North Carolina County Map With Cities

Complete list of all 100 counties in North Carolina with population, area, and median income — plus a free printable blank map.

Counties

100

Population

10,730,463

Area

48,618 sq mi

Capital

Raleigh

Time Zone

Eastern (ET)

Tap or click any county for details. Need a printable version? Blank North Carolina county map (PDF/PNG/SVG).

All 100 North Carolina counties

County	Largest City	Population ▼	Area	Median Income	Cities
Mecklenburg	Charlotte	1,173,019	524 mi²	$93,513	8
Wake	Raleigh	1,166,601	835 mi²	$107,580	12
Guilford	Greensboro	545,143	646 mi²	$72,005	13
Forsyth	Winston Salem	366,061	408 mi²	$71,973	10
Cumberland	Fayetteville	324,774	652 mi²	$62,163	9
Durham	Durham	321,673	286 mi²	$83,058	2
Buncombe	Asheville	269,596	657 mi²	$74,957	14
Union	Monroe	250,703	632 mi²	$110,763	7
Gaston	Gastonia	238,761	356 mi²	$69,403	13
New Hanover	Wilmington	237,060	192 mi²	$79,497	5
Cabarrus	Concord	236,047	362 mi²	$88,432	5
Onslow	Jacksonville	205,843	763 mi²	$68,848	12
Iredell	Mooresville	197,744	574 mi²	$83,224	11
Davidson	Lexington	193,095	553 mi²	$61,232	8
Johnston	Clayton	189,124	791 mi²	$82,277	10
Alamance	Burlington	187,143	424 mi²	$66,972	10
Harnett	Fuquay Varina	185,340	595 mi²	$82,661	14
Pitt	Greenville	180,210	652 mi²	$58,949	12
Catawba	Hickory	172,263	399 mi²	$68,846	8
Randolph	Asheboro	152,597	783 mi²	$61,860	12
Brunswick	Leland	152,331	847 mi²	$77,820	13
Rowan	Salisbury	133,355	511 mi²	$65,002	12
Orange	Chapel Hill	130,110	398 mi²	$96,384	5
Henderson	Hendersonville	122,340	373 mi²	$72,525	15
Robeson	Lumberton	116,722	949 mi²	$44,697	14
Chatham	Pittsboro	108,238	682 mi²	$108,279	12
Cleveland	Shelby	107,541	464 mi²	$58,425	12
Craven	New Bern	105,670	709 mi²	$66,458	8
Wayne	Goldsboro	101,756	553 mi²	$60,324	5
Moore	Pinehurst	99,639	698 mi²	$84,148	12
Rockingham	Reidsville	99,327	566 mi²	$58,188	8
Nash	Nashville	96,781	540 mi²	$63,586	8
Lincoln	Lincolnton	90,689	298 mi²	$78,695	5
Sampson	Clinton	81,159	945 mi²	$54,220	11
Wilson	Wilson	80,172	368 mi²	$57,194	7
Burke	Morganton	78,751	507 mi²	$58,589	9
Caldwell	Lenoir	78,467	472 mi²	$57,032	6
Lee	Sanford	76,725	255 mi²	$69,557	3
Carteret	Newport	74,790	506 mi²	$74,610	17
Surry	Mount Airy	74,475	532 mi²	$55,037	10
Franklin	Louisburg	70,266	492 mi²	$75,957	5
Stanly	Albemarle	66,947	395 mi²	$62,476	9
Duplin	Mount Olive	64,020	816 mi²	$53,393	12
Haywood	Waynesville	62,757	554 mi²	$62,463	6
Rutherford	Forest City	61,884	564 mi²	$51,313	12
Wilkes	North Wilkesboro	60,952	754 mi²	$51,750	12
Pender	Hampstead	60,176	870 mi²	$79,771	6
Watauga	Boone	58,780	313 mi²	$53,893	8
Hoke	Raeford	56,470	391 mi²	$60,489	2
Lenoir	Kinston	55,740	401 mi²	$46,968	3
Halifax	Roanoke Rapids	50,899	724 mi²	$47,428	8
Granville	Oxford	50,620	532 mi²	$66,864	6
Columbus	Whiteville	50,255	937 mi²	$48,869	14
Edgecombe	Rocky Mount	50,027	505 mi²	$53,839	8
Stokes	King	46,014	449 mi²	$63,124	9
McDowell	Marion	45,041	441 mi²	$57,175	6
Person	Roxboro	44,469	392 mi²	$66,211	5
Davie	Mocksville	43,752	264 mi²	$78,802	3
Vance	Henderson	43,655	254 mi²	$51,980	4
Beaufort	Washington	42,245	827 mi²	$61,583	8
Richmond	Rockingham	41,668	474 mi²	$46,897	6
Jackson	Sylva	41,407	491 mi²	$53,811	9
Pasquotank	Elizabeth City	40,869	227 mi²	$66,732	1
Yadkin	Yadkinville	39,453	335 mi²	$61,852	5
Macon	Franklin	38,159	516 mi²	$57,377	5
Dare	Kill Devil Hills	37,875	383 mi²	$91,160	14
Transylvania	Brevard	33,952	379 mi²	$69,375	8
Scotland	Laurinburg	33,574	319 mi²	$45,744	5
Currituck	Moyock	31,263	262 mi²	$100,962	15
Alexander	Taylorsville	30,062	260 mi²	$61,644	2
Cherokee	Murphy	29,134	455 mi²	$53,873	4
Bladen	Elizabethtown	27,838	874 mi²	$46,899	9
Ashe	West Jefferson	26,875	426 mi²	$58,710	11
Montgomery	Troy	23,655	492 mi²	$56,426	6
Anson	Wadesboro	22,328	531 mi²	$49,211	7
Madison	Marshall	22,282	450 mi²	$60,016	3
Martin	Williamston	21,425	461 mi²	$49,209	8
Polk	Tryon	20,752	238 mi²	$68,948	5
Hertford	Ahoskie	19,927	353 mi²	$44,441	6
Yancey	Burnsville	18,555	313 mi²	$57,744	3
Bertie	Windsor	17,321	699 mi²	$50,916	8
Mitchell	Spruce Pine	16,910	221 mi²	$59,986	3
Northampton	Gaston	16,886	537 mi²	$52,613	13
Greene	Snow Hill	15,741	266 mi²	$51,579	4
Caswell	Yanceyville	15,716	425 mi²	$51,728	7
Warren	Warrenton	15,347	428 mi²	$44,419	7
Swain	Bryson City	15,211	528 mi²	$55,243	2
Chowan	Edenton	14,392	172 mi²	$54,934	2
Perquimans	Hertford	12,611	247 mi²	$70,413	3
Clay	Hayesville	12,038	215 mi²	$61,130	3
Alleghany	Sparta	12,027	235 mi²	$49,472	6
Avery	Newland	11,463	247 mi²	$56,676	8
Washington	Plymouth	11,316	348 mi²	$44,735	3
Gates	Gates	10,453	340 mi²	$68,147	7
Camden	Camden	10,230	241 mi²	$91,962	3
Pamlico	Bayboro	10,206	337 mi²	$52,803	10
Graham	Robbinsville	8,218	292 mi²	$49,312	3
Hyde	Belhaven	7,371	613 mi²	$52,318	6
Jones	Trenton	5,767	471 mi²	$61,732	3
Tyrrell	Columbia	3,382	389 mi²	$41,522	1

How many counties does North Carolina have?

North Carolina has 100 counties covering 48,618 square miles and roughly 10,730,463 residents. The state was admitted to the Union in 1789 as the 12th state, and the current county boundaries reflect more than a century of administrative subdivision.

The largest county by land area is Robeson County at 949 square miles, home to about 116,722 residents. The most populous is Mecklenburg County with approximately 1,173,019 residents — a density of about 2,239 people per square mile.

At the other end of the scale, Tyrrell County has only about 3,382 residents.

North Carolina’s capital is Raleigh, while the largest city is Charlotte — a common pattern in the United States, where many states placed their capitals in smaller, more central towns rather than their largest commercial hubs.

Related resources

Download a printable outline of North Carolina’s county boundaries from our blank map of North Carolina page — available in SVG, PNG, and PDF.

Use the What County Am I In? tool to detect which North Carolina county a GPS location or address falls in, or the Address to County Lookup for batch input.

For demographic radius analysis, the Find ZIP Codes in Radius and Population Within Radius tools let you draw a circle around any North Carolina address and see every ZIP code and the total population inside.

Two SimpleMapLab studies cover North Carolina specifically: the 100-mile radius around Raleigh measures how much of the state lives within 100 miles of its capitol, and the loneliest town in North Carolina ranks the state’s most isolated inhabited place. The county-counts blog post puts North Carolina’s 100 counties in national context.

Frequently asked questions

North Carolina has 100 counties. The state was admitted to the Union in 1789 as the 12th state. County boundaries have shifted over time as the population spread and new administrative units were carved from existing ones.

Robeson County is the largest by land area at 949 square miles, with about 116,722 residents.

Mecklenburg County is the most populous, with approximately 1,173,019 residents over 524 square miles.

Tyrrell County has the smallest population at about 3,382 residents.

Raleigh is the state capital. The largest city is Charlotte — a common pattern in the US, where many states placed their capitals in smaller, more central towns rather than their largest commercial hubs.

Population, area, and demographic figures are aggregated from ZIP-code-level US Census data (via the SimpleMaps dataset) and the US Census Gazetteer. County boundaries used to render the map are from the US Atlas TopoJSON build of the Census Bureau's TIGER/Line shapefiles. The data is public domain.

Data sources

Population and demographics are aggregated from ZIP-code-level US Census data via the SimpleMaps dataset. Countiesboundaries are from the US Atlas TopoJSON build of the Census Bureau’s TIGER/Line shapefiles. Land area is from the Census Gazetteer. State counts follow the US Census Bureau’s definition of counties and county-equivalents (50 states + DC = 3,144). All sources are public domain.

Neighboring states