, NC area. This group is also linked with the Raleigh–Durham–Cary, NC area, where lots of people live.
History
See also: Timeline of Durham, North Carolina
Durham County was created on April 17, 1881. It was formed from parts of Orange County and Wake County and was named after its main city, which is also its county seat. Later, in 1911, some land from Cedar Fork Township in Wake County was added to Durham County and became Carr Township.
Geography
Durham County in North Carolina covers an area of 297.86 square miles (771.5 km2). Most of it is land, and some of it is water.
The county has many special places to visit, such as Bennett Place State Historic Site, Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory, East Durham Historic District, Eno River State Park, Falls Lake State Recreation Area, Historic Stagville, Museum of Life and Science, and more.
Major highways in the area include I-40, I-85, I-540 / NC 540 Toll, I-885 / NC 885 Toll, US 15, US 15 Bus., US 70, US 70 Bus. (Durham), US 70 Bus. (to Orange County), US 501, NC 54, NC 55, NC 98, NC 147, NC 157, NC 751, and NC 751 Truck.
The county is near several water bodies, including B. Everett Jordan Lake, Crabtree Creek, Ellerbe Creek, Eno River, Falls Lake, Flat River, Lake Michie, Little River, New Hope Creek, and Stirrup Iron Creek.
Durham County is surrounded by Person County to the north, Granville County to the northeast, Wake County to the east-southeast, Chatham County to the south, and Orange County to the west.
The area also has important infrastructure such as Durham Station.
Demographics
2020 census
In 2020, Durham County had 324,833 people. The average age was 35 years. About 20% were younger than 18, and about 14% were 65 or older.
Most homes had one person, but some had families. There were many kinds of families, like married couples and single parents.
People in Durham County come from many backgrounds. The largest groups are White and Black or African American. There are also smaller numbers of Asian and American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Fertility rates
The number of babies born each year in Durham County has stayed about the same recently. Most babies are born to women who are about 30 to 34 years old. Between 2022 and 2024, there were around 20,604 births in the county.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 18,041 | — | |
| 1900 | 26,233 | 45.4% | |
| 1910 | 35,276 | 34.5% | |
| 1920 | 42,219 | 19.7% | |
| 1930 | 67,196 | 59.2% | |
| 1940 | 80,244 | 19.4% | |
| 1950 | 101,639 | 26.7% | |
| 1960 | 111,995 | 10.2% | |
| 1970 | 132,681 | 18.5% | |
| 1980 | 152,785 | 15.2% | |
| 1990 | 181,835 | 19.0% | |
| 2000 | 223,314 | 22.8% | |
| 2010 | 267,587 | 19.8% | |
| 2020 | 324,833 | 21.4% | |
| 2025 (est.) | 347,240 |  | 6.9% |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020 | |||
| Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 1980 | Pop 1990 | Pop 2000 | Pop 2010 | Pop 2020 | % 1980 | % 1990 | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 95,086 | 108,722 | 107,371 | 112,697 | 133,768 | 62.24% | 59.79% | 48.08% | 42.12% | 41.18% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 55,017 | 67,385 | 87,516 | 100,260 | 109,225 | 36.01% | 37.06% | 39.19% | 37.47% | 33.62% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 175 | 406 | 531 | 722 | 704 | 0.11% | 0.22% | 0.24% | 0.27% | 0.22% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 979 | 3,189 | 7,311 | 12,180 | 16,707 | 0.64% | 1.75% | 3.27% | 4.55% | 5.14% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH) | x | x | 65 | 135 | 83 | x | x | 0.03% | 0.05% | 0.03% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 249 | 79 | 436 | 700 | 1,809 | 0.16% | 0.04% | 0.20% | 0.26% | 0.56% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | x | x | 3,045 | 4,816 | 12,433 | x | x | 1.36% | 1.80% | 3.83% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1,279 | 2,054 | 17,039 | 36,077 | 50,104 | 0.84% | 1.13% | 7.63% | 13.48% | 15.42% |
| Total | 152,785 | 181,835 | 223,314 | 267,587 | 324,833 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Law and government
See also: Durham Police Department (North Carolina)
Durham County is part of the Central Pines Regional Council. It is led by five elected leaders called county commissioners. They include Chair Brenda A. Howerton, Vice Chair Wendy Jacobs, Nimasheena Burns, Heidi Carter, and Nida Allam. Each serves a four-year term. The county's top law enforcement leader is the sheriff, currently Clarence Birkhead, who was elected in 2018.
Politics
Durham County often supports Democratic leaders in elections. It has rarely chosen Republican leaders, only doing so in 1928 and 1972. Since the 1990s, Durham County has strongly supported Democratic leaders in the South.
Communities
The city of Durham is the largest city in Durham County and is also its county seat. Most of Durham is inside Durham County, but some small parts are in nearby counties. Other nearby cities and towns, like Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Morrisville, are mostly in other counties but have very small parts in Durham County. Many smaller places in Durham County, such as Gorman and Rougemont, are not officially cities or towns.
Durham County has several areas called townships, such as Carr, Durham, and Lebanon. There are also small areas named census-designated places and unincorporated communities, like Bahama and Bethesda, which do not have their own local government.
Notable person
One well-known person from Durham County was Margaret O'Neal. She was a sharecropper who lived from 1884 onward.
Images
Related articles
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