simplemaplab

North Carolina County Map With Cities

By Marko Visic · Updated Oct 5, 2026

North Carolina has 100 counties, covering 48,624 square miles of land. The Census Bureau estimates its population at 11,197,968 as of July 1, 2025. The largest county by land area is Robeson County; the most populous is Wake County; the least populous is Tyrrell County.

Counties
100
Population
11,197,968
Land area
48,624 sq mi
Capital
Raleigh
Time Zone
Eastern (ET)

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

All 100 North Carolina counties

County FIPS code Population (July 1, 2025) ▼Change since April 2020 Land area (sq mi) People per sq mi Median household income (2020–2024)
Wake County371831,257,235+11.3%8351,506$105,768
Mecklenburg County371191,233,383+10.6%5242,355$87,005
Guilford County37081562,234+3.9%646870$68,642
Forsyth County37067401,718+5.0%408984$67,165
Durham County37063347,240+6.9%2881,208$82,316
Cumberland County37051338,473+1.1%653519$61,291
Buncombe County37021277,417+3.0%656423$74,436
Union County37179267,674+12.4%633423$102,900
Johnston County37101256,448+18.7%792324$83,384
Cabarrus County37025249,725+10.6%361691$89,005
Gaston County37071246,558+8.2%356693$67,478
New Hanover County37129245,959+9.0%1921,279$75,166
Onslow County37133217,175+6.2%762285$68,148
Iredell County37097211,798+13.5%574369$81,419
Alamance County37001186,177+8.6%423440$65,651
Pitt County37147182,936+6.5%652280$58,188
Davidson County37057180,182+6.7%553326$64,172
Brunswick County37019174,702+27.8%849206$77,024
Catawba County37035170,172+5.9%401424$67,864
Rowan County37159155,096+5.6%512303$65,725
Orange County37135152,498+2.5%398384$90,089
Harnett County37085150,137+12.4%595252$71,287
Randolph County37151149,516+3.7%782191$61,022
Henderson County37089122,375+5.2%373328$68,187
Wayne County37191122,278+4.2%554221$59,733
Robeson County37155119,941+2.9%947127$41,978
Moore County37125110,619+10.9%698159$86,080
Craven County37049105,025+4.3%707149$65,873
Cleveland County37045103,325+3.8%464223$58,534
Nash County3712799,365+4.6%540184$62,426
Lincoln County3710998,654+13.7%296333$80,016
Rockingham County3715794,195+3.4%566167$57,053
Burke County3702388,655+1.2%506175$58,592
Chatham County3703785,111+11.6%681125$94,317
Franklin County3706982,037+19.5%492167$74,240
Wilson County3719581,150+2.4%368221$56,423
Caldwell County3702781,105+0.5%472172$56,425
Surry County3717172,287+1.3%533136$55,656
Pender County3714172,111+19.8%87183$80,396
Carteret County3703170,469+4.1%508139$72,322
Lee County3710570,258+11.0%255275$65,387
Stanly County3716768,830+10.1%395174$60,704
Wilkes County3719366,233+0.4%75488$51,721
Rutherford County3716165,745+2.0%565116$51,410
Haywood County3708763,369+2.1%554114$61,912
Sampson County3716361,504+4.2%94665$52,432
Granville County3707761,421+0.7%532115$71,111
Hoke County3709356,939+9.3%390146$64,912
Lenoir County3710755,837+1.3%399140$45,143
Watauga County3718954,786+1.3%312175$51,693
Duplin County3706151,571+5.9%81563$55,148
Columbus County3704750,487-0.3%93854$49,442
Edgecombe County3706549,121+0.5%50597$51,265
Halifax County3708346,534-4.3%72464$45,590
Stokes County3716946,126+3.6%449103$62,969
Davie County3705945,855+7.3%264174$75,057
McDowell County3711145,198+1.4%440103$57,168
Jackson County3709945,039+4.4%49192$55,815
Beaufort County3701344,6700.0%83354$58,357
Vance County3718142,638+0.1%252169$50,465
Pasquotank County3713942,201+4.0%227186$66,589
Richmond County3715342,041-2.1%47489$44,883
Person County3714540,636+4.0%392104$63,300
Macon County3711339,232+6.0%51676$59,061
Yadkin County3719738,325+3.0%335114$62,932
Dare County3705538,245+3.6%383100$88,994
Alexander County3700336,958+1.4%260142$65,354
Transylvania County3717534,211+3.7%37890$66,184
Scotland County3716533,322-2.5%319104$45,730
Currituck County3705333,158+18.0%262127$93,511
Cherokee County3703930,830+7.1%45668$53,628
Bladen County3701730,007+1.3%87534$42,422
Ashe County3700927,514+3.5%42665$56,866
Montgomery County3712326,403+2.6%49254$57,766
Caswell County3703322,563-0.8%42653$59,755
Madison County3711522,553+6.4%45050$58,531
Anson County3700721,758-1.4%53141$47,302
Martin County3711721,601-2.0%45647$48,578
Greene County3707920,700+1.2%26778$53,244
Polk County3714920,533+6.3%23886$67,758
Yancey County3719919,084+3.3%31361$58,709
Hertford County3709119,015-11.8%35354$45,537
Warren County3718518,898+1.4%42944$50,638
Avery County3701118,110+1.7%24773$61,428
Bertie County3701517,086-4.7%69924$48,750
Northampton County3713116,491-5.6%53731$50,086
Mitchell County3712115,062+1.1%22168$57,602
Chowan County3704114,082+2.7%17382$53,864
Swain County3717314,024-0.6%52827$52,349
Perquimans County3714313,490+3.7%24755$67,917
Pamlico County3713712,758+4.0%33738$59,717
Clay County3704312,239+10.4%21557$56,971
Alleghany County3700511,479+5.5%23549$47,172
Camden County3702911,315+9.2%24047$91,078
Washington County3718710,638-3.3%34731$41,813
Gates County3707310,234-2.3%34130$66,333
Jones County371039,575+4.4%47120$59,641
Graham County370758,190+2.0%29228$49,684
Hyde County370954,554-0.7%6127$53,713
Tyrrell County371773,537+9.0%3919$41,685

FIPS code: the Census Bureau’s five-digit county ID, a two-digit state code plus a three-digit county code. It is not a ZIP code.

How many counties does North Carolina have?

North Carolina has 100 counties covering 48,624 square miles. The state was admitted to the Union in 1789 as the 12th state.

The largest county by land area is Robeson County at 947 square miles, home to 119,941 residents. The most populous is Wake County with 1,257,235 residents — a density of 1,506 people per square mile. At the other end of the scale, Tyrrell County has 3,537 residents.

North Carolina’s capital is Raleigh, while the largest city is Charlotte.

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 947 square miles, with 119,941 residents.
Wake County is the most populous, with 1,257,235 residents over 835 square miles.
Tyrrell County has the smallest population at 3,537 residents.
Raleigh is the state capital of North Carolina. The largest city is Charlotte.
County population is the US Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate for July 1, 2025; land and water area are from the 2026 Census Gazetteer; median household income is from the American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates. The county boundaries drawn on the map are the US Atlas TopoJSON build of the Census Bureau's TIGER/Line shapefiles. All figures are US Census Bureau data in the public domain.
Data sources

Neighboring states

Georgia
159 counties
South Carolina
46 counties
Tennessee
95 counties
Virginia
95 counties + 38 cities