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 2023, at 516,207. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,365. The median was 23,900. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest516,207Charlotte, NC
Lowest7,365Kinston, NC
Median23,90044 cities

All cities, 2023

Charlotte, NC: 516,207 personsCharlotte, NC516,207Raleigh, NC: 285,398 personsRaleigh, NC285,398Durham, NC: 167,150 personsDurham, NC167,150Greensboro, NC: 148,556 personsGreensboro, NC148,556Winston-Salem, NC: 117,784 personsWinston-Salem, NC117,784Cary, NC: 100,615 personsCary, NC100,615Fayetteville, NC: 80,887 personsFayetteville, NC80,887Wilmington, NC: 65,362 personsWilmington, NC65,362Concord, NC: 57,137 personsConcord, NC57,137High Point, NC: 53,970 personsHigh Point, NC53,970Asheville, NC: 51,995 personsAsheville, NC51,995Greenville, NC: 46,707 personsGreenville, NC46,707Gastonia, NC: 40,874 personsGastonia, NC40,874Apex, NC: 39,791 personsApex, NC39,791Huntersville, NC: 36,660 personsHuntersville, NC36,660Chapel Hill, NC: 31,635 personsChapel Hill, NC31,635Kannapolis, NC: 29,971 personsKannapolis, NC29,971Mooresville, NC: 29,103 personsMooresville, NC29,103Wake Forest, NC: 28,434 personsWake Forest, NC28,434Burlington, NC: 27,689 personsBurlington, NC27,689Holly Springs, NC: 23,954 personsHolly Springs, NC23,954Rocky Mount, NC: 23,939 personsRocky Mount, NC23,939Indian Trail, NC: 23,861 personsIndian Trail, NC23,861Fuquay-Varina, NC: 22,804 personsFuquay-Varina, NC22,804Wilson, NC: 21,724 personsWilson, NC21,724Hickory, NC: 20,849 personsHickory, NC20,849Jacksonville, NC: 19,526 personsJacksonville, NC19,526Morrisville, NC: 19,412 personsMorrisville, NC19,412Garner, NC: 19,308 personsGarner, NC19,308Monroe, NC: 18,279 personsMonroe, NC18,279Cornelius, NC: 17,419 personsCornelius, NC17,419Clayton, NC: 16,684 personsClayton, NC16,684Matthews, NC: 16,378 personsMatthews, NC16,378Salisbury, NC: 15,690 personsSalisbury, NC15,690New Bern, NC: 14,909 personsNew Bern, NC14,909Statesville, NC: 14,877 personsStatesville, NC14,877Mint Hill, NC: 14,755 personsMint Hill, NC14,755Leland, NC: 14,670 personsLeland, NC14,670Kernersville, NC: 14,431 personsKernersville, NC14,431Sanford, NC: 14,376 personsSanford, NC14,376Goldsboro, NC: 12,690 personsGoldsboro, NC12,690Thomasville, NC: 12,559 personsThomasville, NC12,559Asheboro, NC: 11,911 personsAsheboro, NC11,911Kinston, NC: 7,365 personsKinston, NC7,365Charlotte, NC: 516,207 personsCharlotte, NC516,207Raleigh, NC: 285,398 personsRaleigh, NC285,398Durham, NC: 167,150 personsDurham, NC167,150Greensboro, NC: 148,556 personsGreensboro, NC148,556Winston-Salem, NC: 117,784 personsWinston-Salem, NC117,784Cary, NC: 100,615 personsCary, NC100,615Fayetteville, NC: 80,887 personsFayetteville, NC80,887Wilmington, NC: 65,362 personsWilmington, NC65,362Concord, NC: 57,137 personsConcord, NC57,137High Point, NC: 53,970 personsHigh Point, NC53,970Asheville, NC: 51,995 personsAsheville, NC51,995Greenville, NC: 46,707 personsGreenville, NC46,707Gastonia, NC: 40,874 personsGastonia, NC40,874Apex, NC: 39,791 personsApex, NC39,791Huntersville, NC: 36,660 personsHuntersville, NC36,660Chapel Hill, NC: 31,635 personsChapel Hill, NC31,635Kannapolis, NC: 29,971 personsKannapolis, NC29,971Mooresville, NC: 29,103 personsMooresville, NC29,103Wake Forest, NC: 28,434 personsWake Forest, NC28,434Burlington, NC: 27,689 personsBurlington, NC27,689Holly Springs, NC: 23,954 personsHolly Springs, NC23,954Rocky Mount, NC: 23,939 personsRocky Mount, NC23,939Indian Trail, NC: 23,861 personsIndian Trail, NC23,861Fuquay-Varina, NC: 22,804 personsFuquay-Varina, NC22,804Wilson, NC: 21,724 personsWilson, NC21,724Hickory, NC: 20,849 personsHickory, NC20,849Jacksonville, NC: 19,526 personsJacksonville, NC19,526Morrisville, NC: 19,412 personsMorrisville, NC19,412Garner, NC: 19,308 personsGarner, NC19,308Monroe, NC: 18,279 personsMonroe, NC18,279Cornelius, NC: 17,419 personsCornelius, NC17,419Clayton, NC: 16,684 personsClayton, NC16,684Matthews, NC: 16,378 personsMatthews, NC16,378Salisbury, NC: 15,690 personsSalisbury, NC15,690New Bern, NC: 14,909 personsNew Bern, NC14,909Statesville, NC: 14,877 personsStatesville, NC14,877Mint Hill, NC: 14,755 personsMint Hill, NC14,755Leland, NC: 14,670 personsLeland, NC14,670Kernersville, NC: 14,431 personsKernersville, NC14,431Sanford, NC: 14,376 personsSanford, NC14,376Goldsboro, NC: 12,690 personsGoldsboro, NC12,690Thomasville, NC: 12,559 personsThomasville, NC12,559Asheboro, NC: 11,911 personsAsheboro, NC11,911Kinston, NC: 7,365 personsKinston, NC7,365
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

RankCities2023
persons		Change on 2022
1Charlotte, NC516,207+2.1%
2Raleigh, NC285,398+3.8%
3Durham, NC167,150+3%
4Greensboro, NC148,556-0.3%
5Winston-Salem, NC117,784-0.3%
6Cary, NC100,615+1.1%
7Fayetteville, NC80,887+0.4%
8Wilmington, NC65,362+2.2%
9Concord, NC57,137+1.2%
10High Point, NC53,970+0.1%
11Asheville, NC51,995+2%
12Greenville, NC46,707+1.9%
13Gastonia, NC40,874+1.6%
14Apex, NC39,791+3%
15Huntersville, NC36,660+2.2%
16Chapel Hill, NC31,635+2.4%
17Kannapolis, NC29,971+2.8%
18Mooresville, NC29,103+1.8%
19Wake Forest, NC28,434+4.4%
20Burlington, NC27,689+2.1%
21Holly Springs, NC23,954+2%
22Rocky Mount, NC23,939-1.4%
23Indian Trail, NC23,861+2.5%
24Fuquay-Varina, NC22,804+8.6%
25Wilson, NC21,724+0.7%
26Hickory, NC20,849+0.3%
27Jacksonville, NC19,526+0.6%
28Morrisville, NC19,412+2.1%
29Garner, NC19,308+5.6%
30Monroe, NC18,279+4.7%
31Cornelius, NC17,419+1.8%
32Clayton, NC16,684+3.4%
33Matthews, NC16,378+1.7%
34Salisbury, NC15,690+1.4%
35New Bern, NC14,909+6.3%
36Statesville, NC14,877+1.8%
37Mint Hill, NC14,755+1.7%
38Leland, NC14,670+6.8%
39Kernersville, NC14,431+0.2%
40Sanford, NC14,376+1.8%
41Goldsboro, NC12,690+1.1%
42Thomasville, NC12,559-0.6%
43Asheboro, NC11,911-0.2%
44Kinston, NC7,365+0.2%

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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/north-carolina-cities?period=2023.
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 516,207 in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Kinston, NC, with 7,365 in 2023.

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