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 2017, at 443,213. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 6,965. The median was 20,516. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest443,213Charlotte, NC
Lowest6,965Kinston, NC
Median20,51643 cities

All cities, 2017

Charlotte, NC: 443,213 personsCharlotte, NC443,213Raleigh, NC: 246,958 personsRaleigh, NC246,958Durham, NC: 141,120 personsDurham, NC141,120Greensboro, NC: 140,030 personsGreensboro, NC140,030Winston-Salem, NC: 110,268 personsWinston-Salem, NC110,268Cary, NC: 86,581 personsCary, NC86,581Fayetteville, NC: 74,427 personsFayetteville, NC74,427Wilmington, NC: 55,916 personsWilmington, NC55,916High Point, NC: 50,438 personsHigh Point, NC50,438Concord, NC: 48,198 personsConcord, NC48,198Asheville, NC: 47,637 personsAsheville, NC47,637Greenville, NC: 41,439 personsGreenville, NC41,439Gastonia, NC: 36,011 personsGastonia, NC36,011Huntersville, NC: 31,348 personsHuntersville, NC31,348Chapel Hill, NC: 26,853 personsChapel Hill, NC26,853Apex, NC: 26,258 personsApex, NC26,258Mooresville, NC: 24,572 personsMooresville, NC24,572Burlington, NC: 24,460 personsBurlington, NC24,460Kannapolis, NC: 23,666 personsKannapolis, NC23,666Rocky Mount, NC: 23,339 personsRocky Mount, NC23,339Wake Forest, NC: 21,003 personsWake Forest, NC21,003Wilson, NC: 20,516 personsWilson, NC20,516Indian Trail, NC: 20,191 personsIndian Trail, NC20,191Hickory, NC: 19,098 personsHickory, NC19,098Holly Springs, NC: 17,678 personsHolly Springs, NC17,678Jacksonville, NC: 17,493 personsJacksonville, NC17,493Monroe, NC: 15,621 personsMonroe, NC15,621Cornelius, NC: 14,818 personsCornelius, NC14,818Fuquay-Varina, NC: 14,586 personsFuquay-Varina, NC14,586Morrisville, NC: 14,540 personsMorrisville, NC14,540Salisbury, NC: 14,185 personsSalisbury, NC14,185Garner, NC: 14,098 personsGarner, NC14,098Matthews, NC: 13,920 personsMatthews, NC13,920Kernersville, NC: 12,958 personsKernersville, NC12,958New Bern, NC: 12,952 personsNew Bern, NC12,952Sanford, NC: 12,852 personsSanford, NC12,852Mint Hill, NC: 12,562 personsMint Hill, NC12,562Statesville, NC: 12,515 personsStatesville, NC12,515Goldsboro, NC: 12,315 personsGoldsboro, NC12,315Thomasville, NC: 11,942 personsThomasville, NC11,942Asheboro, NC: 11,350 personsAsheboro, NC11,350Clayton, NC: 11,016 personsClayton, NC11,016Kinston, NC: 6,965 personsKinston, NC6,965Charlotte, NC: 443,213 personsCharlotte, NC443,213Raleigh, NC: 246,958 personsRaleigh, NC246,958Durham, NC: 141,120 personsDurham, NC141,120Greensboro, NC: 140,030 personsGreensboro, NC140,030Winston-Salem, NC: 110,268 personsWinston-Salem, NC110,268Cary, NC: 86,581 personsCary, NC86,581Fayetteville, NC: 74,427 personsFayetteville, NC74,427Wilmington, NC: 55,916 personsWilmington, NC55,916High Point, NC: 50,438 personsHigh Point, NC50,438Concord, NC: 48,198 personsConcord, NC48,198Asheville, NC: 47,637 personsAsheville, NC47,637Greenville, NC: 41,439 personsGreenville, NC41,439Gastonia, NC: 36,011 personsGastonia, NC36,011Huntersville, NC: 31,348 personsHuntersville, NC31,348Chapel Hill, NC: 26,853 personsChapel Hill, NC26,853Apex, NC: 26,258 personsApex, NC26,258Mooresville, NC: 24,572 personsMooresville, NC24,572Burlington, NC: 24,460 personsBurlington, NC24,460Kannapolis, NC: 23,666 personsKannapolis, NC23,666Rocky Mount, NC: 23,339 personsRocky Mount, NC23,339Wake Forest, NC: 21,003 personsWake Forest, NC21,003Wilson, NC: 20,516 personsWilson, NC20,516Indian Trail, NC: 20,191 personsIndian Trail, NC20,191Hickory, NC: 19,098 personsHickory, NC19,098Holly Springs, NC: 17,678 personsHolly Springs, NC17,678Jacksonville, NC: 17,493 personsJacksonville, NC17,493Monroe, NC: 15,621 personsMonroe, NC15,621Cornelius, NC: 14,818 personsCornelius, NC14,818Fuquay-Varina, NC: 14,586 personsFuquay-Varina, NC14,586Morrisville, NC: 14,540 personsMorrisville, NC14,540Salisbury, NC: 14,185 personsSalisbury, NC14,185Garner, NC: 14,098 personsGarner, NC14,098Matthews, NC: 13,920 personsMatthews, NC13,920Kernersville, NC: 12,958 personsKernersville, NC12,958New Bern, NC: 12,952 personsNew Bern, NC12,952Sanford, NC: 12,852 personsSanford, NC12,852Mint Hill, NC: 12,562 personsMint Hill, NC12,562Statesville, NC: 12,515 personsStatesville, NC12,515Goldsboro, NC: 12,315 personsGoldsboro, NC12,315Thomasville, NC: 11,942 personsThomasville, NC11,942Asheboro, NC: 11,350 personsAsheboro, NC11,350Clayton, NC: 11,016 personsClayton, NC11,016Kinston, NC: 6,965 personsKinston, NC6,965
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2017
persons		Change on 2016
1Charlotte, NC443,213+3.4%
2Raleigh, NC246,958+2.7%
3Durham, NC141,120+3%
4Greensboro, NC140,030+1.4%
5Winston-Salem, NC110,268+1.4%
6Cary, NC86,581+3.4%
7Fayetteville, NC74,427+0.4%
8Wilmington, NC55,916+2.1%
9High Point, NC50,438+0.8%
10Concord, NC48,198+4.2%
11Asheville, NC47,637+2.3%
12Greenville, NC41,439+2.1%
13Gastonia, NC36,011+3.2%
14Huntersville, NC31,348+3.2%
15Chapel Hill, NC26,853+0.5%
16Apex, NC26,258+7.5%
17Mooresville, NC24,572+2.8%
18Burlington, NC24,460+1.9%
19Kannapolis, NC23,666+4.1%
20Rocky Mount, NC23,339-0.7%
21Wake Forest, NC21,003+6.1%
22Wilson, NC20,516-0.2%
23Indian Trail, NC20,191+2.9%
24Hickory, NC19,098+2.8%
25Holly Springs, NC17,678+6.6%
26Jacksonville, NC17,493+0.2%
27Monroe, NC15,621+2.3%
28Cornelius, NC14,818+3.4%
29Fuquay-Varina, NC14,586+8.1%
30Morrisville, NC14,540+8.4%
31Salisbury, NC14,185+2%
32Garner, NC14,098+1.4%
33Matthews, NC13,920+3.7%
34Kernersville, NC12,958+1.3%
35New Bern, NC12,952+0.6%
36Sanford, NC12,852+2.2%
37Mint Hill, NC12,562+3.4%
38Statesville, NC12,515+3%
39Goldsboro, NC12,315-1.2%
40Thomasville, NC11,942-0.2%
41Asheboro, NC11,350+0.1%
42Clayton, NC11,016+8%
43Kinston, NC6,965+2.8%

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 2017 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, 2017) [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, 2017. 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=2017. 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, 2017. 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=2017.

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, 2017 [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=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  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=2017. 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, 2017
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=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2017.
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 443,213 in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 6,965 in 2017.

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 2017 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings