Clara Haverstic is a data journalist at USA TODAY Homefront. She attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she studied data science and political science. Her research experience across statistics, psychology, and political communication taught her how to ask questions and find data-driven answers. When she’s not combing through datasets, she enjoys improv, cooking, and reading science fiction. Clara is originally from southwest Missouri and now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
With ample employment opportunities, highly rated universities and natural beauty from the mountains to the coast, North Carolina appeals to new residents, and the numbers show it. The Tar Heel State had the third-largest population gain between 2022 and 2023, behind only Texas and Florida. While North Carolina has seen population growth across the state,…
The Zillow Observed Rent Index shows what any renter can already tell you: Signing a lease is more expensive than ever. Typical rent prices, defined in the Zillow index as changes in asking rents over time, increased by 35.7% from December 2018 to December 2023, far outpacing overall inflation. Rent prices increased by 3.3% between…