Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2025
Charlotte, NC had the highest civilian labor force of 44 cities in 2025, at 522,013. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,349. The median was 24,036. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
All cities, 2025
Full ranking
| Rank | Cities | 2025 | Change on 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte, NC | 522,013 | +0.4% |
| 2 | Raleigh, NC | 291,819 | +1.3% |
| 3 | Durham, NC | 169,630 | -0.2% |
| 4 | Greensboro, NC | 149,785 | +0.1% |
| 5 | Winston-Salem, NC | 116,400 | -0.3% |
| 6 | Cary, NC | 101,973 | +1.3% |
| 7 | Fayetteville, NC | 79,410 | -0.9% |
| 8 | Wilmington, NC | 66,238 | +1.2% |
| 9 | Concord, NC | 57,344 | +0.4% |
| 10 | High Point, NC | 54,190 | -0% |
| 11 | Asheville, NC | 50,803 | -1.6% |
| 12 | Greenville, NC | 46,646 | -0.5% |
| 13 | Apex, NC | 41,743 | +1.3% |
| 14 | Gastonia, NC | 41,012 | +0.6% |
| 15 | Huntersville, NC | 37,091 | +0.5% |
| 16 | Chapel Hill, NC | 31,819 | -0.5% |
| 17 | Kannapolis, NC | 30,087 | +0.4% |
| 18 | Wake Forest, NC | 29,861 | +1.5% |
| 19 | Mooresville, NC | 28,185 | +0.4% |
| 20 | Burlington, NC | 27,404 | -0.8% |
| 21 | Holly Springs, NC | 25,154 | +1.2% |
| 22 | Fuquay-Varina, NC | 24,128 | +1.4% |
| 23 | Indian Trail, NC | 23,944 | +0.1% |
| 24 | Rocky Mount, NC | 23,655 | -0.6% |
| 25 | Garner, NC | 21,435 | +1.4% |
| 26 | Wilson, NC | 21,085 | -1.1% |
| 27 | Hickory, NC | 20,420 | -0.8% |
| 28 | Morrisville, NC | 19,858 | +1.4% |
| 29 | Monroe, NC | 19,016 | +0.4% |
| 30 | Jacksonville, NC | 19,014 | -1.2% |
| 31 | Cornelius, NC | 17,619 | +0.4% |
| 32 | Clayton, NC | 17,554 | +1.4% |
| 33 | Matthews, NC | 16,567 | +0.4% |
| 34 | Leland, NC | 16,136 | +1.4% |
| 35 | Salisbury, NC | 15,599 | +0.6% |
| 36 | Statesville, NC | 15,352 | +0.4% |
| 37 | Mint Hill, NC | 14,918 | +0.4% |
| 38 | New Bern, NC | 14,686 | -1.7% |
| 39 | Sanford, NC | 14,557 | -0.3% |
| 40 | Kernersville, NC | 14,435 | -0.3% |
| 41 | Goldsboro, NC | 12,425 | -1.7% |
| 42 | Thomasville, NC | 12,391 | -0.4% |
| 43 | Asheboro, NC | 11,906 | +0.2% |
| 44 | Kinston, NC | 7,349 | +0.1% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average. People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.
United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29
MLA 9
Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities.
Harvard
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2025,
author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2025}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2025
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
PB - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB - Invokely
UR - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
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 Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"civilian_labor_force","level":"municipality","within":"North Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=civilian_labor_force&level=municipality&within=North%20Carolina&limit=10Questions
Which city has the highest civilian labor force?
Charlotte, NC, with 522,013 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?
Kinston, NC, with 7,349 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, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.