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 2015, at 421,590. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 8,345. The median was 18,143. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest421,590Charlotte, NC
Lowest8,345Kinston, NC
Median18,14343 cities

All cities, 2015

Charlotte, NC: 421,590 personsCharlotte, NC421,590Raleigh, NC: 225,546 personsRaleigh, NC225,546Greensboro, NC: 132,259 personsGreensboro, NC132,259Durham, NC: 127,229 personsDurham, NC127,229Winston-Salem, NC: 106,500 personsWinston-Salem, NC106,500Cary, NC: 81,746 personsCary, NC81,746Fayetteville, NC: 68,425 personsFayetteville, NC68,425Wilmington, NC: 55,307 personsWilmington, NC55,307High Point, NC: 49,405 personsHigh Point, NC49,405Asheville, NC: 44,377 personsAsheville, NC44,377Greenville, NC: 43,304 personsGreenville, NC43,304Concord, NC: 41,049 personsConcord, NC41,049Gastonia, NC: 32,155 personsGastonia, NC32,155Huntersville, NC: 28,427 personsHuntersville, NC28,427Chapel Hill, NC: 27,253 personsChapel Hill, NC27,253Burlington, NC: 23,503 personsBurlington, NC23,503Apex, NC: 22,709 personsApex, NC22,709Rocky Mount, NC: 21,566 personsRocky Mount, NC21,566Kannapolis, NC: 19,815 personsKannapolis, NC19,815Wilson, NC: 19,153 personsWilson, NC19,153Hickory, NC: 18,357 personsHickory, NC18,357Wake Forest, NC: 18,143 personsWake Forest, NC18,143Indian Trail, NC: 18,005 personsIndian Trail, NC18,005Mooresville, NC: 17,549 personsMooresville, NC17,549Jacksonville, NC: 17,387 personsJacksonville, NC17,387Matthews, NC: 15,477 personsMatthews, NC15,477Cornelius, NC: 15,345 personsCornelius, NC15,345Monroe, NC: 15,344 personsMonroe, NC15,344Holly Springs, NC: 14,657 personsHolly Springs, NC14,657Garner, NC: 14,450 personsGarner, NC14,450Morrisville, NC: 12,606 personsMorrisville, NC12,606Mint Hill, NC: 12,478 personsMint Hill, NC12,478Salisbury, NC: 12,393 personsSalisbury, NC12,393Kernersville, NC: 12,177 personsKernersville, NC12,177New Bern, NC: 11,541 personsNew Bern, NC11,541Goldsboro, NC: 11,381 personsGoldsboro, NC11,381Sanford, NC: 11,286 personsSanford, NC11,286Thomasville, NC: 11,285 personsThomasville, NC11,285Fuquay-Varina, NC: 10,916 personsFuquay-Varina, NC10,916Asheboro, NC: 10,355 personsAsheboro, NC10,355Statesville, NC: 10,216 personsStatesville, NC10,216Clayton, NC: 9,345 personsClayton, NC9,345Kinston, NC: 8,345 personsKinston, NC8,345Charlotte, NC: 421,590 personsCharlotte, NC421,590Raleigh, NC: 225,546 personsRaleigh, NC225,546Greensboro, NC: 132,259 personsGreensboro, NC132,259Durham, NC: 127,229 personsDurham, NC127,229Winston-Salem, NC: 106,500 personsWinston-Salem, NC106,500Cary, NC: 81,746 personsCary, NC81,746Fayetteville, NC: 68,425 personsFayetteville, NC68,425Wilmington, NC: 55,307 personsWilmington, NC55,307High Point, NC: 49,405 personsHigh Point, NC49,405Asheville, NC: 44,377 personsAsheville, NC44,377Greenville, NC: 43,304 personsGreenville, NC43,304Concord, NC: 41,049 personsConcord, NC41,049Gastonia, NC: 32,155 personsGastonia, NC32,155Huntersville, NC: 28,427 personsHuntersville, NC28,427Chapel Hill, NC: 27,253 personsChapel Hill, NC27,253Burlington, NC: 23,503 personsBurlington, NC23,503Apex, NC: 22,709 personsApex, NC22,709Rocky Mount, NC: 21,566 personsRocky Mount, NC21,566Kannapolis, NC: 19,815 personsKannapolis, NC19,815Wilson, NC: 19,153 personsWilson, NC19,153Hickory, NC: 18,357 personsHickory, NC18,357Wake Forest, NC: 18,143 personsWake Forest, NC18,143Indian Trail, NC: 18,005 personsIndian Trail, NC18,005Mooresville, NC: 17,549 personsMooresville, NC17,549Jacksonville, NC: 17,387 personsJacksonville, NC17,387Matthews, NC: 15,477 personsMatthews, NC15,477Cornelius, NC: 15,345 personsCornelius, NC15,345Monroe, NC: 15,344 personsMonroe, NC15,344Holly Springs, NC: 14,657 personsHolly Springs, NC14,657Garner, NC: 14,450 personsGarner, NC14,450Morrisville, NC: 12,606 personsMorrisville, NC12,606Mint Hill, NC: 12,478 personsMint Hill, NC12,478Salisbury, NC: 12,393 personsSalisbury, NC12,393Kernersville, NC: 12,177 personsKernersville, NC12,177New Bern, NC: 11,541 personsNew Bern, NC11,541Goldsboro, NC: 11,381 personsGoldsboro, NC11,381Sanford, NC: 11,286 personsSanford, NC11,286Thomasville, NC: 11,285 personsThomasville, NC11,285Fuquay-Varina, NC: 10,916 personsFuquay-Varina, NC10,916Asheboro, NC: 10,355 personsAsheboro, NC10,355Statesville, NC: 10,216 personsStatesville, NC10,216Clayton, NC: 9,345 personsClayton, NC9,345Kinston, NC: 8,345 personsKinston, NC8,345
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2015
persons		Change on 2014
1Charlotte, NC421,590+3.3%
2Raleigh, NC225,546+2.7%
3Greensboro, NC132,259+1.3%
4Durham, NC127,229+2%
5Winston-Salem, NC106,500+1.2%
6Cary, NC81,746+3.1%
7Fayetteville, NC68,425-0.9%
8Wilmington, NC55,307+2.8%
9High Point, NC49,405+1.8%
10Asheville, NC44,377+1.6%
11Greenville, NC43,304+0.7%
12Concord, NC41,049+3.7%
13Gastonia, NC32,155+2.3%
14Huntersville, NC28,427+3.4%
15Chapel Hill, NC27,253+0.1%
16Burlington, NC23,503+0.1%
17Apex, NC22,709+4%
18Rocky Mount, NC21,566-1%
19Kannapolis, NC19,815+3.2%
20Wilson, NC19,153-2.7%
21Hickory, NC18,357+1.3%
22Wake Forest, NC18,143+4.3%
23Indian Trail, NC18,005+3.2%
24Mooresville, NC17,549+3.2%
25Jacksonville, NC17,387-2.5%
26Matthews, NC15,477+3.4%
27Cornelius, NC15,345+3.4%
28Monroe, NC15,344+2.1%
29Holly Springs, NC14,657+4.2%
30Garner, NC14,450+1%
31Morrisville, NC12,606+4.8%
32Mint Hill, NC12,478+3.4%
33Salisbury, NC12,393+2.1%
34Kernersville, NC12,177+0.7%
35New Bern, NC11,541+1.3%
36Goldsboro, NC11,381-0.5%
37Sanford, NC11,286+4.9%
38Thomasville, NC11,285+0.6%
39Fuquay-Varina, NC10,916+5.8%
40Asheboro, NC10,355+1.2%
41Statesville, NC10,216+3.2%
42Clayton, NC9,345+5%
43Kinston, NC8,345+0.3%

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 2015 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2015. 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, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2015.

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, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2015,
  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, 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2015. 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2015
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.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2015.
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.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Charlotte, NC, with 421,590 in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 8,345 in 2015.

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 2015 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings