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 2018, at 453,210. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 6,942. The median was 20,679. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest453,210Charlotte, NC
Lowest6,942Kinston, NC
Median20,67943 cities

All cities, 2018

Charlotte, NC: 453,210 personsCharlotte, NC453,210Raleigh, NC: 250,705 personsRaleigh, NC250,705Durham, NC: 144,065 personsDurham, NC144,065Greensboro, NC: 141,576 personsGreensboro, NC141,576Winston-Salem, NC: 111,549 personsWinston-Salem, NC111,549Cary, NC: 88,288 personsCary, NC88,288Fayetteville, NC: 75,032 personsFayetteville, NC75,032Wilmington, NC: 56,618 personsWilmington, NC56,618High Point, NC: 50,638 personsHigh Point, NC50,638Concord, NC: 49,666 personsConcord, NC49,666Asheville, NC: 48,858 personsAsheville, NC48,858Greenville, NC: 41,837 personsGreenville, NC41,837Gastonia, NC: 36,606 personsGastonia, NC36,606Huntersville, NC: 32,025 personsHuntersville, NC32,025Chapel Hill, NC: 28,571 personsChapel Hill, NC28,571Apex, NC: 28,160 personsApex, NC28,160Mooresville, NC: 25,073 personsMooresville, NC25,073Burlington, NC: 24,652 personsBurlington, NC24,652Kannapolis, NC: 24,372 personsKannapolis, NC24,372Rocky Mount, NC: 23,247 personsRocky Mount, NC23,247Wake Forest, NC: 22,065 personsWake Forest, NC22,065Indian Trail, NC: 20,679 personsIndian Trail, NC20,679Wilson, NC: 20,480 personsWilson, NC20,480Hickory, NC: 19,277 personsHickory, NC19,277Holly Springs, NC: 18,553 personsHolly Springs, NC18,553Jacksonville, NC: 17,342 personsJacksonville, NC17,342Monroe, NC: 15,799 personsMonroe, NC15,799Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,330 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,330Morrisville, NC: 15,212 personsMorrisville, NC15,212Cornelius, NC: 15,146 personsCornelius, NC15,146Garner, NC: 15,063 personsGarner, NC15,063Salisbury, NC: 14,371 personsSalisbury, NC14,371Matthews, NC: 14,257 personsMatthews, NC14,257Kernersville, NC: 13,216 personsKernersville, NC13,216Sanford, NC: 12,983 personsSanford, NC12,983New Bern, NC: 12,957 personsNew Bern, NC12,957Mint Hill, NC: 12,845 personsMint Hill, NC12,845Statesville, NC: 12,791 personsStatesville, NC12,791Goldsboro, NC: 12,224 personsGoldsboro, NC12,224Thomasville, NC: 11,987 personsThomasville, NC11,987Clayton, NC: 11,875 personsClayton, NC11,875Asheboro, NC: 11,353 personsAsheboro, NC11,353Kinston, NC: 6,942 personsKinston, NC6,942Charlotte, NC: 453,210 personsCharlotte, NC453,210Raleigh, NC: 250,705 personsRaleigh, NC250,705Durham, NC: 144,065 personsDurham, NC144,065Greensboro, NC: 141,576 personsGreensboro, NC141,576Winston-Salem, NC: 111,549 personsWinston-Salem, NC111,549Cary, NC: 88,288 personsCary, NC88,288Fayetteville, NC: 75,032 personsFayetteville, NC75,032Wilmington, NC: 56,618 personsWilmington, NC56,618High Point, NC: 50,638 personsHigh Point, NC50,638Concord, NC: 49,666 personsConcord, NC49,666Asheville, NC: 48,858 personsAsheville, NC48,858Greenville, NC: 41,837 personsGreenville, NC41,837Gastonia, NC: 36,606 personsGastonia, NC36,606Huntersville, NC: 32,025 personsHuntersville, NC32,025Chapel Hill, NC: 28,571 personsChapel Hill, NC28,571Apex, NC: 28,160 personsApex, NC28,160Mooresville, NC: 25,073 personsMooresville, NC25,073Burlington, NC: 24,652 personsBurlington, NC24,652Kannapolis, NC: 24,372 personsKannapolis, NC24,372Rocky Mount, NC: 23,247 personsRocky Mount, NC23,247Wake Forest, NC: 22,065 personsWake Forest, NC22,065Indian Trail, NC: 20,679 personsIndian Trail, NC20,679Wilson, NC: 20,480 personsWilson, NC20,480Hickory, NC: 19,277 personsHickory, NC19,277Holly Springs, NC: 18,553 personsHolly Springs, NC18,553Jacksonville, NC: 17,342 personsJacksonville, NC17,342Monroe, NC: 15,799 personsMonroe, NC15,799Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,330 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,330Morrisville, NC: 15,212 personsMorrisville, NC15,212Cornelius, NC: 15,146 personsCornelius, NC15,146Garner, NC: 15,063 personsGarner, NC15,063Salisbury, NC: 14,371 personsSalisbury, NC14,371Matthews, NC: 14,257 personsMatthews, NC14,257Kernersville, NC: 13,216 personsKernersville, NC13,216Sanford, NC: 12,983 personsSanford, NC12,983New Bern, NC: 12,957 personsNew Bern, NC12,957Mint Hill, NC: 12,845 personsMint Hill, NC12,845Statesville, NC: 12,791 personsStatesville, NC12,791Goldsboro, NC: 12,224 personsGoldsboro, NC12,224Thomasville, NC: 11,987 personsThomasville, NC11,987Clayton, NC: 11,875 personsClayton, NC11,875Asheboro, NC: 11,353 personsAsheboro, NC11,353Kinston, NC: 6,942 personsKinston, NC6,942
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2018
persons		Change on 2017
1Charlotte, NC453,210+2.3%
2Raleigh, NC250,705+1.5%
3Durham, NC144,065+2.1%
4Greensboro, NC141,576+1.1%
5Winston-Salem, NC111,549+1.2%
6Cary, NC88,288+2%
7Fayetteville, NC75,032+0.8%
8Wilmington, NC56,618+1.3%
9High Point, NC50,638+0.4%
10Concord, NC49,666+3%
11Asheville, NC48,858+2.6%
12Greenville, NC41,837+1%
13Gastonia, NC36,606+1.7%
14Huntersville, NC32,025+2.2%
15Chapel Hill, NC28,571+6.4%
16Apex, NC28,160+7.2%
17Mooresville, NC25,073+2%
18Burlington, NC24,652+0.8%
19Kannapolis, NC24,372+3%
20Rocky Mount, NC23,247-0.4%
21Wake Forest, NC22,065+5.1%
22Indian Trail, NC20,679+2.4%
23Wilson, NC20,480-0.2%
24Hickory, NC19,277+0.9%
25Holly Springs, NC18,553+4.9%
26Jacksonville, NC17,342-0.9%
27Monroe, NC15,799+1.1%
28Fuquay-Varina, NC15,330+5.1%
29Morrisville, NC15,212+4.6%
30Cornelius, NC15,146+2.2%
31Garner, NC15,063+6.8%
32Salisbury, NC14,371+1.3%
33Matthews, NC14,257+2.4%
34Kernersville, NC13,216+2%
35Sanford, NC12,983+1%
36New Bern, NC12,9570%
37Mint Hill, NC12,845+2.3%
38Statesville, NC12,791+2.2%
39Goldsboro, NC12,224-0.7%
40Thomasville, NC11,987+0.4%
41Clayton, NC11,875+7.8%
42Asheboro, NC11,3530%
43Kinston, NC6,942-0.3%

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 2018 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, 2018) [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, 2018. 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=2018. 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, 2018. 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=2018.

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, 2018 [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=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  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=2018. 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, 2018
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=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2018.
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 453,210 in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 6,942 in 2018.

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 2018 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings