Wake County Hazard Mitigation Plan - Adopted 10-21-2024

SECTION 3: PLANNING AREA PROFILE

According to 2022 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the median age in Wake County was 37.0. Of the population aged 25 years and over, 94.0 percent have a high school degree or higher and 55.7 percent have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Approximately 17.9 percent of Wake County residents speak a language other than English at home; of those, 68.0 percent also speak English “very well”. The racial characteristics of the participating jurisdictions are presented in Table 3.4. Generally, white persons make up the majority of the population in the county, accounting for over 58 percent of the population in Wake County overall. However, several jurisdictions have much higher minority populations than others

including Garner, Knightdale, Morrisville, Raleigh, and Zebulon. Table 3.4 – Racial Demographics of Wake County Jurisdictions, 2022

Persons of Hispanic or Latino Origin*, %

Two or More Races, %

Other Race, %

Jurisdiction

White, %

Black, %

Asian, %

Wake County

58.6% 68.7% 61.5% 71.4% 62.0% 75.3% 37.5% 38.3% 55.5% 63.3% 69.5% 54.9% 43.5%

19.1% 7.9% 8.3% 15.7% 24.7% 9.6% 47.2% 11.5% 28.1% 25.2% 18.0% 28.7% 35.0%

8.6% 14.8% 20.9%

4.5% 1.7% 3.0% 1.8% 3.2% 2.6% 4.0% 1.5% 4.7% 2.7% 2.9% 9.9% 10.1%

9.0% 6.6% 6.1% 8.7% 7.9% 6.1% 8.3% 6.0% 6.9% 8.4% 7.3% 6.4% 11.0%

10.6% 6.4% 7.8% 9.1% 11.1% 6.2% 8.6% 4.1% 11.6% 5.0% 7.9% 21.8% 19.9%

Apex Cary

Fuquay-Varina

2.0% 1.7% 6.2% 2.7%

Garner

Holly Springs Knightdale

Morrisville

42.6% 4.5% 0.4% 2.3% 0.0%

Raleigh

Rolesville

Wake Forest

Wendell Zebulon

0.4%

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 5-Year Estimates *Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories

SOCIAL VULNERABILITY Figure 3.6 displays social vulnerability information for Wake County by census tract according to 2020 data and analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) indicates the relative vulnerability within census tracts based on 16 social factors recorded as unique census variables: poverty, unemployment, income, education, age, disability, household composition, minority status, language, housing type, and transportation access. Additional information and documentation can be found through the official CDC website 1 . Higher social vulnerability is an indicator that a community may be limited in its ability to respond to and recover from hazard events. Therefore, using this SVI information can help the County and jurisdictions to prioritize pre-disaster aid, allocate emergency preparedness and response resources, and plan for the provision of recovery support.

1 CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html

Wake County, NC Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan

WSP June 2024 Page 34

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