Largest Counties in North Carolina by Population

North Carolina's counties, ranked by the latest official population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

All 100 counties ranked · July 1, 2025 Census estimates

Counties ranked by their latest population estimate.
RankCountyPopulation
1Wake County1,257,235
2Mecklenburg County1,233,383
3Guilford County562,234
4Forsyth County401,718
5Durham County347,240
6Cumberland County338,473
7Buncombe County277,417
8Union County267,674
9Johnston County256,448
10Cabarrus County249,725
11Gaston County246,558
12New Hanover County245,959
13Onslow County217,175
14Iredell County211,798
15Alamance County186,177
16Pitt County182,936
17Davidson County180,182
18Brunswick County174,702
19Catawba County170,172
20Rowan County155,096
21Orange County152,498
22Harnett County150,137
23Randolph County149,516
24Henderson County122,375
25Wayne County122,278
26Robeson County119,941
27Moore County110,619
28Craven County105,025
29Cleveland County103,325
30Nash County99,365
31Lincoln County98,654
32Rockingham County94,195
33Burke County88,655
34Chatham County85,111
35Franklin County82,037
36Wilson County81,150
37Caldwell County81,105
38Surry County72,287
39Pender County72,111
40Carteret County70,469
41Lee County70,258
42Stanly County68,830
43Wilkes County66,233
44Rutherford County65,745
45Haywood County63,369
46Sampson County61,504
47Granville County61,421
48Hoke County56,939
49Lenoir County55,837
50Watauga County54,786
51Duplin County51,571
52Columbus County50,487
53Edgecombe County49,121
54Halifax County46,534
55Stokes County46,126
56Davie County45,855
57McDowell County45,198
58Jackson County45,039
59Beaufort County44,670
60Vance County42,638
61Pasquotank County42,201
62Richmond County42,041
63Person County40,636
64Macon County39,232
65Yadkin County38,325
66Dare County38,245
67Alexander County36,958
68Transylvania County34,211
69Scotland County33,322
70Currituck County33,158
71Cherokee County30,830
72Bladen County30,007
73Ashe County27,514
74Montgomery County26,403
75Caswell County22,563
76Madison County22,553
77Anson County21,758
78Martin County21,601
79Greene County20,700
80Polk County20,533
81Yancey County19,084
82Hertford County19,015
83Warren County18,898
84Avery County18,110
85Bertie County17,086
86Northampton County16,491
87Mitchell County15,062
88Chowan County14,082
89Swain County14,024
90Perquimans County13,490
91Pamlico County12,758
92Clay County12,239
93Alleghany County11,479
94Camden County11,315
95Washington County10,638
96Gates County10,234
97Jones County9,575
98Graham County8,190
99Hyde County4,554
100Tyrrell County3,537

About this ranking

Source
U.S. Census Bureau — County Resident Population Estimates (CO-EST2025-ALLDATA), Vintage 2025
Reference date
July 1, 2025
Universe
100 counties in North Carolina; 100 ranked
Ranked by
Population, highest first
Ties
Counties with equal populations share a rank; their display order is settled by name and then by official Census geographic identifier, so the order is the same everywhere.

Ranks are computed from the current estimate, not the decennial Census count.

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