Data / Rankings / Business establishments (QCEW) / Counties in North Carolina

Counties in North Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2025

Mecklenburg County had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 100 counties in 2025, at 50,264. Tyrrell County had the lowest, at 104. The median was 1,274 and the figure for North Carolina was 359,089. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Highest50,264Mecklenburg County
Lowest104Tyrrell County
Median1,274100 counties
North Carolina359,089History

Top 40 counties, 2025

Mecklenburg County: 50,264 countMecklenburg County50,264Wake County: 49,283 countWake County49,283Guilford County: 16,482 countGuilford County16,482Buncombe County: 12,693 countBuncombe County12,693Durham County: 11,213 countDurham County11,213New Hanover County: 11,000 countNew Hanover County11,000Forsyth County: 10,844 countForsyth County10,844Union County: 7,938 countUnion County7,938Iredell County: 7,065 countIredell County7,065Cumberland County: 6,980 countCumberland County6,980Cabarrus County: 6,718 countCabarrus County6,718Gaston County: 5,490 countGaston County5,490Johnston County: 5,428 countJohnston County5,428Orange County: 5,080 countOrange County5,080Catawba County: 5,073 countCatawba County5,073Brunswick County: 4,529 countBrunswick County4,529Pitt County: 4,324 countPitt County4,324Onslow County: 4,270 countOnslow County4,270Alamance County: 4,230 countAlamance County4,230Henderson County: 4,018 countHenderson County4,018Davidson County: 3,494 countDavidson County3,494Moore County: 3,422 countMoore County3,422Rowan County: 3,287 countRowan County3,287Randolph County: 3,080 countRandolph County3,080Carteret County: 2,700 countCarteret County2,700Lincoln County: 2,678 countLincoln County2,678Craven County: 2,672 countCraven County2,672Harnett County: 2,505 countHarnett County2,505Wayne County: 2,465 countWayne County2,465Chatham County: 2,433 countChatham County2,433Nash County: 2,352 countNash County2,352Dare County: 2,252 countDare County2,252Cleveland County: 2,190 countCleveland County2,190Wilson County: 2,039 countWilson County2,039Pender County: 2,034 countPender County2,034Robeson County: 2,012 countRobeson County2,012Surry County: 1,950 countSurry County1,950Haywood County: 1,936 countHaywood County1,936Watauga County: 1,907 countWatauga County1,907Rockingham County: 1,831 countRockingham County1,831
count. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2025
count		Change on 2024
1Mecklenburg County50,264-5.2%
2Wake County49,283-3.4%
3Guilford County16,482-5.6%
4Buncombe County12,693-3.2%
5Durham County11,213-4.1%
6New Hanover County11,000-1.9%
7Forsyth County10,844-4.6%
8Union County7,938+1.1%
9Iredell County7,065-0.8%
10Cumberland County6,980-5.7%
11Cabarrus County6,718+1.6%
12Gaston County5,490-2.6%
13Johnston County5,428+6.3%
14Orange County5,080-7.5%
15Catawba County5,073-2.6%
16Brunswick County4,529+1.8%
17Pitt County4,324-3.9%
18Onslow County4,270-2.4%
19Alamance County4,230-4.1%
20Henderson County4,018-2.5%
21Davidson County3,494+3.1%
22Moore County3,422-1.4%
23Rowan County3,287-1.4%
24Randolph County3,080+1.2%
25Carteret County2,700-0.8%
26Lincoln County2,678+2.8%
27Craven County2,672-2.5%
28Harnett County2,505+5.1%
29Wayne County2,465-3.6%
30Chatham County2,433+11.5%
31Nash County2,352-3.9%
32Dare County2,252-3.3%
33Cleveland County2,190-4.2%
34Wilson County2,039-5.4%
35Pender County2,034+3.6%
36Robeson County2,012-7.5%
37Surry County1,950-3.8%
38Haywood County1,936-2.4%
39Watauga County1,907-5.5%
40Rockingham County1,831-4%
41Lee County1,744-6.5%
42Burke County1,734+0.5%
43Franklin County1,681+0.3%
44Stanly County1,669-2%
45Caldwell County1,584-0.6%
46Rutherford County1,460-2.5%
47Macon County1,428-2%
48Wilkes County1,336-3.7%
49Lenoir County1,327-6%
50Beaufort County1,313-2.7%
51Jackson County1,234-2.9%
52Transylvania County1,215-4.2%
53Sampson County1,214-3.5%
54Columbus County1,158-4.8%
55Granville County1,148+1.4%
56Pasquotank County1,124-2.3%
57Duplin County1,120-4.9%
58Davie County1,116-1.1%
59Halifax County1,024-6.4%
60Currituck County1,006+1.1%
61McDowell County931-4%
62Vance County926-3.3%
63Cherokee County918-1.2%
64Richmond County868-6.5%
65Edgecombe County861-13.3%
66Stokes County842-0.2%
67Person County788-3.7%
68Yadkin County781-2.1%
69Ashe County736-4.7%
70Alexander County709+1.4%
71Polk County706-0.1%
72Hoke County700+0.4%
73Scotland County678-4%
74Avery County668-4.3%
74Bladen County668-1.3%
76Montgomery County590-4.8%
77Madison County573-0.5%
78Swain County486-5.6%
79Yancey County480-3.4%
80Martin County474-4%
81Anson County473-5%
82Hertford County447-9.3%
83Chowan County425-1.8%
84Mitchell County423-5.4%
85Greene County387+1.8%
86Clay County356-1.1%
87Northampton County342-6.6%
88Bertie County341-0.6%
89Warren County340-2.3%
90Pamlico County332-4.6%
91Alleghany County329-2.9%
92Caswell County326+3.8%
93Perquimans County269-3.2%
94Washington County267-5.3%
95Graham County212-7%
96Camden County209-11.1%
97Hyde County206-2.4%
98Gates County188-7.8%
99Jones County187-11.8%
100Tyrrell County104+6.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Average number of establishments with jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. An establishment is a single place of business, such as a factory, store or office; a company with several locations has several.

Counts places of business, not firms: for firms use employer_firms. Changes in how large employers report their locations can move the count without any change in activity.

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. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (Counties in North Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in North Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/north-carolina-counties. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Counties in North Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/north-carolina-counties.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in North Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/north-carolina-counties (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_north_carolina_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in North Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/north-carolina-counties. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in North Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/north-carolina-counties
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/north-carolina-counties.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2025/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which county has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?

Mecklenburg County, with 50,264 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

Tyrrell County, with 104 in 2025.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Business establishments (QCEW): other rankings

Counties in North Carolina: more rankings