North Carolina was the 12th state to join the union on November 21, 1789. Raleigh is the state capital and Charlotte is its largest city. North Carolina is the 28th largest state in the U.S. and is bordered by the states of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated population of North Carolina is 11,046,024 (July 2024 est.); it ranks as the 9th most populous state.
Official North Carolina State Facts and Symbols
Every state has their own unique symbols, from birds to flowers to songs and more! Here are some of North Carolina’s official state facts and symbols:
Nickname: The Tar Heel State
Bird: Cardinal
Mammal: Eastern Gray Squirrel
Flower: Flowering Dogwood
Tree: Longleaf Pine
Song: The Old North State
Motto: “Esse Quam Videri” (To Be Rather Than to Seem)
Fun Facts about North Carolina
North Carolina got the nickname, The Tar Heel State, because workers there used to sell tar, pitch, and turpentine from the state’s Longleaf Pine trees to be used in wooden ships.
On December 17, 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright completed the first successful powered airplane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
The largest mansion in the United States, the Biltmore Estate, is located in Asheville, North Carolina. It has 250 rooms and was built by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s.
North Carolina is the #1 producer of sweet potatoes in the United States and produces about 15 to 20 percent of the nation’s real Christmas trees.
The Outer Banks, a chain of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, is a popular tourist destination featuring beaches, state parks, and shipwreck-diving sites, with Roanoke Island being the site of the first English settlement in the New World, now known as the “Lost Colony”.
Famous people born in North Carolina include Michael Jordan, Andy Griffith, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Julianne Moore, just to name a few.
NCP Panel Members in North Carolina
Let’s learn about your fellow panel members in North Carolina! Here’s how our North Carolina panel members answered some of our state highlight survey questions.
How long have you been a panel member?
32% of survey respondents have been panel members for 15 years or more
16% have been panel members for less than a year
How long have you lived in your current state?
38% of respondents have lived in North Carolina for over 15 years and 34% their entire life/born there.
Is the area you live rural, suburban, or urban?
38% live in rural areas
46% live in suburban areas
16% live in urban areas
Do you have children?
66% of respondents have children
Of those, 23% have children living in their home
Shopping Habits of NCP Panel Members in North Carolina
We asked panel members questions about how, when, and where they shop, along with some other questions about their shopping habits. Do you think peoples’ shopping habits differ based on where they live?
Here’s what our panel members in North Carolina had to say about their shopping habits:
When asked how they do most of their shopping, 66% of respondents said they do a combo of online and in-store shopping. 31% said they shop in-store only and 3% said they shop online only.
58% of respondents tend to shop at the same stores vs. 42% who said they shop at a variety of stores.
75% of respondents said they mostly stick to their list when shopping, but sometimes make impulse purchases.
66% of respondents said they shop alone, with another 21% shopping with a spouse or partner.
When it comes to choosing where to shop, 49% of the North Carolina panel members who responded said they primarily shop at grocery stores and 36% at mass-merchandise retailers.
Price, convenience and location were the top factors that influence where they decide to shop. Most of our North Carolina panel members said they shop 2-3 times a week for groceries and do most of their shopping on Saturdays.
About 95% of survey respondents look for ways to save money while shopping, with digital coupons and joining a store’s loyalty program being the most popular options. They also use paper coupons, use the store sales flyer to plan their list, shop at multiple stores, and subscribe to store emails.
Convenience while shopping
Here’s what North Carolina panel members had to say about different aspects of shopping:
61% never order groceries online to pick up at the store, while 30% sometimes do.
61% never order groceries online to be delivered, while 27% sometimes do.
When asked if weather influenced their choice between online and in-person shopping, 36% of respondents said weather doesn’t impact their decision, with 33% saying they prefer in-person shopping regardless of the weather.
When asked about self-checkout, 17% of respondents said they always use self-checkout, 46% indicated they frequently use it. 29% of respondents said they rarely use it, and 8% said they never use it.
Interests of NCP panel members in North Carolina
When asked about the outdoors, 38% said they occasionally participate in outdoor recreational activities. The most popular outdoor activities were hiking/walking (79%), swimming, cycling, and canoeing/kayaking/boating. Other activities panel members wrote in were gardening, camping and fishing.
When asked which sports or events they follow, the top responses were football, baseball and basketball. Panel members also wrote in college and Olympic sports as sports that they follow.
We also asked what “type” of place or tourist attraction would they recommend to people visiting their state/hometown. The most popular responses were beaches and coastal areas, restaurants/culinary places and local markets, natural parks and reserves, and historical and cultural museums.
When we asked what “specific” place or tourist attraction they would recommend in their state/hometown, here are some of their top recommendations:
The Outer Banks
Asheville and the Biltmore Estate
Wright Brothers Memorial
Wrightsville Beach
The Blue Ridge Parkway/Great Smoky Mountains
NASCAR Hall of Fame
We hope you learned something new about North Carolina! How do your shopping habits compare to panel members in North Carolina?
Stay tuned for the next state spotlight on…North Dakota!
Join NCP!
If you’re not a NCP panel member and you’re interested in joining NCP to share your shopping experiences, earn great rewards, and influence what you see on store shelves, click here or go to the Join NCP section of the blog for more information.
Regards,
Taylor
Wrightsville Beach
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