Data / Rankings / Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over / Counties in North Carolina

Counties in North Carolina by share of adults with a bachelor's degree

Orange County had the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree of 100 counties in 2023, at 61.8%. Gates County had the lowest, at 10.8%. The median was 21.8% and the figure for North Carolina was 34.7%. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest61.8Orange County
Lowest10.8Gates County
Median21.8100 counties
North Carolina34.7History

Top 40 counties, 2023

CSVChart (SVG)

Orange CountyOrange County: 61.8 %61.8Wake CountyWake County: 56.3 %56.3Durham CountyDurham County: 53.5 %53.5Mecklenburg CountyMecklenburg County: 48.6 %48.6Chatham CountyChatham County: 48 %48Watauga CountyWatauga County: 47.7 %47.7New Hanover CountyNew Hanover County: 44.8 %44.8Buncombe CountyBuncombe County: 44.6 %44.6Dare CountyDare County: 42.8 %42.8Moore CountyMoore County: 40.9 %40.9Union CountyUnion County: 39 %39Transylvania CountyTransylvania County: 38.6 %38.6Guilford CountyGuilford County: 38.1 %38.1Cabarrus CountyCabarrus County: 37.7 %37.7Forsyth CountyForsyth County: 36.9 %36.9Henderson CountyHenderson County: 35.1 %35.1Pitt CountyPitt County: 33.9 %33.9Iredell CountyIredell County: 33.3 %33.3Brunswick CountyBrunswick County: 33.2 %33.2Polk CountyPolk County: 32.9 %32.9Carteret CountyCarteret County: 32.3 %32.3Madison CountyMadison County: 31.5 %31.5Clay CountyClay County: 31.4 %31.4Jackson CountyJackson County: 30 %30Pender CountyPender County: 29.8 %29.8Haywood CountyHaywood County: 29.4 %29.4Currituck CountyCurrituck County: 29.3 %29.3Alamance CountyAlamance County: 27.7 %27.7Johnston CountyJohnston County: 27.6 %27.6Cumberland CountyCumberland County: 27.2 %27.2Lincoln CountyLincoln County: 27 %27Pasquotank CountyPasquotank County: 26.9 %26.9Davie CountyDavie County: 26.8 %26.8Onslow CountyOnslow County: 26.1 %26.1Craven CountyCraven County: 26 %26Gaston CountyGaston County: 26 %26Camden CountyCamden County: 25.8 %25.8Pamlico CountyPamlico County: 25.4 %25.4Catawba CountyCatawba County: 24.9 %24.9Macon CountyMacon County: 24.6 %24.6
%. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Full ranking

RankCounties2023 (%)Change on 2022
1Orange County61.8+0.1 pts
2Wake County56.3+0.6 pts
3Durham County53.5+1.7 pts
4Mecklenburg County48.6+0.8 pts
5Chatham County48+1.5 pts
6Watauga County47.7+3.1 pts
7New Hanover County44.8+1.4 pts
8Buncombe County44.6+1.6 pts
9Dare County42.8+0.3 pts
10Moore County40.9+1 pts
11Union County39+0.6 pts
12Transylvania County38.6+1.6 pts
13Guilford County38.1+0.2 pts
14Cabarrus County37.7+1.2 pts
15Forsyth County36.9+1.6 pts
16Henderson County35.1+1.1 pts
17Pitt County33.9+0.7 pts
18Iredell County33.3+0.6 pts
19Brunswick County33.2+0.8 pts
20Polk County32.9-0.4 pts
21Carteret County32.3+0.5 pts
22Madison County31.5-0.8 pts
23Clay County31.4+2.6 pts
24Jackson County30+0.2 pts
25Pender County29.8+1.2 pts
26Haywood County29.4+0.6 pts
27Currituck County29.3+2.2 pts
28Alamance County27.7+0.4 pts
29Johnston County27.6+1.4 pts
30Cumberland County27.2+0.3 pts
31Lincoln County27+1 pts
32Pasquotank County26.9+0.8 pts
33Davie County26.8+0.6 pts
34Onslow County26.1+0.4 pts
35Craven County26+0.4 pts
36Gaston County26+1 pts
37Camden County25.8+1.4 pts
38Pamlico County25.4+0.9 pts
39Catawba County24.9+0.1 pts
40Macon County24.6+0.1 pts
41Chowan County24.5+0.3 pts
42Franklin County24.4+0.7 pts
43Cherokee County24.2+0.6 pts
44Granville County24+0.4 pts
45Harnett County23.9+1.2 pts
46Mitchell County23.1+1.1 pts
47Yancey County23+0.6 pts
48Alleghany County22.8+2.1 pts
49Ashe County22.4+1.6 pts
50Avery County21.9-0.4 pts
51Nash County21.7-0.2 pts
52Lee County21.6+0.6 pts
53Rowan County21.5+0.9 pts
54Wayne County21.3+1.3 pts
55Hoke County21.3+1.1 pts
56Swain County21.3+0.1 pts
57Cleveland County21.1+1.7 pts
58Davidson County20.7+0.3 pts
59Rutherford County20.7+0.9 pts
60Beaufort County20.6+1.1 pts
61Bladen County20.6+0.3 pts
62Perquimans County20.4+0.8 pts
63Wilson County20.3-0.2 pts
64Burke County20.2+0.4 pts
65Person County19.8+2.3 pts
66Stanly County19.7+1 pts
67Surry County19.4+1.2 pts
68Montgomery County19.3-0.4 pts
69Warren County19.1+1.7 pts
70Northampton County19+1.3 pts
71Caldwell County18.6+1.4 pts
72Stokes County18.5+2.4 pts
73Vance County18.5+0.7 pts
74Bertie County17.9+1.3 pts
74Jones County17.9+2.1 pts
76Randolph County17.6+0.9 pts
77McDowell County17.6-0.4 pts
78Duplin County17.5+1.6 pts
79Graham County16.8+2.9 pts
79Hertford County16.8+0.7 pts
81Edgecombe County16.7-1 pts
82Wilkes County16.7+0.3 pts
83Richmond County16.2-1 pts
84Rockingham County16.1+0.7 pts
85Caswell County16.1+0.6 pts
86Sampson County15.8+0.9 pts
87Lenoir County15.8+0.8 pts
88Yadkin County15.8+1.6 pts
89Halifax County15.5-0.3 pts
90Alexander County15.4+0.1 pts
91Martin County15.2-0.3 pts
92Columbus County15.1+0.5 pts
93Scotland County14.8+0.3 pts
94Tyrrell County14.7+2.5 pts
95Robeson County14.6-0.1 pts
96Hyde County13.7-0.5 pts
97Greene County12.2+0.8 pts
98Washington County12.2-1.9 pts
99Anson County10.9-0.5 pts
100Gates County10.8+1.9 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

People aged 25 and over whose highest degree is a bachelor's, master's, professional school or doctorate degree, as a percentage of all people aged 25 and over. United States: American Community Survey five-year estimate, where the period shown is the last year of the five-year span.

Excludes associate degrees and college without a degree. Not comparable with EU tertiary attainment, which includes short-cycle tertiary education and usually covers ages 25 to 64. Calculated from counts in ACS table B15003, which are stored as inputs.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B15003: population 25 years and over with a bachelor's degree or higher as a percentage of the population 25 years and over, calculated with stored inputs. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/summary_file/2023/table-based-SF/data/5YRData/acsdt5y2023-b15003.dat. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in North Carolina by share of adults with a bachelor's degree using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"bachelors_degree_share","level":"province","within":"North Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=bachelors_degree_share&level=province&within=North%20Carolina&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?

Orange County, with 61.8% in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which county has the lowest share of adults with a bachelor's degree?

Gates County, with 10.8% in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table B15003: population 25 years and over with a bachelor's degree or higher as a percentage of the population 25 years and over, calculated with stored inputs. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Bachelor's degree or higher, population 25 and over: other rankings

Counties in North Carolina: more rankings