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 2019, at 464,320. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 7,030. The median was 21,129. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest464,320Charlotte, NC
Lowest7,030Kinston, NC
Median21,12943 cities

All cities, 2019

Charlotte, NC: 464,320 personsCharlotte, NC464,320Raleigh, NC: 253,769 personsRaleigh, NC253,769Durham, NC: 146,815 personsDurham, NC146,815Greensboro, NC: 142,961 personsGreensboro, NC142,961Winston-Salem, NC: 113,022 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,022Cary, NC: 89,727 personsCary, NC89,727Fayetteville, NC: 75,647 personsFayetteville, NC75,647Wilmington, NC: 57,870 personsWilmington, NC57,870Concord, NC: 51,280 personsConcord, NC51,280High Point, NC: 51,188 personsHigh Point, NC51,188Asheville, NC: 49,590 personsAsheville, NC49,590Greenville, NC: 42,045 personsGreenville, NC42,045Gastonia, NC: 37,128 personsGastonia, NC37,128Huntersville, NC: 32,779 personsHuntersville, NC32,779Apex, NC: 31,059 personsApex, NC31,059Chapel Hill, NC: 28,874 personsChapel Hill, NC28,874Mooresville, NC: 25,703 personsMooresville, NC25,703Kannapolis, NC: 25,154 personsKannapolis, NC25,154Burlington, NC: 25,031 personsBurlington, NC25,031Rocky Mount, NC: 23,280 personsRocky Mount, NC23,280Wake Forest, NC: 22,918 personsWake Forest, NC22,918Indian Trail, NC: 21,129 personsIndian Trail, NC21,129Wilson, NC: 20,562 personsWilson, NC20,562Hickory, NC: 19,415 personsHickory, NC19,415Holly Springs, NC: 19,153 personsHolly Springs, NC19,153Jacksonville, NC: 18,081 personsJacksonville, NC18,081Morrisville, NC: 16,056 personsMorrisville, NC16,056Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,952 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,952Monroe, NC: 15,923 personsMonroe, NC15,923Garner, NC: 15,590 personsGarner, NC15,590Cornelius, NC: 15,528 personsCornelius, NC15,528Matthews, NC: 14,650 personsMatthews, NC14,650Salisbury, NC: 14,625 personsSalisbury, NC14,625New Bern, NC: 13,390 personsNew Bern, NC13,390Kernersville, NC: 13,277 personsKernersville, NC13,277Mint Hill, NC: 13,179 personsMint Hill, NC13,179Statesville, NC: 13,133 personsStatesville, NC13,133Sanford, NC: 12,951 personsSanford, NC12,951Clayton, NC: 12,949 personsClayton, NC12,949Goldsboro, NC: 12,235 personsGoldsboro, NC12,235Thomasville, NC: 12,101 personsThomasville, NC12,101Asheboro, NC: 11,411 personsAsheboro, NC11,411Kinston, NC: 7,030 personsKinston, NC7,030Charlotte, NC: 464,320 personsCharlotte, NC464,320Raleigh, NC: 253,769 personsRaleigh, NC253,769Durham, NC: 146,815 personsDurham, NC146,815Greensboro, NC: 142,961 personsGreensboro, NC142,961Winston-Salem, NC: 113,022 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,022Cary, NC: 89,727 personsCary, NC89,727Fayetteville, NC: 75,647 personsFayetteville, NC75,647Wilmington, NC: 57,870 personsWilmington, NC57,870Concord, NC: 51,280 personsConcord, NC51,280High Point, NC: 51,188 personsHigh Point, NC51,188Asheville, NC: 49,590 personsAsheville, NC49,590Greenville, NC: 42,045 personsGreenville, NC42,045Gastonia, NC: 37,128 personsGastonia, NC37,128Huntersville, NC: 32,779 personsHuntersville, NC32,779Apex, NC: 31,059 personsApex, NC31,059Chapel Hill, NC: 28,874 personsChapel Hill, NC28,874Mooresville, NC: 25,703 personsMooresville, NC25,703Kannapolis, NC: 25,154 personsKannapolis, NC25,154Burlington, NC: 25,031 personsBurlington, NC25,031Rocky Mount, NC: 23,280 personsRocky Mount, NC23,280Wake Forest, NC: 22,918 personsWake Forest, NC22,918Indian Trail, NC: 21,129 personsIndian Trail, NC21,129Wilson, NC: 20,562 personsWilson, NC20,562Hickory, NC: 19,415 personsHickory, NC19,415Holly Springs, NC: 19,153 personsHolly Springs, NC19,153Jacksonville, NC: 18,081 personsJacksonville, NC18,081Morrisville, NC: 16,056 personsMorrisville, NC16,056Fuquay-Varina, NC: 15,952 personsFuquay-Varina, NC15,952Monroe, NC: 15,923 personsMonroe, NC15,923Garner, NC: 15,590 personsGarner, NC15,590Cornelius, NC: 15,528 personsCornelius, NC15,528Matthews, NC: 14,650 personsMatthews, NC14,650Salisbury, NC: 14,625 personsSalisbury, NC14,625New Bern, NC: 13,390 personsNew Bern, NC13,390Kernersville, NC: 13,277 personsKernersville, NC13,277Mint Hill, NC: 13,179 personsMint Hill, NC13,179Statesville, NC: 13,133 personsStatesville, NC13,133Sanford, NC: 12,951 personsSanford, NC12,951Clayton, NC: 12,949 personsClayton, NC12,949Goldsboro, NC: 12,235 personsGoldsboro, NC12,235Thomasville, NC: 12,101 personsThomasville, NC12,101Asheboro, NC: 11,411 personsAsheboro, NC11,411Kinston, NC: 7,030 personsKinston, NC7,030
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2019
persons		Change on 2018
1Charlotte, NC464,320+2.5%
2Raleigh, NC253,769+1.2%
3Durham, NC146,815+1.9%
4Greensboro, NC142,961+1%
5Winston-Salem, NC113,022+1.3%
6Cary, NC89,727+1.6%
7Fayetteville, NC75,647+0.8%
8Wilmington, NC57,870+2.2%
9Concord, NC51,280+3.2%
10High Point, NC51,188+1.1%
11Asheville, NC49,590+1.5%
12Greenville, NC42,045+0.5%
13Gastonia, NC37,128+1.4%
14Huntersville, NC32,779+2.4%
15Apex, NC31,059+10.3%
16Chapel Hill, NC28,874+1.1%
17Mooresville, NC25,703+2.5%
18Kannapolis, NC25,154+3.2%
19Burlington, NC25,031+1.5%
20Rocky Mount, NC23,280+0.1%
21Wake Forest, NC22,918+3.9%
22Indian Trail, NC21,129+2.2%
23Wilson, NC20,562+0.4%
24Hickory, NC19,415+0.7%
25Holly Springs, NC19,153+3.2%
26Jacksonville, NC18,081+4.3%
27Morrisville, NC16,056+5.5%
28Fuquay-Varina, NC15,952+4.1%
29Monroe, NC15,923+0.8%
30Garner, NC15,590+3.5%
31Cornelius, NC15,528+2.5%
32Matthews, NC14,650+2.8%
33Salisbury, NC14,625+1.8%
34New Bern, NC13,390+3.3%
35Kernersville, NC13,277+0.5%
36Mint Hill, NC13,179+2.6%
37Statesville, NC13,133+2.7%
38Sanford, NC12,951-0.2%
39Clayton, NC12,949+9%
40Goldsboro, NC12,235+0.1%
41Thomasville, NC12,101+1%
42Asheboro, NC11,411+0.5%
43Kinston, NC7,030+1.3%

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 2019 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, 2019) [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, 2019. 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=2019. 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, 2019. 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=2019.

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, 2019 [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=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  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=2019. 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, 2019
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=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2019.
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 464,320 in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 7,030 in 2019.

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 2019 and are not ranked.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings