Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in North Carolina

Cities in North Carolina by employed residents

Charlotte, NC had the highest employed residents of 43 cities in 2014, at 408,117. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 8,318. The median was 17,832. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest408,117Charlotte, NC
Lowest8,318Kinston, NC
Median17,83243 cities

All cities, 2014

Charlotte, NC: 408,117 personsCharlotte, NC408,117Raleigh, NC: 219,552 personsRaleigh, NC219,552Greensboro, NC: 130,593 personsGreensboro, NC130,593Durham, NC: 124,680 personsDurham, NC124,680Winston-Salem, NC: 105,264 personsWinston-Salem, NC105,264Cary, NC: 79,280 personsCary, NC79,280Fayetteville, NC: 69,069 personsFayetteville, NC69,069Wilmington, NC: 53,804 personsWilmington, NC53,804High Point, NC: 48,526 personsHigh Point, NC48,526Asheville, NC: 43,689 personsAsheville, NC43,689Greenville, NC: 43,007 personsGreenville, NC43,007Concord, NC: 39,574 personsConcord, NC39,574Gastonia, NC: 31,421 personsGastonia, NC31,421Huntersville, NC: 27,495 personsHuntersville, NC27,495Chapel Hill, NC: 27,225 personsChapel Hill, NC27,225Burlington, NC: 23,469 personsBurlington, NC23,469Apex, NC: 21,831 personsApex, NC21,831Rocky Mount, NC: 21,790 personsRocky Mount, NC21,790Wilson, NC: 19,689 personsWilson, NC19,689Kannapolis, NC: 19,194 personsKannapolis, NC19,194Hickory, NC: 18,126 personsHickory, NC18,126Jacksonville, NC: 17,832 personsJacksonville, NC17,832Indian Trail, NC: 17,448 personsIndian Trail, NC17,448Wake Forest, NC: 17,395 personsWake Forest, NC17,395Mooresville, NC: 16,999 personsMooresville, NC16,999Monroe, NC: 15,033 personsMonroe, NC15,033Matthews, NC: 14,965 personsMatthews, NC14,965Cornelius, NC: 14,839 personsCornelius, NC14,839Garner, NC: 14,300 personsGarner, NC14,300Holly Springs, NC: 14,061 personsHolly Springs, NC14,061Salisbury, NC: 12,136 personsSalisbury, NC12,136Kernersville, NC: 12,097 personsKernersville, NC12,097Mint Hill, NC: 12,069 personsMint Hill, NC12,069Morrisville, NC: 12,029 personsMorrisville, NC12,029Goldsboro, NC: 11,434 personsGoldsboro, NC11,434New Bern, NC: 11,395 personsNew Bern, NC11,395Thomasville, NC: 11,218 personsThomasville, NC11,218Sanford, NC: 10,756 personsSanford, NC10,756Fuquay-Varina, NC: 10,319 personsFuquay-Varina, NC10,319Asheboro, NC: 10,230 personsAsheboro, NC10,230Statesville, NC: 9,902 personsStatesville, NC9,902Clayton, NC: 8,904 personsClayton, NC8,904Kinston, NC: 8,318 personsKinston, NC8,318Charlotte, NC: 408,117 personsCharlotte, NC408,117Raleigh, NC: 219,552 personsRaleigh, NC219,552Greensboro, NC: 130,593 personsGreensboro, NC130,593Durham, NC: 124,680 personsDurham, NC124,680Winston-Salem, NC: 105,264 personsWinston-Salem, NC105,264Cary, NC: 79,280 personsCary, NC79,280Fayetteville, NC: 69,069 personsFayetteville, NC69,069Wilmington, NC: 53,804 personsWilmington, NC53,804High Point, NC: 48,526 personsHigh Point, NC48,526Asheville, NC: 43,689 personsAsheville, NC43,689Greenville, NC: 43,007 personsGreenville, NC43,007Concord, NC: 39,574 personsConcord, NC39,574Gastonia, NC: 31,421 personsGastonia, NC31,421Huntersville, NC: 27,495 personsHuntersville, NC27,495Chapel Hill, NC: 27,225 personsChapel Hill, NC27,225Burlington, NC: 23,469 personsBurlington, NC23,469Apex, NC: 21,831 personsApex, NC21,831Rocky Mount, NC: 21,790 personsRocky Mount, NC21,790Wilson, NC: 19,689 personsWilson, NC19,689Kannapolis, NC: 19,194 personsKannapolis, NC19,194Hickory, NC: 18,126 personsHickory, NC18,126Jacksonville, NC: 17,832 personsJacksonville, NC17,832Indian Trail, NC: 17,448 personsIndian Trail, NC17,448Wake Forest, NC: 17,395 personsWake Forest, NC17,395Mooresville, NC: 16,999 personsMooresville, NC16,999Monroe, NC: 15,033 personsMonroe, NC15,033Matthews, NC: 14,965 personsMatthews, NC14,965Cornelius, NC: 14,839 personsCornelius, NC14,839Garner, NC: 14,300 personsGarner, NC14,300Holly Springs, NC: 14,061 personsHolly Springs, NC14,061Salisbury, NC: 12,136 personsSalisbury, NC12,136Kernersville, NC: 12,097 personsKernersville, NC12,097Mint Hill, NC: 12,069 personsMint Hill, NC12,069Morrisville, NC: 12,029 personsMorrisville, NC12,029Goldsboro, NC: 11,434 personsGoldsboro, NC11,434New Bern, NC: 11,395 personsNew Bern, NC11,395Thomasville, NC: 11,218 personsThomasville, NC11,218Sanford, NC: 10,756 personsSanford, NC10,756Fuquay-Varina, NC: 10,319 personsFuquay-Varina, NC10,319Asheboro, NC: 10,230 personsAsheboro, NC10,230Statesville, NC: 9,902 personsStatesville, NC9,902Clayton, NC: 8,904 personsClayton, NC8,904Kinston, NC: 8,318 personsKinston, NC8,318
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2014
persons		Change on 2013
1Charlotte, NC408,117+3.2%
2Raleigh, NC219,552+2.5%
3Greensboro, NC130,593+0.6%
4Durham, NC124,680+3%
5Winston-Salem, NC105,264+1.2%
6Cary, NC79,280+3.4%
7Fayetteville, NC69,069-1.6%
8Wilmington, NC53,804+2.3%
9High Point, NC48,526+0.4%
10Asheville, NC43,689+0.7%
11Greenville, NC43,007+1%
12Concord, NC39,574+3.7%
13Gastonia, NC31,421+1.8%
14Huntersville, NC27,495+3.3%
15Chapel Hill, NC27,225-0.2%
16Burlington, NC23,469+0.4%
17Apex, NC21,831+4.6%
18Rocky Mount, NC21,790-0.5%
19Wilson, NC19,689+0.6%
20Kannapolis, NC19,194+3.2%
21Hickory, NC18,126-0.3%
22Jacksonville, NC17,832-0.8%
23Indian Trail, NC17,448+3.6%
24Wake Forest, NC17,395+6.2%
25Mooresville, NC16,999+2.4%
26Monroe, NC15,033+2.2%
27Matthews, NC14,965+3.2%
28Cornelius, NC14,839+3.2%
29Garner, NC14,300+4.5%
30Holly Springs, NC14,061+4.9%
31Salisbury, NC12,136+1.5%
32Kernersville, NC12,097+0.7%
33Mint Hill, NC12,069+3.3%
34Morrisville, NC12,029+4.5%
35Goldsboro, NC11,434-1.5%
36New Bern, NC11,395+0.7%
37Thomasville, NC11,218+0.2%
38Sanford, NC10,756-2.6%
39Fuquay-Varina, NC10,319+7.1%
40Asheboro, NC10,230-0.4%
41Statesville, NC9,902+2.3%
42Clayton, NC8,904+5.1%
43Kinston, NC8,318-1.5%

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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2014 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: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. 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, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2014. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2014. 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, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2014.

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, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2014,
  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, 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2014. 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.CurrentU10-14. 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, 2014
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.CurrentU10-14
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2014.
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.CurrentU10-14. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Charlotte, NC, with 408,117 in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 8,318 in 2014.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings