North Carolina Counties by Population

Below are the 100 North Carolina counties sorted by population from largest to smallest. The population data are from the 2021 American Community Survey. You can copy and paste this list directly into your favorite spreadsheet program. Don't you just adore lovely numbers listed nicely in columns & rows? We do!

Rank County Population
1 Wake County 1,112,883
2 Mecklenburg County 1,100,984
3 Guilford County 537,113
4 Forsyth County 380,583
5 Cumberland County 333,582
6 Durham County 320,146
7 Buncombe County 266,981
8 Union County 235,699
9 Gaston County 226,097
10 New Hanover County 225,175
11 Cabarrus County 221,200
12 Johnston County 211,320
13 Onslow County 201,597
14 Iredell County 183,965
15 Pitt County 170,600
16 Alamance County 169,185
17 Davidson County 168,002
18 Catawba County 159,852
19 Orange County 147,376
20 Rowan County 145,784
21 Randolph County 143,735
22 Brunswick County 133,789
23 Harnett County 133,074
24 Robeson County 118,836
25 Wayne County 117,692
26 Henderson County 115,613
27 Craven County 101,405
28 Cleveland County 98,898
29 Moore County 98,618
30 Nash County 94,628
31 Rockingham County 90,903
32 Burke County 87,829
33 Lincoln County 85,670
34 Caldwell County 80,705
35 Wilson County 78,844
36 Chatham County 75,070
37 Surry County 71,439
38 Carteret County 67,944
39 Franklin County 67,598
40 Wilkes County 66,335
41 Rutherford County 64,592
42 Lee County 62,676
43 Stanly County 62,148
44 Haywood County 61,695
45 Granville County 60,854
46 Pender County 59,964
47 Sampson County 59,468
48 Lenoir County 55,344
49 Watauga County 54,077
50 Hoke County 52,169
51 Columbus County 51,474
52 Duplin County 49,836
53 Edgecombe County 49,609
54 Halifax County 49,291
55 Beaufort County 44,898
56 Stokes County 44,588
57 McDowell County 44,527
58 Richmond County 43,301
59 Jackson County 42,983
60 Vance County 42,650
61 Davie County 42,543
62 Pasquotank County 40,240
63 Person County 38,999
64 Yadkin County 37,198
65 Dare County 36,718
66 Macon County 36,532
67 Alexander County 36,491
68 Scotland County 34,345
69 Transylvania County 32,979
70 Bladen County 30,105
71 Cherokee County 28,515
72 Currituck County 27,575
73 Ashe County 26,598
74 Montgomery County 25,891
75 Caswell County 22,785
76 Anson County 22,388
77 Martin County 22,213
78 Hertford County 22,010
79 Madison County 21,269
80 Greene County 20,524
81 Polk County 19,413
82 Warren County 18,889
83 Yancey County 18,357
84 Bertie County 18,105
85 Northampton County 17,917
86 Avery County 17,747
87 Mitchell County 14,951
88 Swain County 14,166
89 Chowan County 13,796
90 Perquimans County 13,002
91 Pamlico County 12,293
92 Washington County 11,183
93 Clay County 10,997
94 Alleghany County 10,910
95 Gates County 10,584
96 Camden County 10,353
97 Jones County 9,326
98 Graham County 8,089
99 Hyde County 4,697
100 Tyrrell County 3,436

United States Census Bureau. B01001 SEX BY AGE, 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Office. Web. 8 December 2022. http://www.census.gov/.

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