The 2020 U.S. Census figures arrived last week eagerly anticipated - and late (for a variety of reasons). One of the big early takeaways from the initial Census data that was released was that rural areas all around the United States lost population. One region where that wasn't true was Western North Carolina. Dr. Chris Cooper, political scientist at Western Carolina University, crunched the numbers and found that only five of the 16 counties in Western North Carolina's 11th Congressional District lost population over the past decade. The rest gained, and in some cases gained a lot.