Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in North Carolina

Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2025

Charlotte, NC had the highest employed residents of 44 cities in 2025, at 501,294. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 6,946. The median was 23,266. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest501,294Charlotte, NC
Lowest6,946Kinston, NC
Median23,26644 cities

All cities, 2025

Charlotte, NC: 501,294 personsCharlotte, NC501,294Raleigh, NC: 282,114 personsRaleigh, NC282,114Durham, NC: 163,923 personsDurham, NC163,923Greensboro, NC: 143,160 personsGreensboro, NC143,160Winston-Salem, NC: 111,448 personsWinston-Salem, NC111,448Cary, NC: 98,826 personsCary, NC98,826Fayetteville, NC: 75,353 personsFayetteville, NC75,353Wilmington, NC: 63,813 personsWilmington, NC63,813Concord, NC: 55,228 personsConcord, NC55,228High Point, NC: 51,707 personsHigh Point, NC51,707Asheville, NC: 48,149 personsAsheville, NC48,149Greenville, NC: 44,549 personsGreenville, NC44,549Apex, NC: 40,504 personsApex, NC40,504Gastonia, NC: 39,256 personsGastonia, NC39,256Huntersville, NC: 35,830 personsHuntersville, NC35,830Chapel Hill, NC: 30,647 personsChapel Hill, NC30,647Kannapolis, NC: 28,927 personsKannapolis, NC28,927Wake Forest, NC: 28,864 personsWake Forest, NC28,864Mooresville, NC: 27,118 personsMooresville, NC27,118Burlington, NC: 26,242 personsBurlington, NC26,242Holly Springs, NC: 24,405 personsHolly Springs, NC24,405Fuquay-Varina, NC: 23,330 personsFuquay-Varina, NC23,330Indian Trail, NC: 23,201 personsIndian Trail, NC23,201Rocky Mount, NC: 22,216 personsRocky Mount, NC22,216Garner, NC: 20,688 personsGarner, NC20,688Wilson, NC: 19,892 personsWilson, NC19,892Hickory, NC: 19,631 personsHickory, NC19,631Morrisville, NC: 19,285 personsMorrisville, NC19,285Monroe, NC: 18,283 personsMonroe, NC18,283Jacksonville, NC: 18,043 personsJacksonville, NC18,043Cornelius, NC: 17,001 personsCornelius, NC17,001Clayton, NC: 16,970 personsClayton, NC16,970Matthews, NC: 15,992 personsMatthews, NC15,992Leland, NC: 15,557 personsLeland, NC15,557Salisbury, NC: 14,886 personsSalisbury, NC14,886Statesville, NC: 14,704 personsStatesville, NC14,704Mint Hill, NC: 14,383 personsMint Hill, NC14,383New Bern, NC: 14,154 personsNew Bern, NC14,154Sanford, NC: 13,949 personsSanford, NC13,949Kernersville, NC: 13,932 personsKernersville, NC13,932Thomasville, NC: 11,838 personsThomasville, NC11,838Goldsboro, NC: 11,829 personsGoldsboro, NC11,829Asheboro, NC: 11,433 personsAsheboro, NC11,433Kinston, NC: 6,946 personsKinston, NC6,946Charlotte, NC: 501,294 personsCharlotte, NC501,294Raleigh, NC: 282,114 personsRaleigh, NC282,114Durham, NC: 163,923 personsDurham, NC163,923Greensboro, NC: 143,160 personsGreensboro, NC143,160Winston-Salem, NC: 111,448 personsWinston-Salem, NC111,448Cary, NC: 98,826 personsCary, NC98,826Fayetteville, NC: 75,353 personsFayetteville, NC75,353Wilmington, NC: 63,813 personsWilmington, NC63,813Concord, NC: 55,228 personsConcord, NC55,228High Point, NC: 51,707 personsHigh Point, NC51,707Asheville, NC: 48,149 personsAsheville, NC48,149Greenville, NC: 44,549 personsGreenville, NC44,549Apex, NC: 40,504 personsApex, NC40,504Gastonia, NC: 39,256 personsGastonia, NC39,256Huntersville, NC: 35,830 personsHuntersville, NC35,830Chapel Hill, NC: 30,647 personsChapel Hill, NC30,647Kannapolis, NC: 28,927 personsKannapolis, NC28,927Wake Forest, NC: 28,864 personsWake Forest, NC28,864Mooresville, NC: 27,118 personsMooresville, NC27,118Burlington, NC: 26,242 personsBurlington, NC26,242Holly Springs, NC: 24,405 personsHolly Springs, NC24,405Fuquay-Varina, NC: 23,330 personsFuquay-Varina, NC23,330Indian Trail, NC: 23,201 personsIndian Trail, NC23,201Rocky Mount, NC: 22,216 personsRocky Mount, NC22,216Garner, NC: 20,688 personsGarner, NC20,688Wilson, NC: 19,892 personsWilson, NC19,892Hickory, NC: 19,631 personsHickory, NC19,631Morrisville, NC: 19,285 personsMorrisville, NC19,285Monroe, NC: 18,283 personsMonroe, NC18,283Jacksonville, NC: 18,043 personsJacksonville, NC18,043Cornelius, NC: 17,001 personsCornelius, NC17,001Clayton, NC: 16,970 personsClayton, NC16,970Matthews, NC: 15,992 personsMatthews, NC15,992Leland, NC: 15,557 personsLeland, NC15,557Salisbury, NC: 14,886 personsSalisbury, NC14,886Statesville, NC: 14,704 personsStatesville, NC14,704Mint Hill, NC: 14,383 personsMint Hill, NC14,383New Bern, NC: 14,154 personsNew Bern, NC14,154Sanford, NC: 13,949 personsSanford, NC13,949Kernersville, NC: 13,932 personsKernersville, NC13,932Thomasville, NC: 11,838 personsThomasville, NC11,838Goldsboro, NC: 11,829 personsGoldsboro, NC11,829Asheboro, NC: 11,433 personsAsheboro, NC11,433Kinston, NC: 6,946 personsKinston, NC6,946
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2025
persons		Change on 2024
1Charlotte, NC501,294+0.2%
2Raleigh, NC282,114+1.2%
3Durham, NC163,923-0.4%
4Greensboro, NC143,160-0.1%
5Winston-Salem, NC111,448-0.6%
6Cary, NC98,826+1.2%
7Fayetteville, NC75,353-1.2%
8Wilmington, NC63,813+1.1%
9Concord, NC55,228+0.3%
10High Point, NC51,707-0.1%
11Asheville, NC48,149-2%
12Greenville, NC44,549-0.5%
13Apex, NC40,504+1.2%
14Gastonia, NC39,256+0.3%
15Huntersville, NC35,830+0.2%
16Chapel Hill, NC30,647-0.6%
17Kannapolis, NC28,927+0.3%
18Wake Forest, NC28,864+1.2%
19Mooresville, NC27,118+0.1%
20Burlington, NC26,242-1.2%
21Holly Springs, NC24,405+1.2%
22Fuquay-Varina, NC23,330+1.2%
23Indian Trail, NC23,201+0.2%
24Rocky Mount, NC22,216-1%
25Garner, NC20,688+1.2%
26Wilson, NC19,892-1.3%
27Hickory, NC19,631-0.9%
28Morrisville, NC19,285+1.2%
29Monroe, NC18,283+0.2%
30Jacksonville, NC18,043-1.3%
31Cornelius, NC17,001+0.2%
32Clayton, NC16,970+1.2%
33Matthews, NC15,992+0.2%
34Leland, NC15,557+1.2%
35Salisbury, NC14,886+0.2%
36Statesville, NC14,704+0.1%
37Mint Hill, NC14,383+0.2%
38New Bern, NC14,154-1.9%
39Sanford, NC13,949-0.8%
40Kernersville, NC13,932-0.5%
41Thomasville, NC11,838-0.6%
42Goldsboro, NC11,829-1.9%
43Asheboro, NC11,433-0.1%
44Kinston, NC6,946+0.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents who did any work for pay or profit in the reference week, or were temporarily absent from a job, 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, whatever the place of work, and someone with two jobs counts once. 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: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. 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: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. 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: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2025
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.CurrentU25-29
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Charlotte, NC, with 501,294 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 6,946 in 2025.

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: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings