A version of the following article appeared in the June 15, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
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As sweltering summer temperatures arrive, at least more than 99% of Mecklenburg households have A/C; No. 2 in N.C.
by Tony Mecia
Hot enough for ya?
As temperatures climb into the 90s, here’s one statistic you might appreciate: Nearly everyone in Charlotte has air conditioning.
According to new Census figures analyzed by The Ledger, just 0.8% of households in Mecklenburg had no air conditioning in 2023, the latest year for which statistics are available. That’s tied for the second-lowest percentage in the state, behind only Wake County, where 0.5% of households had no A/C.
Almost every Census tract in the Charlotte region has less than 5% of households with no air conditioning — and Mecklenburg households are more likely to have A/C than other counties.
Other Charlotte-area counties also rank highly statewide in the availability of cool air, including:
Union County, 0.8% with no A/C, No. 2 (tied)
Cabarrus County, 1.2% with no A/C, No. 7 (tied)
Gaston County, 1.4% with no A/C, No. 13 (tied)
Iredell County, 1.4% with no A/C, No. 13 (tied)
The near-universal availability of air conditioning in the Charlotte region probably stems from the region’s wealth, fast growth, new housing and higher shares of residents in big and modern apartment buildings.
In Mecklenburg, air conditioning (in 99.2% of households) is about as common as indoor plumbing (99.8%).
An examination of the data in Mecklenburg shows that any spilt between air conditioning haves and have-nots defies the traditional crescent-and-wedge divide, a phenomenon in which worse outcomes tend to fall to poorer areas of town west, north and east of uptown.
In Mecklenburg, the census tract with the highest percentage of no air conditioning is just north of UNC Charlotte, where an estimated 3.2% of households don’t have it.
County-wide, there are still about 3,600 households with no air conditioning, the Census Bureau estimates. State and local agencies and nonprofits occasionally hand out A/C units or fans in the summer to low-income households or seniors.
In the rest of North Carolina, the lack of air conditioning does seem to track at least a little bit with poverty. There are slightly higher (though still single-digit) percentages in rural Eastern North Carolina, where summer heat can be stifling.
The highest percentages of spots in N.C. without air conditioning are in the mountains. Ashe and Avery counties, which border Tennessee, each have more than 30% of households with no A/C. Of course, in the mountains, higher elevations and breezes can do the work of compressors.
More good news: Charlotte is supposed to mostly stay out of the 90s this week, with highs in the 80s.
Tony Mecia is executive editor of The Charlotte Ledger. Reach him at [email protected].