The Coastal North Carolina Socioeconomic Study, undertaken in the early 1990s, generated extensive baseline documentation of the human environment potentially impacted by oil and gas industry activities at the Manteo Prospect, a significant natural gas reserve located some 45 miles east of the central Outer Banks. Volume I serves as the project Executive Summary; Volume II describes pertinent demographic, socioeconomic, and other human environmental conditions and trends at county level of analysis; Volume III involves focused description of relevant conditions and trends in select communities along the northern and central North Carolina coastline (provided here); Volume IV describes systematic data elicitation techniques used to assess local perceptions regarding the potential effects of offshore and shoreside development on the physical environment and local quality of life; and Volume V describes the project methodology and recommended approach for monitoring socioeconomic change along the Outer Banks and other regions of the North Carolina coast that are subject to the potential costs and benefits associated with exploration and development of offshore energy resources.