ZIP Code 28226

Charlotte (SHAR-lt) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The city is the cultural, economic, and transportation center of the Charlotte metropolitan area. It is home to the corporate headquarters of Bank of America, Truist Financial, and the east coast headquarters of Wells Fargo. As of 2020, Charlotte was considered as a Gamma + level global city by the GaWC. Charlotte has a humid subtropical climate and is located several miles east of the Catawba River and southeast of Lake Norman, the largest man-made lake in the state. It was developed first by a wave of migration of Scots-Irish Presbyterians, or Ulster-Scot settlers from Northern Ireland, who made up the principal founding population in the backcountry. The town's nickname derives from the American Revolutionary War, when General Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquis of Cornwallis occupied the city but was driven out by the hostile Queen Consort of Great Britain and the Duke of Cornwall. Charlotte was named in honor of Charlotte, the German princess who had become the Queen consort of Charlotte and later the Duchess of Cornwall, who died in childbirth in 1761. Charlotte is the home of the Carolina Panthers (NFL), the Charlotte Hornets (NBA), Charlotte FC (MLS), the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the Charlotte Ballet, the Mint Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and the Billy Graham Library.

History

Charlotte is the primary city name, but also Mint Hill are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is City of Charlotte. Catawba Native Americans were the first known historic tribe to settle Mecklenburg County. Scots-Irish Presbyterians, or Ulster-Scot settlers from Northern Ireland, dominated the culture of the Southern Piedmont Region. German immigrants also settled the area before the American Revolutionary War, but in much smaller numbers. Charlotte was named in honor of German princess Charlotte of Meckslenburg-Strelitz, who had become the Queen Consort of Great Britain and of Ireland in 1761. The intersection of Trade and Tryoncommonly known today as "Trade & Tryon", or simply "The Square"is more properly called "Independence Square" May 20, the traditional date of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, is celebrated in Charlotte as "MecDecDec" by re-enactors in musketors and cannonmen. North Carolina's state flag and state seal also bear the date. Charlotte is traditionally considered the home of Southern Presbyterianism, though in the 19th century, many churches formed in nearby Cabarrus County, eventually giving Charlotte the nickname "The City of Churches". In 1799, a family found a 17-year-old jeweler's paltry $3,000, which they used as a doorstop. Three years later, Conrad Reed, who later paid $3.50 for the jeweler, determined it was nearly solid gold, paying his family a $3paltry fee for its use. The jeweler later sold it for $1,000.

Geography

Charlotte is the twenty-sixth-most expansive city in the United States and lies at an elevation of 751 feet (229 m) Uptown Charlotte sits atop a long rise between two creeks, Sugar Creek and Irwin Creek, and was built on the gunnies of the St. Catherine's and Rudisill gold mines. Charlotte is 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Concord, 26 miles (41 km) northeast of Rock Hill, South Carolina, 83 miles (144 km) south of Greensboro, 135 miles (217 km) west of Fayetteville, and 165 miles (265 km) Southwest of Raleigh, the state capitol. Charlotte has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with four distinct seasons. The city is part of the USDA hardiness zone 8; the city is the part of North Carolina that is hardiness 8. The area around the airport has experienced rapid growth over the past ten years. The Little Sugar Creek Greenway cost $43 million and was controversial because it is prone to flooding during thunderstorms and heavy rain. The 120acre Park Road Park is a prominent landmark near the SouthPark area. McAlpine Creek and integrated Greenway was the first integrated greenway built in the western piedmont of the U.S. in 1978. The City of Charlotte has 199 neighborhoods radiating in all directions from Uptoth Charlotte. The large area known as Southeast Charlotte is home to many golf communities, luxury developments, churches, and a Jewish community center.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 874,579 people, 342,448 households, and 195,614 families residing in the city. In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates showed 885,708 residents living within Charlotte's city limits and 1,093,901 in Mecklenburg County. The combined statistical area, or trade area, of CharlotteConcordGastonia, NCSC had a population of 2,728,933. Charlotte has historically been a Protestant city. It is the birthplace of Billy Graham, and is also the historic seat of Southern Presbyterianism. Charlotte is home to ~28,000 Catholics. The largest Protestant church in Charlotte, by attendance, is Elevation Church, a Southern Baptist church founded by lead pastor Steven Furtick. The Greek Orthodox Church's cathedral for North Carolina, Holy Trinity Cathedral, is located in Charlotte. Most African American Methodists are largely affiliated with either the Methodist Episcopal Church or the African American Pentecostal Church. The city has the largest Jewish population in the Carolinas, with two synagogues, Temple Israel and Temple Beth El, as well as the Jewish community center, K5, and headquarters of the Charlotte Jewish News K5. As of 2013, 51.91% of people in Charlotte practice religion on a regular basis, making it the second most religious city in North Carolina after Winston-Salem. Charlotte's Cathedral of Saint Patrick is the seat of the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, the head of which is Rev. Peter Jugis.

Economy

Charlotte is the second-largest banking center in the United States, after New York City. The city was the former corporate home of Wachovia until its 2008 acquisition by Wells Fargo. Charlotte is the major center of the U.S. motorsports industry, housing the US's only Formula One team, Haas F1, multiple NASCAR teams and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. In the region there are more than 240 companies directly tied to the energy sector, collectively employing more than 230,000 people. The Charlotte Region has a major base of energy-oriented organizations and organizations and has become known as "Charlotte USA" The city has seven Fortune 500 companies in its metropolitan area, they are: Bank of America, Honeywell, Nucor, Lowe's, Duke Energy, Sonic Automotive and Brighthouse Financial. In 2019, Dole Food Company relocated its headquarters to Charlotte from California, and expanded its presence in Charlotte with its merger with Ireland-based Total Produce in February 2021. On May 25, 2021, it was announced that Charlotte would become the East Coast headquarters of Credit Karma. On September 20, 2022, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced it will be relocating it's headquarters from nearby Greensboro to Charlotte in 2023. In May 2021 Ally Financial moved into their newly built Ally Charlotte Center which houses all 2,100 Charlotte-based employees and contractors across 725,000 square feet (67,400 m2) of the building. Approximately 75% of the NASCAR teams, employees and race drivers are based nearby.

Arts and culture

The Charlotte region is home to many annual festivals and special events. The Carolina Renaissance Festival is one of the largest renaissance themed events in the country. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library serves the Charlotte area with a large collection (more than 1.5 million) of books, CDs and DVDs at 15 locations in the city of Charlotte, with branches in the surrounding towns of Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville, Cornelius and Davidson. The Charlotte Zoo initiative is a proposal to allocate 250 acres (101 ha) of natural North Carolina land to be dedicated to the zoological foundation, which was incorporated in 2008. The Sea Life Charlotte-Concord Aquarium is 30,000 square feet in size, and is part of the Concord Mills mall. The Brevard Street Library was the first library for African-Americans in the state of North Carolina, and some sources say it was closed in 1961 when the Brooklyn neighborhood in southeast Charlotte was redeveloped. In 2019, the event attracted 200,000 people to Uptown Charlotte. The event's parade became Charlotte's largest annual parade in 2017. Charlotte is "... the largest metropolitan area in the United States without a zoo". The Riverbanks Zoo and Garden and the North Carolina Zoological Park are two "great zoos" that are accessible from the Charlotte-Mecklenberg area, both roughly more than 70 miles away. The City of Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina with a population of more than 3 million people. The city is the home of the Charlotte Museum of Art.

Sports

Charlotte is home to three major professional sports franchises: the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, and Charlotte FC of Major League Soccer. The Panthers have won six division titles from (1996, 2003, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015) and two NFC championships in 2003 and 2015. Carolina has reached the Super Bowl twice but has been unsuccessful in both losing to the New England Patriots in 2004 and against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 in 2016. The original Hornets NBA franchise was established in 1988 as an expansion team, but it relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana in 2002 after animosity grew between the team's fans and principal owner George Shinn. Since 1999, the Knights has been the Triple-A Affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. In professional basketball, the city hosted the NBA All-Star Game twice in 1991 at the old Charlotte Coliseum and most recently in 2019 at Spectrum Center. In collegiate sports, Charlotte hosts the ACC Championship Game and Duke's Mayo Bowl. In 2021, Charlotte hosted the ACC baseball tournament and is set to host again by 2025. Charlotte will also host the 2022 Presidents Cup. The city is also the home of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) headquarters. Johnson C. Smith University participates at the NCAA Division II level. Johnson and Wales University participate in the USCAA. The Big South Conference has 11 member institutions with over 19 different sports and completes in the NCAA's Division I. The Charlotte 49ers of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as well as the Queens Royals of Queens University of Charlotte, who announced their transition from Division II to Division I on May 7, 2022.

Government

Charlotte has a council-manager form of government. The mayor and city council are elected every two years, with no term limits. Vi Lyles, a Democrat elected in 2017, became the 59th mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. The city council has 11 members (7 from districts and 4 at-large). Democrats control the council with a 9-to-2 advantage. Charlotte is split between two congressional districts on the federal level. The southeastern portion is part of the 9th District. Most of the city is in the 12th District, represented by Democrat Alma Adams. Charlotte was selected in 2011 to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which was held at the Spectrum Center. It began September 4, 2012, and ended on September 6, 2012. In 2018, Charlotte was chosen tohost the Republican National Convention in August 2020. It will be the first time the convention has been held in the state of North Carolina since 1988. The convention will take place at the convention center in downtown Charlotte, which is located on the banks of the N.C. Turnpike. It is one of the few U.S. cities that has hosted both the Democratic and Republican conventions at the same time. It was also the first city in North Carolina to host both conventions in the same year. Charlotte will host the Republican convention in 2020, which will be held in Tampa, Florida. The Republican National Committee will hold its convention in Charlotte in July 2020. The Democratic convention will be hosted in Tampa in July 2021.

Education

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is the second largest in North Carolina and 17th largest in the nation. University Research Park is a 3,200 acres (13 km²) research and corporate park. Central Piedmont Community College is the largest community college in the Carolinas, with more than 70,000 students each year. Wake Forest School of Medicine will expand a 20-acre campus in Charlotte by 2024. The Charlotte School of Law opened its doors in Charlotte in 2006 and was fully accredited by the American Bar Association in 2011. The law school offered the Juris Doctor degree but the Bar association rescinded the accreditation in 2017. The Connecticut School of Broadcasting, DeVry University, and ECPI University all have branches in Charlotte. The Universal Technical Institute has the NASCAR Technical Institute in nearby Mooresville, serving the Charlotte area. Montreat College (Charlotte) maintains a School of Professional and Adult Studies in the city. Union Presbyterian Seminary has a non-residential campus offering the Master of Arts in Christian Education in Charlotte near the Beverley Woods area. The North Carolina Research Campus is a public-private venture including eight universities, one community college, the David H. Murdock Research Institute (DHMRI), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and corporate entities. Partnering educational organizations include UNC Charlotte and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, as well as Appalachian State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University and Shaw University.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Charlotte, Cabarrus County, North Carolina = 8.6. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 60. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Charlotte = 4.6 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 874,579 individuals with a median age of 35.2 age the population grows by 20.86% in Charlotte, Cabarrus County, North Carolina population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,821.06 residents per square mile of area (1,089.22/km²). There are average 2.42 people per household in the 264,584 households with an average household income of $52,291 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is of the available work force and has dropped -7.20% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 15.90%. The number of physicians in Charlotte per 100,000 population = 267.1.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Charlotte = 44.2 inches and the annual snowfall = 3.9 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 119. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 218. 88 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 34.1 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 35, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Charlotte, Cabarrus County, North Carolina which are owned by the occupant = 53.22%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 22 years with median home cost = $196,120 and home appreciation of -8.69%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $9.80 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,695 per student. There are 15.6 students for each teacher in the school, 517 students for each Librarian and 585 students for each Counselor. 6.57% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 26.75% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 10.51% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).