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 2019, at 482,302. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,456. The median was 21,866. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest482,302Charlotte, NC
Lowest7,456Kinston, NC
Median21,86643 cities

All cities, 2019

Charlotte, NC: 482,302 personsCharlotte, NC482,302Raleigh, NC: 262,825 personsRaleigh, NC262,825Durham, NC: 151,950 personsDurham, NC151,950Greensboro, NC: 149,234 personsGreensboro, NC149,234Winston-Salem, NC: 117,753 personsWinston-Salem, NC117,753Cary, NC: 92,601 personsCary, NC92,601Fayetteville, NC: 79,691 personsFayetteville, NC79,691Wilmington, NC: 60,108 personsWilmington, NC60,108High Point, NC: 53,498 personsHigh Point, NC53,498Concord, NC: 53,160 personsConcord, NC53,160Asheville, NC: 51,157 personsAsheville, NC51,157Greenville, NC: 44,145 personsGreenville, NC44,145Gastonia, NC: 38,688 personsGastonia, NC38,688Huntersville, NC: 33,874 personsHuntersville, NC33,874Apex, NC: 31,998 personsApex, NC31,998Chapel Hill, NC: 30,103 personsChapel Hill, NC30,103Mooresville, NC: 26,620 personsMooresville, NC26,620Kannapolis, NC: 26,106 personsKannapolis, NC26,106Burlington, NC: 26,074 personsBurlington, NC26,074Rocky Mount, NC: 24,707 personsRocky Mount, NC24,707Wake Forest, NC: 23,700 personsWake Forest, NC23,700Wilson, NC: 21,866 personsWilson, NC21,866Indian Trail, NC: 21,832 personsIndian Trail, NC21,832Hickory, NC: 20,184 personsHickory, NC20,184Holly Springs, NC: 19,758 personsHolly Springs, NC19,758Jacksonville, NC: 19,123 personsJacksonville, NC19,123Monroe, NC: 16,561 personsMonroe, NC16,561Morrisville, NC: 16,504 personsMorrisville, NC16,504Fuquay-Varina, NC: 16,467 personsFuquay-Varina, NC16,467Garner, NC: 16,151 personsGarner, NC16,151Cornelius, NC: 16,093 personsCornelius, NC16,093Salisbury, NC: 15,327 personsSalisbury, NC15,327Matthews, NC: 15,194 personsMatthews, NC15,194New Bern, NC: 13,910 personsNew Bern, NC13,910Kernersville, NC: 13,735 personsKernersville, NC13,735Mint Hill, NC: 13,678 personsMint Hill, NC13,678Statesville, NC: 13,653 personsStatesville, NC13,653Sanford, NC: 13,535 personsSanford, NC13,535Clayton, NC: 13,369 personsClayton, NC13,369Goldsboro, NC: 12,860 personsGoldsboro, NC12,860Thomasville, NC: 12,607 personsThomasville, NC12,607Asheboro, NC: 11,852 personsAsheboro, NC11,852Kinston, NC: 7,456 personsKinston, NC7,456Charlotte, NC: 482,302 personsCharlotte, NC482,302Raleigh, NC: 262,825 personsRaleigh, NC262,825Durham, NC: 151,950 personsDurham, NC151,950Greensboro, NC: 149,234 personsGreensboro, NC149,234Winston-Salem, NC: 117,753 personsWinston-Salem, NC117,753Cary, NC: 92,601 personsCary, NC92,601Fayetteville, NC: 79,691 personsFayetteville, NC79,691Wilmington, NC: 60,108 personsWilmington, NC60,108High Point, NC: 53,498 personsHigh Point, NC53,498Concord, NC: 53,160 personsConcord, NC53,160Asheville, NC: 51,157 personsAsheville, NC51,157Greenville, NC: 44,145 personsGreenville, NC44,145Gastonia, NC: 38,688 personsGastonia, NC38,688Huntersville, NC: 33,874 personsHuntersville, NC33,874Apex, NC: 31,998 personsApex, NC31,998Chapel Hill, NC: 30,103 personsChapel Hill, NC30,103Mooresville, NC: 26,620 personsMooresville, NC26,620Kannapolis, NC: 26,106 personsKannapolis, NC26,106Burlington, NC: 26,074 personsBurlington, NC26,074Rocky Mount, NC: 24,707 personsRocky Mount, NC24,707Wake Forest, NC: 23,700 personsWake Forest, NC23,700Wilson, NC: 21,866 personsWilson, NC21,866Indian Trail, NC: 21,832 personsIndian Trail, NC21,832Hickory, NC: 20,184 personsHickory, NC20,184Holly Springs, NC: 19,758 personsHolly Springs, NC19,758Jacksonville, NC: 19,123 personsJacksonville, NC19,123Monroe, NC: 16,561 personsMonroe, NC16,561Morrisville, NC: 16,504 personsMorrisville, NC16,504Fuquay-Varina, NC: 16,467 personsFuquay-Varina, NC16,467Garner, NC: 16,151 personsGarner, NC16,151Cornelius, NC: 16,093 personsCornelius, NC16,093Salisbury, NC: 15,327 personsSalisbury, NC15,327Matthews, NC: 15,194 personsMatthews, NC15,194New Bern, NC: 13,910 personsNew Bern, NC13,910Kernersville, NC: 13,735 personsKernersville, NC13,735Mint Hill, NC: 13,678 personsMint Hill, NC13,678Statesville, NC: 13,653 personsStatesville, NC13,653Sanford, NC: 13,535 personsSanford, NC13,535Clayton, NC: 13,369 personsClayton, NC13,369Goldsboro, NC: 12,860 personsGoldsboro, NC12,860Thomasville, NC: 12,607 personsThomasville, NC12,607Asheboro, NC: 11,852 personsAsheboro, NC11,852Kinston, NC: 7,456 personsKinston, NC7,456
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

RankCities2019
persons		Change on 2018
1Charlotte, NC482,302+2.2%
2Raleigh, NC262,825+1.1%
3Durham, NC151,950+1.8%
4Greensboro, NC149,234+0.8%
5Winston-Salem, NC117,753+1.1%
6Cary, NC92,601+1.5%
7Fayetteville, NC79,691+0.6%
8Wilmington, NC60,108+1.8%
9High Point, NC53,498+0.9%
10Concord, NC53,160+3.1%
11Asheville, NC51,157+1.4%
12Greenville, NC44,145+0.5%
13Gastonia, NC38,688+1.2%
14Huntersville, NC33,874+2.3%
15Apex, NC31,998+10.2%
16Chapel Hill, NC30,103+1.1%
17Mooresville, NC26,620+2.4%
18Kannapolis, NC26,106+3%
19Burlington, NC26,074+1.5%
20Rocky Mount, NC24,707-0.6%
21Wake Forest, NC23,700+3.8%
22Wilson, NC21,866-0.3%
23Indian Trail, NC21,832+2.1%
24Hickory, NC20,184+0.6%
25Holly Springs, NC19,758+3.1%
26Jacksonville, NC19,123+3.9%
27Monroe, NC16,561+0.5%
28Morrisville, NC16,504+5.5%
29Fuquay-Varina, NC16,467+3.9%
30Garner, NC16,151+3.3%
31Cornelius, NC16,093+2.3%
32Salisbury, NC15,327+1.9%
33Matthews, NC15,194+2.6%
34New Bern, NC13,910+2.9%
35Kernersville, NC13,735+0.3%
36Mint Hill, NC13,678+2.5%
37Statesville, NC13,653+2.5%
38Sanford, NC13,535-0.3%
39Clayton, NC13,369+8.9%
40Goldsboro, NC12,860-0.5%
41Thomasville, NC12,607+0.9%
42Asheboro, NC11,852+0.3%
43Kinston, NC7,456+0.7%

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 2019 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, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2019.
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 482,302 in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kinston, NC, with 7,456 in 2019.

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 2019 and are not ranked.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings