Fastest growing areas within the county: Swepsonville, Mebane, and Green Level
Census data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday shows that Alamance County grew by 13.4 percent over the decade between 2010 to 2020, bumping the county up to the 15th most populous in the state (up from a rank of 18th in 2010).
The small municipality of Swepsonville was the fasting growing municipality in the county, growing a whopping 111.9 percent, to a level of 2,445. Swepsonville’s triple-digit growth also made it the 6th fastest-growing municipality in North Carolina, according to the Census Bureau.
Mebane, meanwhile, was the fastest growing of the larger municipalities in the county, with a growth rate of 56.2 percent, and surpassing Graham as the second largest city in the county.
Mebane has a population of 17,797, according to the census; Graham’s population is 17,157, up 21.2 percent since 2010.
Mebane was the 36th fastest-growing municipality in the state during the past ten years.
Another big gainer was Green Level, which grew 50.1 percent, to a total population of 3,152.
In fact, Swepsonville, Mebane, and Green Level are in the top 50 fastest-growing municipalities in the state.
Burlington, the county’s largest city, grew at a rate of 14.7 percent, the smallest pace of any of the five largest Alamance County municipalities in positive territory, with a 2020 population put at 57,303.
Gibsonville grew at a rate of 39.2 percent, with a total population of 8,920. (Gibsonville straddles the Alamance-Guilford county line.)
The town of Elon grew at a rate of 20.4 percent to a total population of 11,336.
The unincorporated area of Saxapahaw was listed with a 1.4 percent growth rate and a total population of 1,671.
The Village of Alamance grew 3.9 percent, with a total population of 988 in 2020.
Not all areas in the county grew over the past decade. The town of Haw River shrank 2 percent, to 2,252. Ossipee lost 1.3 percent of population, down to 536. Altamahaw was down 3.7 percent to 334.