On October 15, the U.S. Census Bureau completed data collection, and Cary citizens, staff, and Council members all contributed to Cary reaching an 80% self-response rate. The next step is for the bureau to deliver an accurate state population count. Typically, this is completed by December 31; however, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the process. Data delivery is anticipated in early spring of 2021. 

The bureau has released population estimates for July 1, 2020, which use the 2010 Census as a starting point. According to these estimates, in North Carolina: 

• 10,600,823 people lived in N.C. on July 1, 2020. This is about 3.2% of U.S. population.
• If these estimates were assumed to be a correct reflection of the population, then there would have been about 10,576,000 people living in N.C. on April 1, 2020, or Census Day.
• The state population grew by 0.9% since 2019. This is the slowest year to year change since 2013-2014.
• 99,439 people were added to the state. This is the smallest increase since 2013-2014.
• N.C. added 1,065,061 since 2010.
• Fourth largest numeric increase following Texas, Florida, and California.
• The state population increased by an estimated 11.2% since 2010.

At the end of December 2020, Chatham Walk, a 33-unit condominium project wrapped up construction and began welcoming new residents to downtown. Thirty-one of the thirty-three units have been sold, and this is the first residential project of its kind to be completed in downtown Cary.

New single-family permits issued during Q2 totaled 241. Overall, permits for new single-family homes increased 65% in comparison to Q2 of FY 2020. The top three subdivisions permitted were Savaan (112), Brickyard (102), and Channing Park (93). 

There were 157 single-family certificates of occupancy issued in Q2, an average of 2.6 certificates per workday. This is a 33% decrease in comparison to the COs issued in Q2 of FY 2020 and a 29% decrease in comparison to the average for COs issued in FY 2020. The subdivisions that received the most COs were Brickyard (23), Channing Park (12), Savaan (11), and Yates Pond (11). Considering that the number of permits issued for single-family homes increased the past three quarters, Cary anticipates an increase in the number of COs issued by the end of this calendar year.

Residential alteration and addition permits for Q2 totaled 495. This is a 9% increase from Q2 of FY 2020 and an 11% increase from last quarter. This trend is consistent with the theme of reinvestment in existing properties contained in the Imagine Cary Community Plan.