How did Georgia leapfrog NC to the left?

[quesaisje]

The states represent a similar number of electoral votes, but the Atlanta metro area is over twice the size of North Carolina's largest.

Between 2004 and 2020, Democrats more than doubled their votes in the Atlanta metro counties. Republicans gained votes there too, but Democrats outpaced them by more than 4:1.

Charlotte has grown a lot over the past couple of decades, but Atlanta's population gain over the same period is similar to Charlotte's total population.

Democrats have also lost a lot of votes in smaller metro areas. This is what stands out to me when I compare Obama's performance in North Carolina to Biden's. Biden has gained votes in the bigger metros, but he's losing a lot around the smaller cities. The rural shifts don't help, but they would otherwise be overwhelmed by just a couple of the largest counties.