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 2022, at 505,488. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,349. The median was 23,382. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest505,488Charlotte, NC
Lowest7,349Kinston, NC
Median23,38244 cities

All cities, 2022

Charlotte, NC: 505,488 personsCharlotte, NC505,488Raleigh, NC: 275,019 personsRaleigh, NC275,019Durham, NC: 162,352 personsDurham, NC162,352Greensboro, NC: 148,954 personsGreensboro, NC148,954Winston-Salem, NC: 118,162 personsWinston-Salem, NC118,162Cary, NC: 99,563 personsCary, NC99,563Fayetteville, NC: 80,600 personsFayetteville, NC80,600Wilmington, NC: 63,984 personsWilmington, NC63,984Concord, NC: 56,439 personsConcord, NC56,439High Point, NC: 53,906 personsHigh Point, NC53,906Asheville, NC: 50,977 personsAsheville, NC50,977Greenville, NC: 45,816 personsGreenville, NC45,816Gastonia, NC: 40,242 personsGastonia, NC40,242Apex, NC: 38,641 personsApex, NC38,641Huntersville, NC: 35,876 personsHuntersville, NC35,876Chapel Hill, NC: 30,881 personsChapel Hill, NC30,881Kannapolis, NC: 29,142 personsKannapolis, NC29,142Mooresville, NC: 28,582 personsMooresville, NC28,582Wake Forest, NC: 27,229 personsWake Forest, NC27,229Burlington, NC: 27,124 personsBurlington, NC27,124Rocky Mount, NC: 24,291 personsRocky Mount, NC24,291Holly Springs, NC: 23,488 personsHolly Springs, NC23,488Indian Trail, NC: 23,275 personsIndian Trail, NC23,275Wilson, NC: 21,566 personsWilson, NC21,566Fuquay-Varina, NC: 21,001 personsFuquay-Varina, NC21,001Hickory, NC: 20,794 personsHickory, NC20,794Jacksonville, NC: 19,411 personsJacksonville, NC19,411Morrisville, NC: 19,022 personsMorrisville, NC19,022Garner, NC: 18,283 personsGarner, NC18,283Monroe, NC: 17,457 personsMonroe, NC17,457Cornelius, NC: 17,104 personsCornelius, NC17,104Clayton, NC: 16,138 personsClayton, NC16,138Matthews, NC: 16,110 personsMatthews, NC16,110Salisbury, NC: 15,480 personsSalisbury, NC15,480Statesville, NC: 14,618 personsStatesville, NC14,618Mint Hill, NC: 14,514 personsMint Hill, NC14,514Kernersville, NC: 14,407 personsKernersville, NC14,407Sanford, NC: 14,128 personsSanford, NC14,128New Bern, NC: 14,031 personsNew Bern, NC14,031Leland, NC: 13,741 personsLeland, NC13,741Thomasville, NC: 12,640 personsThomasville, NC12,640Goldsboro, NC: 12,548 personsGoldsboro, NC12,548Asheboro, NC: 11,930 personsAsheboro, NC11,930Kinston, NC: 7,349 personsKinston, NC7,349Charlotte, NC: 505,488 personsCharlotte, NC505,488Raleigh, NC: 275,019 personsRaleigh, NC275,019Durham, NC: 162,352 personsDurham, NC162,352Greensboro, NC: 148,954 personsGreensboro, NC148,954Winston-Salem, NC: 118,162 personsWinston-Salem, NC118,162Cary, NC: 99,563 personsCary, NC99,563Fayetteville, NC: 80,600 personsFayetteville, NC80,600Wilmington, NC: 63,984 personsWilmington, NC63,984Concord, NC: 56,439 personsConcord, NC56,439High Point, NC: 53,906 personsHigh Point, NC53,906Asheville, NC: 50,977 personsAsheville, NC50,977Greenville, NC: 45,816 personsGreenville, NC45,816Gastonia, NC: 40,242 personsGastonia, NC40,242Apex, NC: 38,641 personsApex, NC38,641Huntersville, NC: 35,876 personsHuntersville, NC35,876Chapel Hill, NC: 30,881 personsChapel Hill, NC30,881Kannapolis, NC: 29,142 personsKannapolis, NC29,142Mooresville, NC: 28,582 personsMooresville, NC28,582Wake Forest, NC: 27,229 personsWake Forest, NC27,229Burlington, NC: 27,124 personsBurlington, NC27,124Rocky Mount, NC: 24,291 personsRocky Mount, NC24,291Holly Springs, NC: 23,488 personsHolly Springs, NC23,488Indian Trail, NC: 23,275 personsIndian Trail, NC23,275Wilson, NC: 21,566 personsWilson, NC21,566Fuquay-Varina, NC: 21,001 personsFuquay-Varina, NC21,001Hickory, NC: 20,794 personsHickory, NC20,794Jacksonville, NC: 19,411 personsJacksonville, NC19,411Morrisville, NC: 19,022 personsMorrisville, NC19,022Garner, NC: 18,283 personsGarner, NC18,283Monroe, NC: 17,457 personsMonroe, NC17,457Cornelius, NC: 17,104 personsCornelius, NC17,104Clayton, NC: 16,138 personsClayton, NC16,138Matthews, NC: 16,110 personsMatthews, NC16,110Salisbury, NC: 15,480 personsSalisbury, NC15,480Statesville, NC: 14,618 personsStatesville, NC14,618Mint Hill, NC: 14,514 personsMint Hill, NC14,514Kernersville, NC: 14,407 personsKernersville, NC14,407Sanford, NC: 14,128 personsSanford, NC14,128New Bern, NC: 14,031 personsNew Bern, NC14,031Leland, NC: 13,741 personsLeland, NC13,741Thomasville, NC: 12,640 personsThomasville, NC12,640Goldsboro, NC: 12,548 personsGoldsboro, NC12,548Asheboro, NC: 11,930 personsAsheboro, NC11,930Kinston, NC: 7,349 personsKinston, NC7,349
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

RankCities2022
persons		Change on 2021
1Charlotte, NC505,488+5%
2Raleigh, NC275,019+5.2%
3Durham, NC162,352+5.5%
4Greensboro, NC148,954+3.1%
5Winston-Salem, NC118,162+2.8%
6Cary, NC99,563+6.9%
7Fayetteville, NC80,600+1.7%
8Wilmington, NC63,984+5.7%
9Concord, NC56,439+5.3%
10High Point, NC53,906+2.2%
11Asheville, NC50,977+3.3%
12Greenville, NC45,816+4.4%
13Gastonia, NC40,242+4.3%
14Apex, NC38,641+9.7%
15Huntersville, NC35,876+7.2%
16Chapel Hill, NC30,881+5.6%
17Kannapolis, NC29,142+5.9%
18Mooresville, NC28,582+5.8%
19Wake Forest, NC27,229+7.6%
20Burlington, NC27,124+2.1%
21Rocky Mount, NC24,291-0.1%
22Holly Springs, NC23,488+11%
23Indian Trail, NC23,275+5.9%
24Wilson, NC21,566+1.8%
25Fuquay-Varina, NC21,001+16.2%
26Hickory, NC20,794+4.2%
27Jacksonville, NC19,411+3.3%
28Morrisville, NC19,022+6%
29Garner, NC18,283+10%
30Monroe, NC17,457+5.8%
31Cornelius, NC17,104+7.2%
32Clayton, NC16,138+9.2%
33Matthews, NC16,110+7.2%
34Salisbury, NC15,480+3.9%
35Statesville, NC14,618+4.3%
36Mint Hill, NC14,514+7.3%
37Kernersville, NC14,407+6.4%
38Sanford, NC14,128+5.6%
39New Bern, NC14,031+2%
40Leland, NC13,741+11.4%
41Thomasville, NC12,640+2.4%
42Goldsboro, NC12,548+0.1%
43Asheboro, NC11,930+2.7%
44Kinston, NC7,349+1.4%

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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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=2022. 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, 2022. 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=2022.

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, 2022 [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=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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=2022. 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, 2022
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=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2022.
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 505,488 in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kinston, NC, with 7,349 in 2022.

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