PlainCities

Counties · North Carolina

Counties of North Carolina

North Carolina has 100 counties. Wake County is the largest with 1,257,235 residents in 2025. 86 of the 100 gained residents between 2020 and 2025 by the Census Bureau's estimates.

What counties are in North Carolina?

Sorted by the 2025 population estimate; sort by any column.

Counties of North Carolina: 2025 estimate, change since 2020, ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Wake County1,257,235+11.3%15230$105,768$461,300
Mecklenburg County1,233,383+10.6%10305$87,005$406,800
Guilford County562,234+3.9%15126$68,642$259,900
Forsyth County401,718+5.0%1195$67,165$250,400
Durham County347,240+6.9%668$82,316$389,400
Cumberland County338,473+1.1%1081$61,291$199,200
Buncombe County277,417+3.0%1365$74,436$391,800
Union County267,674+12.4%1648$102,900$417,300
Johnston County256,448+18.7%1253$83,384$305,600
Cabarrus County249,725+10.6%647$89,005$354,800
Gaston County246,558+8.2%1785$67,478$266,000
New Hanover County245,959+9.0%1855$75,166$387,800
Onslow County217,175+6.2%1046$68,148$236,400
Iredell County211,798+13.5%846$81,419$321,400
Alamance County186,177+8.6%1437$65,651$241,500
Pitt County182,936+6.5%1342$58,188$208,900
Davidson County180,182+6.7%1042$64,172$219,100
Brunswick County174,702+27.8%1944$77,024$349,800
Catawba County170,172+5.9%1134$67,864$241,600
Rowan County155,096+5.6%1231$65,725$238,400
Orange County152,498+2.5%642$90,089$459,500
Harnett County150,137+12.4%1428$71,287$246,200
Randolph County149,516+3.7%1134$61,022$197,100
Henderson County122,375+5.2%1830$68,187$351,400
Wayne County122,278+4.2%1230$59,733$178,700
Robeson County119,941+2.9%2235$41,978$94,500
Moore County110,619+10.9%1429$86,080$351,400
Craven County105,025+4.3%1326$65,873$231,600
Cleveland County103,325+3.8%1624$58,534$200,000
Nash County99,365+4.6%1225$62,426$191,000
Lincoln County98,654+13.7%718$80,016$321,000
Rockingham County94,195+3.4%722$57,053$168,600
Burke County88,655+1.2%1221$58,592$185,400
Chatham County85,111+11.6%1219$94,317$446,200
Franklin County82,037+19.5%716$74,240$284,300
Wilson County81,150+2.4%925$56,423$186,000
Caldwell County81,105+0.5%1219$56,425$192,200
Surry County72,287+1.3%823$55,656$177,600
Pender County72,111+19.8%1016$80,396$299,000
Carteret County70,469+4.1%1833$72,322$333,300
Lee County70,258+11.0%216$65,387$240,200
Stanly County68,830+10.1%1217$60,704$242,400
Wilkes County66,233+0.4%1118$51,721$168,800
Rutherford County65,745+2.0%1122$51,410$201,800
Haywood County63,369+2.1%621$61,912$279,200
Sampson County61,504+4.2%1820$52,432$150,700
Granville County61,421+0.7%515$71,111$247,700
Hoke County56,939+9.3%812$64,912$219,300
Lenoir County55,837+1.3%717$45,143$120,500
Watauga County54,786+1.3%713$51,693$358,900
Duplin County51,571+5.9%1521$55,148$137,400
Columbus County50,487−0.3%1415$49,442$146,000
Edgecombe County49,121+0.5%1014$51,265$125,100
Halifax County46,534−4.3%1016$45,590$106,200
Stokes County46,126+3.6%613$62,969$196,700
Davie County45,855+7.3%510$75,057$253,900
McDowell County45,198+1.4%512$57,168$171,100
Jackson County45,039+4.4%109$55,815$284,700
Beaufort County44,670+0.0%1113$58,357$192,700
Vance County42,638+0.1%412$50,465$161,500
Pasquotank County42,201+4.0%110$66,589$234,600
Richmond County42,041−2.1%911$44,883$127,800
Person County40,636+4.0%27$63,300$213,900
Macon County39,232+6.0%210$59,061$251,900
Yadkin County38,325+3.0%59$62,932$181,200
Dare County38,245+3.6%1512$88,994$460,400
Alexander County36,958+1.4%47$65,354$211,800
Transylvania County34,211+3.7%212$66,184$373,600
Scotland County33,322−2.5%89$45,730$114,900
Currituck County33,158+18.0%310$93,511$378,800
Cherokee County30,830+7.1%312$53,628$232,300
Bladen County30,007+1.3%1011$42,422$135,100
Ashe County27,514+3.5%39$56,866$243,100
Montgomery County26,403+2.6%510$57,766$161,700
Caswell County22,563−0.8%26$59,755$164,500
Madison County22,553+6.4%37$58,531$284,600
Anson County21,758−1.4%79$47,302$148,600
Martin County21,601−2.0%96$48,578$109,700
Greene County20,700+1.2%45$53,244$117,400
Polk County20,533+6.3%38$67,758$315,000
Yancey County19,084+3.3%15$58,709$243,100
Hertford County19,015−11.8%68$45,537$119,200
Warren County18,898+1.4%37$50,638$154,200
Avery County18,110+1.7%95$61,428$265,800
Bertie County17,086−4.7%85$48,750$98,500
Northampton County16,491−5.6%1010$50,086$114,500
Mitchell County15,062+1.1%24$57,602$220,100
Chowan County14,082+2.7%44$53,864$235,800
Swain County14,024−0.6%25$52,349$207,000
Perquimans County13,490+3.7%24$67,917$231,700
Pamlico County12,758+4.0%107$59,717$216,800
Clay County12,239+10.4%14$56,971$278,400
Alleghany County11,479+5.5%13$47,172$214,800
Camden County11,315+9.2%32$91,078$337,100
Washington County10,638−3.3%34$41,813$125,900
Gates County10,234−2.3%23$66,333$170,800
Jones County9,575+4.4%33$59,641$130,300
Graham County8,190+2.0%33$49,684$170,600
Hyde County4,554−0.7%44$53,713$124,000
Tyrrell County3,537+9.0%11$41,685$164,500

Source: PEP Vintage 2025 (CO-EST2025); American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau (released January 2026) · Census population estimates

How these figures are made: methodology and release checks · reading a margin of error · every state · corrections