Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in North Carolina

Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force

Charlotte, NC had the highest civilian labor force of 43 cities in 2017, at 463,915. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,468. The median was 21,816. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest463,915Charlotte, NC
Lowest7,468Kinston, NC
Median21,81643 cities

All cities, 2017

Charlotte, NC: 463,915 personsCharlotte, NC463,915Raleigh, NC: 257,247 personsRaleigh, NC257,247Greensboro, NC: 147,218 personsGreensboro, NC147,218Durham, NC: 146,955 personsDurham, NC146,955Winston-Salem, NC: 115,719 personsWinston-Salem, NC115,719Cary, NC: 89,879 personsCary, NC89,879Fayetteville, NC: 79,016 personsFayetteville, NC79,016Wilmington, NC: 58,485 personsWilmington, NC58,485High Point, NC: 53,263 personsHigh Point, NC53,263Concord, NC: 50,261 personsConcord, NC50,261Asheville, NC: 49,388 personsAsheville, NC49,388Greenville, NC: 43,841 personsGreenville, NC43,841Gastonia, NC: 37,828 personsGastonia, NC37,828Huntersville, NC: 32,545 personsHuntersville, NC32,545Chapel Hill, NC: 28,183 personsChapel Hill, NC28,183Apex, NC: 27,182 personsApex, NC27,182Burlington, NC: 25,623 personsBurlington, NC25,623Mooresville, NC: 25,598 personsMooresville, NC25,598Rocky Mount, NC: 25,221 personsRocky Mount, NC25,221Kannapolis, NC: 24,728 personsKannapolis, NC24,728Wilson, NC: 22,286 personsWilson, NC22,286Wake Forest, NC: 21,816 personsWake Forest, NC21,816Indian Trail, NC: 20,976 personsIndian Trail, NC20,976Hickory, NC: 20,004 personsHickory, NC20,004Jacksonville, NC: 18,695 personsJacksonville, NC18,695Holly Springs, NC: 18,317 personsHolly Springs, NC18,317Monroe, NC: 16,397 personsMonroe, NC16,397Cornelius, NC: 15,425 personsCornelius, NC15,425Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,153 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,153Morrisville, NC: 15,012 personsMorrisville, NC15,012Salisbury, NC: 14,982 personsSalisbury, NC14,982Garner, NC: 14,688 personsGarner, NC14,688Matthews, NC: 14,535 personsMatthews, NC14,535New Bern, NC: 13,563 personsNew Bern, NC13,563Sanford, NC: 13,517 personsSanford, NC13,517Kernersville, NC: 13,499 personsKernersville, NC13,499Statesville, NC: 13,125 personsStatesville, NC13,125Goldsboro, NC: 13,121 personsGoldsboro, NC13,121Mint Hill, NC: 13,101 personsMint Hill, NC13,101Thomasville, NC: 12,547 personsThomasville, NC12,547Asheboro, NC: 11,892 personsAsheboro, NC11,892Clayton, NC: 11,442 personsClayton, NC11,442Kinston, NC: 7,468 personsKinston, NC7,468Charlotte, NC: 463,915 personsCharlotte, NC463,915Raleigh, NC: 257,247 personsRaleigh, NC257,247Greensboro, NC: 147,218 personsGreensboro, NC147,218Durham, NC: 146,955 personsDurham, NC146,955Winston-Salem, NC: 115,719 personsWinston-Salem, NC115,719Cary, NC: 89,879 personsCary, NC89,879Fayetteville, NC: 79,016 personsFayetteville, NC79,016Wilmington, NC: 58,485 personsWilmington, NC58,485High Point, NC: 53,263 personsHigh Point, NC53,263Concord, NC: 50,261 personsConcord, NC50,261Asheville, NC: 49,388 personsAsheville, NC49,388Greenville, NC: 43,841 personsGreenville, NC43,841Gastonia, NC: 37,828 personsGastonia, NC37,828Huntersville, NC: 32,545 personsHuntersville, NC32,545Chapel Hill, NC: 28,183 personsChapel Hill, NC28,183Apex, NC: 27,182 personsApex, NC27,182Burlington, NC: 25,623 personsBurlington, NC25,623Mooresville, NC: 25,598 personsMooresville, NC25,598Rocky Mount, NC: 25,221 personsRocky Mount, NC25,221Kannapolis, NC: 24,728 personsKannapolis, NC24,728Wilson, NC: 22,286 personsWilson, NC22,286Wake Forest, NC: 21,816 personsWake Forest, NC21,816Indian Trail, NC: 20,976 personsIndian Trail, NC20,976Hickory, NC: 20,004 personsHickory, NC20,004Jacksonville, NC: 18,695 personsJacksonville, NC18,695Holly Springs, NC: 18,317 personsHolly Springs, NC18,317Monroe, NC: 16,397 personsMonroe, NC16,397Cornelius, NC: 15,425 personsCornelius, NC15,425Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,153 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,153Morrisville, NC: 15,012 personsMorrisville, NC15,012Salisbury, NC: 14,982 personsSalisbury, NC14,982Garner, NC: 14,688 personsGarner, NC14,688Matthews, NC: 14,535 personsMatthews, NC14,535New Bern, NC: 13,563 personsNew Bern, NC13,563Sanford, NC: 13,517 personsSanford, NC13,517Kernersville, NC: 13,499 personsKernersville, NC13,499Statesville, NC: 13,125 personsStatesville, NC13,125Goldsboro, NC: 13,121 personsGoldsboro, NC13,121Mint Hill, NC: 13,101 personsMint Hill, NC13,101Thomasville, NC: 12,547 personsThomasville, NC12,547Asheboro, NC: 11,892 personsAsheboro, NC11,892Clayton, NC: 11,442 personsClayton, NC11,442Kinston, NC: 7,468 personsKinston, NC7,468
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2017
persons		Change on 2016
1Charlotte, NC463,915+2.9%
2Raleigh, NC257,247+2.2%
3Greensboro, NC147,218+0.9%
4Durham, NC146,955+2.5%
5Winston-Salem, NC115,719+0.9%
6Cary, NC89,879+3.1%
7Fayetteville, NC79,016-0.3%
8Wilmington, NC58,485+1.5%
9High Point, NC53,263+0.4%
10Concord, NC50,261+3.8%
11Asheville, NC49,388+1.8%
12Greenville, NC43,841+1.3%
13Gastonia, NC37,828+2.3%
14Huntersville, NC32,545+3%
15Chapel Hill, NC28,183+0.1%
16Apex, NC27,182+7.1%
17Burlington, NC25,623+1.3%
18Mooresville, NC25,598+2.3%
19Rocky Mount, NC25,221-1.3%
20Kannapolis, NC24,728+3.5%
21Wilson, NC22,286-1.1%
22Wake Forest, NC21,816+5.7%
23Indian Trail, NC20,976+2.6%
24Hickory, NC20,004+2.2%
25Jacksonville, NC18,695-0.5%
26Holly Springs, NC18,317+6.2%
27Monroe, NC16,397+1.9%
28Cornelius, NC15,425+2.9%
29Fuquay-Varina, NC15,153+7.8%
30Morrisville, NC15,012+7.9%
31Salisbury, NC14,982+0.7%
32Garner, NC14,688+0.7%
33Matthews, NC14,535+3.4%
34New Bern, NC13,563+0.2%
35Sanford, NC13,517+1.3%
36Kernersville, NC13,499+1%
37Statesville, NC13,125+2.1%
38Goldsboro, NC13,121-2.3%
39Mint Hill, NC13,101+2.8%
40Thomasville, NC12,547-0.9%
41Asheboro, NC11,892-0.5%
42Clayton, NC11,442+7.4%
43Kinston, NC7,468+0.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • 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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2017 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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.CurrentU15-19. 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). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

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, 2017. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2017. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2017.

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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2017. 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2017
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.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2017.
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.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in North Carolina by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Charlotte, NC, with 463,915 in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kinston, NC, with 7,468 in 2017.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2017 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings