Wesley Chapel is a village in Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,681 at the 2020 census and was estimated to be 8,883 in 2021.
Geography
Wesley Chapel is located in the townships of Monroe and Sandy Ridge in eastern Union County, North Carolina. Part of the Charlotte metropolitan area, it sits east of Weddington, north of Waxhaw, west of Monroe, and south of Indian Trail.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 9.8 square miles (25.39 km<sup>2</sup>). It has a population density of 787.4 people per square mile. The majority of the village's area is land, aside from Price Mill Creek and some small residential ponds.
NC-84 passes through the village as Weddington Road. The village's main attractions are its central business district, known as Wesley Chapel Village Commons, and Dogwood Park.
History
The village of Wesley Chapel's existence can be traced back to the establishment of Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church, one of many United Methodist churches to be named after Methodism founder John Wesley's chapel in London. The Wesley Chapel church was founded in 1832 on the remains of an abandoned campground outside nearby Mineral Springs known as McWhorter Campground. The community became first recognized in the early 20th century as residents of Monroe and Vance Township in the early 20th century declared themselves as part of the Wesley Chapel vicinity of Sandy Ridge Township, taking the name from the Methodist church.
The village was originally known as Price's Mill, named after the family of Joseph Price and his son James Newton Price. The Price family began as farmers but acquired a significant portion of the land of Wesley Chapel and contributed to much of the village's early development. Wesley Chapel High School was the first rural public high school in North Carolina. The school burnt down in 1955 and reopened in 1961 as Wesley Chapel Elementary School following the opening of Sun Valley High School in Indian Trail. The school was destroyed in a fire and rebuilt again in 1966.
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census
| align = right
| align-fn = center
2020 census
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|+2020 racial makeup
! scope="col" |Race
! scope="col" |Number
! scope="col" |Percentage
|-
! scope="row" |White (non-Hispanic)
|6,849
|78.9%
|-
! scope="row" |Black or African American (non-Hispanic)
|660
|7.6%
|-
! scope="row" |Hispanic or Latino
|643
|7.4%
|-
! scope="row" |Asian
|296
|3.4%
|-
!Other/Mixed
|216
|2.5%
|-
! scope="row" |Native American
|17
|0.2%
|-
! scope="row" |Pacific Islander
|0
|0.0%
|}
As of the 2020 census, Wesley Chapel had a population of 8,681. The median age was 42.6 years. 27.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.6 males age 18 and over.
89.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 11.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 2,796 households in Wesley Chapel, of which 43.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 77.6% were married-couple households, 7.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 12.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 10.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.