Take that, 'Joizy'

"We're No. 10! We're No. 10! We're No. 10!"

According to the U.S. Census Board, North Carolina is now the 10th most populated state in the Union, passing New Jersey to vault into the top 10.

According to the News & Observer, last year, "North Carolina grew by 184,000 people, roughly the size of Winston-Salem."

"Everybody in my neighborhood is from somewhere else," former New Jersey resident Mary Johnson, now of Wake Forest, told the paper.

Of course, between 1994 and 2003, some 32,000 folks from New Jersey have moved to N.C., thus helping the population boom.

The Census burea expects North Carolina to pass Georgia, Michigan and Ohio by 2030 in population rankings with nearly 12.3 million people.

The Charlotte Observer does a better job with analysis on this subject, including a section on "Why They're Moving."

The reasons?
-Retirement. "In the 1990s, many retirees who moved to the Carolinas started in the Northeast, moved to Florida and then came halfway back -- to the Carolinas, earning the nickname 'halfbacks,' said the paper. "While that's still a factor in recent growth, many of the newer retirees never made it to the Sunshine State."

-Growth breeds growth. "Recent arrivals are coming here to join friends or relatives who moved here in earlier waves."

-And, finall, the economy. "Research Triangle Park near Raleigh-Durham and the financial sector in Charlotte drive job growth. New companies continue to start up in the Carolinas because of their location halfway along the Eastern Seaboard."