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 44 cities in 2020, at 474,238. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,293. The median was 21,219. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest474,238Charlotte, NC
Lowest7,293Kinston, NC
Median21,21944 cities

All cities, 2020

Charlotte, NC: 474,238 personsCharlotte, NC474,238Raleigh, NC: 253,324 personsRaleigh, NC253,324Durham, NC: 149,102 personsDurham, NC149,102Greensboro, NC: 143,458 personsGreensboro, NC143,458Winston-Salem, NC: 113,702 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,702Cary, NC: 89,438 personsCary, NC89,438Fayetteville, NC: 78,232 personsFayetteville, NC78,232Wilmington, NC: 58,635 personsWilmington, NC58,635High Point, NC: 52,443 personsHigh Point, NC52,443Concord, NC: 51,974 personsConcord, NC51,974Asheville, NC: 49,073 personsAsheville, NC49,073Greenville, NC: 42,928 personsGreenville, NC42,928Gastonia, NC: 38,006 personsGastonia, NC38,006Huntersville, NC: 32,878 personsHuntersville, NC32,878Apex, NC: 32,636 personsApex, NC32,636Kannapolis, NC: 26,769 personsKannapolis, NC26,769Chapel Hill, NC: 26,428 personsChapel Hill, NC26,428Mooresville, NC: 26,113 personsMooresville, NC26,113Burlington, NC: 25,549 personsBurlington, NC25,549Rocky Mount, NC: 24,126 personsRocky Mount, NC24,126Wake Forest, NC: 24,074 personsWake Forest, NC24,074Indian Trail, NC: 21,222 personsIndian Trail, NC21,222Wilson, NC: 21,215 personsWilson, NC21,215Holly Springs, NC: 19,726 personsHolly Springs, NC19,726Hickory, NC: 19,660 personsHickory, NC19,660Jacksonville, NC: 18,624 personsJacksonville, NC18,624Morrisville, NC: 16,641 personsMorrisville, NC16,641Fuquay-Varina, NC: 16,511 personsFuquay-Varina, NC16,511Monroe, NC: 16,094 personsMonroe, NC16,094Garner, NC: 15,934 personsGarner, NC15,934Cornelius, NC: 15,677 personsCornelius, NC15,677Salisbury, NC: 14,866 personsSalisbury, NC14,866Matthews, NC: 14,785 personsMatthews, NC14,785Statesville, NC: 13,633 personsStatesville, NC13,633Clayton, NC: 13,486 personsClayton, NC13,486New Bern, NC: 13,439 personsNew Bern, NC13,439Mint Hill, NC: 13,287 personsMint Hill, NC13,287Kernersville, NC: 13,257 personsKernersville, NC13,257Sanford, NC: 13,135 personsSanford, NC13,135Goldsboro, NC: 12,568 personsGoldsboro, NC12,568Thomasville, NC: 12,292 personsThomasville, NC12,292Asheboro, NC: 11,517 personsAsheboro, NC11,517Leland, NC: 11,020 personsLeland, NC11,020Kinston, NC: 7,293 personsKinston, NC7,293Charlotte, NC: 474,238 personsCharlotte, NC474,238Raleigh, NC: 253,324 personsRaleigh, NC253,324Durham, NC: 149,102 personsDurham, NC149,102Greensboro, NC: 143,458 personsGreensboro, NC143,458Winston-Salem, NC: 113,702 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,702Cary, NC: 89,438 personsCary, NC89,438Fayetteville, NC: 78,232 personsFayetteville, NC78,232Wilmington, NC: 58,635 personsWilmington, NC58,635High Point, NC: 52,443 personsHigh Point, NC52,443Concord, NC: 51,974 personsConcord, NC51,974Asheville, NC: 49,073 personsAsheville, NC49,073Greenville, NC: 42,928 personsGreenville, NC42,928Gastonia, NC: 38,006 personsGastonia, NC38,006Huntersville, NC: 32,878 personsHuntersville, NC32,878Apex, NC: 32,636 personsApex, NC32,636Kannapolis, NC: 26,769 personsKannapolis, NC26,769Chapel Hill, NC: 26,428 personsChapel Hill, NC26,428Mooresville, NC: 26,113 personsMooresville, NC26,113Burlington, NC: 25,549 personsBurlington, NC25,549Rocky Mount, NC: 24,126 personsRocky Mount, NC24,126Wake Forest, NC: 24,074 personsWake Forest, NC24,074Indian Trail, NC: 21,222 personsIndian Trail, NC21,222Wilson, NC: 21,215 personsWilson, NC21,215Holly Springs, NC: 19,726 personsHolly Springs, NC19,726Hickory, NC: 19,660 personsHickory, NC19,660Jacksonville, NC: 18,624 personsJacksonville, NC18,624Morrisville, NC: 16,641 personsMorrisville, NC16,641Fuquay-Varina, NC: 16,511 personsFuquay-Varina, NC16,511Monroe, NC: 16,094 personsMonroe, NC16,094Garner, NC: 15,934 personsGarner, NC15,934Cornelius, NC: 15,677 personsCornelius, NC15,677Salisbury, NC: 14,866 personsSalisbury, NC14,866Matthews, NC: 14,785 personsMatthews, NC14,785Statesville, NC: 13,633 personsStatesville, NC13,633Clayton, NC: 13,486 personsClayton, NC13,486New Bern, NC: 13,439 personsNew Bern, NC13,439Mint Hill, NC: 13,287 personsMint Hill, NC13,287Kernersville, NC: 13,257 personsKernersville, NC13,257Sanford, NC: 13,135 personsSanford, NC13,135Goldsboro, NC: 12,568 personsGoldsboro, NC12,568Thomasville, NC: 12,292 personsThomasville, NC12,292Asheboro, NC: 11,517 personsAsheboro, NC11,517Leland, NC: 11,020 personsLeland, NC11,020Kinston, NC: 7,293 personsKinston, NC7,293
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

RankCities2020
persons		Change on 2019
1Charlotte, NC474,238-1.7%
2Raleigh, NC253,324-3.6%
3Durham, NC149,102-1.9%
4Greensboro, NC143,458-3.9%
5Winston-Salem, NC113,702-3.4%
6Cary, NC89,438-3.4%
7Fayetteville, NC78,232-1.8%
8Wilmington, NC58,635-2.5%
9High Point, NC52,443-2%
10Concord, NC51,974-2.2%
11Asheville, NC49,073-4.1%
12Greenville, NC42,928-2.8%
13Gastonia, NC38,006-1.8%
14Huntersville, NC32,878-2.9%
15Apex, NC32,636+2%
16Kannapolis, NC26,769+2.5%
17Chapel Hill, NC26,428-12.2%
18Mooresville, NC26,113-1.9%
19Burlington, NC25,549-2%
20Rocky Mount, NC24,126-2.4%
21Wake Forest, NC24,074+1.6%
22Indian Trail, NC21,222-2.8%
23Wilson, NC21,215-3%
24Holly Springs, NC19,726-0.2%
25Hickory, NC19,660-2.6%
26Jacksonville, NC18,624-2.6%
27Morrisville, NC16,641+0.8%
28Fuquay-Varina, NC16,511+0.3%
29Monroe, NC16,094-2.8%
30Garner, NC15,934-1.3%
31Cornelius, NC15,677-2.6%
32Salisbury, NC14,866-3%
33Matthews, NC14,785-2.7%
34Statesville, NC13,633-0.1%
35Clayton, NC13,486+0.9%
36New Bern, NC13,439-3.4%
37Mint Hill, NC13,287-2.9%
38Kernersville, NC13,257-3.5%
39Sanford, NC13,135-3%
40Goldsboro, NC12,568-2.3%
41Thomasville, NC12,292-2.5%
42Asheboro, NC11,517-2.8%
43Leland, NC11,020n/a
44Kinston, NC7,293-2.2%

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. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

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, 2020. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2020. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2020.

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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2020. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2020
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.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2020.
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.CurrentU20-24. 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 474,238 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kinston, NC, with 7,293 in 2020.

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.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings