New data shows UNC-Chapel Hill’s statewide impact

Alumni contributed more than $30 billion in economic activity in North Carolina;
Tar Heel Footprint Map breaks down alumni in the workforce by prosperity zone

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has released new fiscal year 2025 economic impact data that shows the influence of North Carolina's flagship university on the state through the categories of alumni, employees, research and affiliated startups.

"Carolina's impact can be seen in every corner of our state, through the students we educate, the research we advance, the care we provide and the businesses and jobs we help create," said UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. "As the nation's first public university, our connection to North Carolina is the source of our strength, and we are honored to serve this remarkable state and its people."

Alumni are serving communities from rural pharmacies to coastal research labs to small-town city halls to startup accelerators. Researchers are addressing some of North Carolina's most pressing challenges, including cancer, rural health, coastal resilience and environmental risk. University employees support communities, programs and partnerships statewide.

Taking a look beyond 2025 for affiliated startups, there are currently 537 active UNC-Chapel Hill-affiliated startups based in North Carolina, part of the 1,273 total affiliated startups launched since 1950. In early 2026, UNC-Chapel Hill recently surpassed 200 IP-based startup companies through Innovate Carolina, reflecting the University's growing role as an engine of entrepreneurship.

All four impact categories - alumni, employees, research and University-affiliated startups - examine distinct dimensions of UNC-Chapel Hill's statewide impact using the IMPLAN model and should be viewed independently, not collectively, to prevent overlap.

IMPLAN is an economic impact modeling system that estimates how spending ripples through supply chains and household spending patterns to generate impacts on jobs, income, GDP, economic activity and tax revenue within a specific geographic region.

A statewide picture of Carolina's impact

* The alumni category does not include self-employed workers, contractors, federal employees or military employees.
**The UNC-Chapel Hill employees, research and affiliated startups categories do not include construction, athletics, tourism or UNC Health System.

The Tar Heel Footprint Map

Although more than 180,000 UNC-Chapel Hill alumni reside in North Carolina, this analysis focuses on all alumni - both undergraduate and graduate - who were employed in the state during FY2025 and who graduated between July 2002 - June 2024. Under these criteria, there were 64,474 alumni working in North Carolina who collectively:

• Contributed $30.1 billion in total economic activity in the state
• Contributed $18.3 billion to the state's gross domestic product
• Supported 135,458 jobs for North Carolinians
• Produced $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenue

UNC-Chapel Hill launched the Tar Heel Footprint Map, a new interactive tool showing the breakdown of alumni in North Carolina working across a wide range of fields, including healthcare, education, business and finance, law, science and research, public service and social work.

The Tar Heel Footprint Map matched alumni data with the North Carolina Department of Commerce's Common Follow-Up System, which captures job and pay information for employees covered by unemployment insurance. It does not include self-employed workers, contractors, federal employees or military employees. The alumni category is organized by geography and industry with government job classification codes, as well as using the IMPLAN economic model and the Department of Commerce's eight prosperity zones.

From the mountains to the coast

Across North Carolina, UNC-Chapel Hill alumni, employees, researchers and affiliated startups are contributing to communities through healthcare, education, scientific discovery, business creation, public service and workforce development. The data represents the stories of incredible people doing incredible things in every corner of the state.

In Western North Carolina

• Taylor Galyean '21, is serving patients in a healthcare shortage area where medical options are few.
• Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers '08 (JD), a Carolina graduate, has been a steady voice for his community through Hurricane Helene recovery.
• Jessi Stout '08, returned home to run Table Rock Pharmacy after earning her UNC pharmacy degree.

In the Northwest and Foothills

• NCGrowth helped guide development of the Three Peaks Enrichment Center in Spruce Pine, projected to support 90 permanent jobs.
• Alisa Eanes '08, '15 (MD), is practicing obstetrics in a region where access to maternity care is limited.

In the Piedmont-Triad

• Annie Goldberg '16, '17 (MEd), the 2024 North Carolina School Counselor of the Year.

In the Research Triangle and North Central region

• Programs such as Carolina Community Academy, PlayMakers Repertory Company and the UNC School of Government's defender trial school extend the University's reach across the region.
• Scott Barnes '12, Dane Barnes '09 and Alex Slater '09, turned a beach-day problem into Shibumi Shades, a company that has sold more than 300,000 wind-powered beach shades used on an estimated 800 beaches.

In Northeast North Carolina

• Thomas McDowell '15, '16 (PharmD), carries on four generations of pharmacy services in rural Scotland Neck, offering medication management and serving as the community's "front door to healthcare."

Along Southeast North Carolina and the coast

• Colin Eimers '26 (PhD), is studying shellfish health and coastal resilience at UNC's Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City.
• Michelle Hernandez '97, '02 (MD), is leading UNC School of Medicine research on asthma in rural southeastern communities.

In Southwest North Carolina

• Charlotte attorney Charles Hands '14, graduated debt-free through the Carolina Covenant and now mentors first-generation students.
• Paloma Garcia-Serrano '24, created the first-ever land use plan adopted by a small town in Cleveland County.

In the Sandhills

• UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers are working with military families near Fort Liberty to address cancer risks and health disparities.