Randolph is a weird county. It's like the donut of North Carolina. It looks like it should be part of a metro area and it has growth all around it, but it doesn't grow and has very low educational attainment. It's like the Staten Island of NC.
Randolph is very firmly outside of Greensboro's favored quarter, which is northwestward, so it only has gotten light exurban growth, mainly from High Point, which is on the border. It's really not too different from Davidson County, which gets its statistics elevated somewhat by being a little more heavy on suburban development in the northern third. Similarly, Chatham County's western portion is pretty similar to Randolph, but the east obviously looks towards the Triangle. Alamance is a bit different as well, since Burlington is an actual small city, and it has growth along I-40/ 70 as well.
The low educational attainment is probably the result of Asheboro's rather industrial economy, including but not limited to meat packing and similar industries. Siler City, in Chatham County, is similar.
