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

All 100 values come from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2025, so the places are comparable.

- Indicator id: `establishments_qcew`
- Unit: count
- Definition: 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.
- Source: 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)
- Publisher page: https://invokely.ai/en/publishers/bureau-of-labor-statistics
- Retrieved: 2026-10-12
- Citation: 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.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/north-carolina-counties

| Rank | Place | count |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | Mecklenburg County | 50,264 |
| 2 | Wake County | 49,283 |
| 3 | Guilford County | 16,482 |
| 4 | Buncombe County | 12,693 |
| 5 | Durham County | 11,213 |
| 6 | New Hanover County | 11,000 |
| 7 | Forsyth County | 10,844 |
| 8 | Union County | 7,938 |
| 9 | Iredell County | 7,065 |
| 10 | Cumberland County | 6,980 |
| 11 | Cabarrus County | 6,718 |
| 12 | Gaston County | 5,490 |
| 13 | Johnston County | 5,428 |
| 14 | Orange County | 5,080 |
| 15 | Catawba County | 5,073 |
| 16 | Brunswick County | 4,529 |
| 17 | Pitt County | 4,324 |
| 18 | Onslow County | 4,270 |
| 19 | Alamance County | 4,230 |
| 20 | Henderson County | 4,018 |
| 21 | Davidson County | 3,494 |
| 22 | Moore County | 3,422 |
| 23 | Rowan County | 3,287 |
| 24 | Randolph County | 3,080 |
| 25 | Carteret County | 2,700 |
| 26 | Lincoln County | 2,678 |
| 27 | Craven County | 2,672 |
| 28 | Harnett County | 2,505 |
| 29 | Wayne County | 2,465 |
| 30 | Chatham County | 2,433 |
| 31 | Nash County | 2,352 |
| 32 | Dare County | 2,252 |
| 33 | Cleveland County | 2,190 |
| 34 | Wilson County | 2,039 |
| 35 | Pender County | 2,034 |
| 36 | Robeson County | 2,012 |
| 37 | Surry County | 1,950 |
| 38 | Haywood County | 1,936 |
| 39 | Watauga County | 1,907 |
| 40 | Rockingham County | 1,831 |
| 41 | Lee County | 1,744 |
| 42 | Burke County | 1,734 |
| 43 | Franklin County | 1,681 |
| 44 | Stanly County | 1,669 |
| 45 | Caldwell County | 1,584 |
| 46 | Rutherford County | 1,460 |
| 47 | Macon County | 1,428 |
| 48 | Wilkes County | 1,336 |
| 49 | Lenoir County | 1,327 |
| 50 | Beaufort County | 1,313 |
| 51 | Jackson County | 1,234 |
| 52 | Transylvania County | 1,215 |
| 53 | Sampson County | 1,214 |
| 54 | Columbus County | 1,158 |
| 55 | Granville County | 1,148 |
| 56 | Pasquotank County | 1,124 |
| 57 | Duplin County | 1,120 |
| 58 | Davie County | 1,116 |
| 59 | Halifax County | 1,024 |
| 60 | Currituck County | 1,006 |
| 61 | McDowell County | 931 |
| 62 | Vance County | 926 |
| 63 | Cherokee County | 918 |
| 64 | Richmond County | 868 |
| 65 | Edgecombe County | 861 |
| 66 | Stokes County | 842 |
| 67 | Person County | 788 |
| 68 | Yadkin County | 781 |
| 69 | Ashe County | 736 |
| 70 | Alexander County | 709 |
| 71 | Polk County | 706 |
| 72 | Hoke County | 700 |
| 73 | Scotland County | 678 |
| 74 | Avery County | 668 |
| 74 | Bladen County | 668 |
| 76 | Montgomery County | 590 |
| 77 | Madison County | 573 |
| 78 | Swain County | 486 |
| 79 | Yancey County | 480 |
| 80 | Martin County | 474 |
| 81 | Anson County | 473 |
| 82 | Hertford County | 447 |
| 83 | Chowan County | 425 |
| 84 | Mitchell County | 423 |
| 85 | Greene County | 387 |
| 86 | Clay County | 356 |
| 87 | Northampton County | 342 |
| 88 | Bertie County | 341 |
| 89 | Warren County | 340 |
| 90 | Pamlico County | 332 |
| 91 | Alleghany County | 329 |
| 92 | Caswell County | 326 |
| 93 | Perquimans County | 269 |
| 94 | Washington County | 267 |
| 95 | Graham County | 212 |
| 96 | Camden County | 209 |
| 97 | Hyde County | 206 |
| 98 | Gates County | 188 |
| 99 | Jones County | 187 |
| 100 | Tyrrell County | 104 |