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 2018, at 471,739. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,407. The median was 21,942. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest471,739Charlotte, NC
Lowest7,407Kinston, NC
Median21,94243 cities

All cities, 2018

Charlotte, NC: 471,739 personsCharlotte, NC471,739Raleigh, NC: 259,863 personsRaleigh, NC259,863Durham, NC: 149,318 personsDurham, NC149,318Greensboro, NC: 148,002 personsGreensboro, NC148,002Winston-Salem, NC: 116,465 personsWinston-Salem, NC116,465Cary, NC: 91,196 personsCary, NC91,196Fayetteville, NC: 79,231 personsFayetteville, NC79,231Wilmington, NC: 59,050 personsWilmington, NC59,050High Point, NC: 53,041 personsHigh Point, NC53,041Concord, NC: 51,544 personsConcord, NC51,544Asheville, NC: 50,447 personsAsheville, NC50,447Greenville, NC: 43,933 personsGreenville, NC43,933Gastonia, NC: 38,226 personsGastonia, NC38,226Huntersville, NC: 33,116 personsHuntersville, NC33,116Chapel Hill, NC: 29,786 personsChapel Hill, NC29,786Apex, NC: 29,041 personsApex, NC29,041Mooresville, NC: 26,003 personsMooresville, NC26,003Burlington, NC: 25,699 personsBurlington, NC25,699Kannapolis, NC: 25,344 personsKannapolis, NC25,344Rocky Mount, NC: 24,844 personsRocky Mount, NC24,844Wake Forest, NC: 22,834 personsWake Forest, NC22,834Wilson, NC: 21,942 personsWilson, NC21,942Indian Trail, NC: 21,376 personsIndian Trail, NC21,376Hickory, NC: 20,057 personsHickory, NC20,057Holly Springs, NC: 19,166 personsHolly Springs, NC19,166Jacksonville, NC: 18,410 personsJacksonville, NC18,410Monroe, NC: 16,476 personsMonroe, NC16,476Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,852 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,852Cornelius, NC: 15,736 personsCornelius, NC15,736Morrisville, NC: 15,648 personsMorrisville, NC15,648Garner, NC: 15,638 personsGarner, NC15,638Salisbury, NC: 15,046 personsSalisbury, NC15,046Matthews, NC: 14,804 personsMatthews, NC14,804Kernersville, NC: 13,699 personsKernersville, NC13,699Sanford, NC: 13,574 personsSanford, NC13,574New Bern, NC: 13,519 personsNew Bern, NC13,519Mint Hill, NC: 13,339 personsMint Hill, NC13,339Statesville, NC: 13,319 personsStatesville, NC13,319Goldsboro, NC: 12,920 personsGoldsboro, NC12,920Thomasville, NC: 12,500 personsThomasville, NC12,500Clayton, NC: 12,282 personsClayton, NC12,282Asheboro, NC: 11,815 personsAsheboro, NC11,815Kinston, NC: 7,407 personsKinston, NC7,407Charlotte, NC: 471,739 personsCharlotte, NC471,739Raleigh, NC: 259,863 personsRaleigh, NC259,863Durham, NC: 149,318 personsDurham, NC149,318Greensboro, NC: 148,002 personsGreensboro, NC148,002Winston-Salem, NC: 116,465 personsWinston-Salem, NC116,465Cary, NC: 91,196 personsCary, NC91,196Fayetteville, NC: 79,231 personsFayetteville, NC79,231Wilmington, NC: 59,050 personsWilmington, NC59,050High Point, NC: 53,041 personsHigh Point, NC53,041Concord, NC: 51,544 personsConcord, NC51,544Asheville, NC: 50,447 personsAsheville, NC50,447Greenville, NC: 43,933 personsGreenville, NC43,933Gastonia, NC: 38,226 personsGastonia, NC38,226Huntersville, NC: 33,116 personsHuntersville, NC33,116Chapel Hill, NC: 29,786 personsChapel Hill, NC29,786Apex, NC: 29,041 personsApex, NC29,041Mooresville, NC: 26,003 personsMooresville, NC26,003Burlington, NC: 25,699 personsBurlington, NC25,699Kannapolis, NC: 25,344 personsKannapolis, NC25,344Rocky Mount, NC: 24,844 personsRocky Mount, NC24,844Wake Forest, NC: 22,834 personsWake Forest, NC22,834Wilson, NC: 21,942 personsWilson, NC21,942Indian Trail, NC: 21,376 personsIndian Trail, NC21,376Hickory, NC: 20,057 personsHickory, NC20,057Holly Springs, NC: 19,166 personsHolly Springs, NC19,166Jacksonville, NC: 18,410 personsJacksonville, NC18,410Monroe, NC: 16,476 personsMonroe, NC16,476Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,852 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,852Cornelius, NC: 15,736 personsCornelius, NC15,736Morrisville, NC: 15,648 personsMorrisville, NC15,648Garner, NC: 15,638 personsGarner, NC15,638Salisbury, NC: 15,046 personsSalisbury, NC15,046Matthews, NC: 14,804 personsMatthews, NC14,804Kernersville, NC: 13,699 personsKernersville, NC13,699Sanford, NC: 13,574 personsSanford, NC13,574New Bern, NC: 13,519 personsNew Bern, NC13,519Mint Hill, NC: 13,339 personsMint Hill, NC13,339Statesville, NC: 13,319 personsStatesville, NC13,319Goldsboro, NC: 12,920 personsGoldsboro, NC12,920Thomasville, NC: 12,500 personsThomasville, NC12,500Clayton, NC: 12,282 personsClayton, NC12,282Asheboro, NC: 11,815 personsAsheboro, NC11,815Kinston, NC: 7,407 personsKinston, NC7,407
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

RankCities2018
persons		Change on 2017
1Charlotte, NC471,739+1.7%
2Raleigh, NC259,863+1%
3Durham, NC149,318+1.6%
4Greensboro, NC148,002+0.5%
5Winston-Salem, NC116,465+0.6%
6Cary, NC91,196+1.5%
7Fayetteville, NC79,231+0.3%
8Wilmington, NC59,050+1%
9High Point, NC53,041-0.4%
10Concord, NC51,544+2.6%
11Asheville, NC50,447+2.1%
12Greenville, NC43,933+0.2%
13Gastonia, NC38,226+1.1%
14Huntersville, NC33,116+1.8%
15Chapel Hill, NC29,786+5.7%
16Apex, NC29,041+6.8%
17Mooresville, NC26,003+1.6%
18Burlington, NC25,699+0.3%
19Kannapolis, NC25,344+2.5%
20Rocky Mount, NC24,844-1.5%
21Wake Forest, NC22,834+4.7%
22Wilson, NC21,942-1.5%
23Indian Trail, NC21,376+1.9%
24Hickory, NC20,057+0.3%
25Holly Springs, NC19,166+4.6%
26Jacksonville, NC18,410-1.5%
27Monroe, NC16,476+0.5%
28Fuquay-Varina, NC15,852+4.6%
29Cornelius, NC15,736+2%
30Morrisville, NC15,648+4.2%
31Garner, NC15,638+6.5%
32Salisbury, NC15,046+0.4%
33Matthews, NC14,804+1.9%
34Kernersville, NC13,699+1.5%
35Sanford, NC13,574+0.4%
36New Bern, NC13,519-0.3%
37Mint Hill, NC13,339+1.8%
38Statesville, NC13,319+1.5%
39Goldsboro, NC12,920-1.5%
40Thomasville, NC12,500-0.4%
41Clayton, NC12,282+7.3%
42Asheboro, NC11,815-0.6%
43Kinston, NC7,407-0.8%

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 2018 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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2018.
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 471,739 in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kinston, NC, with 7,407 in 2018.

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 2018 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings