Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in North Carolina

Cities in North Carolina by employed residents

Charlotte, NC had the highest employed residents of 44 cities in 2022, at 486,791. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 6,908. The median was 22,626. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest486,791Charlotte, NC
Lowest6,908Kinston, NC
Median22,62644 cities

All cities, 2022

Charlotte, NC: 486,791 personsCharlotte, NC486,791Raleigh, NC: 266,108 personsRaleigh, NC266,108Durham, NC: 157,221 personsDurham, NC157,221Greensboro, NC: 142,584 personsGreensboro, NC142,584Winston-Salem, NC: 113,258 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,258Cary, NC: 96,850 personsCary, NC96,850Fayetteville, NC: 76,445 personsFayetteville, NC76,445Wilmington, NC: 61,647 personsWilmington, NC61,647Concord, NC: 54,471 personsConcord, NC54,471High Point, NC: 51,515 personsHigh Point, NC51,515Asheville, NC: 49,388 personsAsheville, NC49,388Greenville, NC: 43,677 personsGreenville, NC43,677Gastonia, NC: 38,652 personsGastonia, NC38,652Apex, NC: 37,620 personsApex, NC37,620Huntersville, NC: 34,800 personsHuntersville, NC34,800Chapel Hill, NC: 29,745 personsChapel Hill, NC29,745Kannapolis, NC: 28,094 personsKannapolis, NC28,094Mooresville, NC: 27,627 personsMooresville, NC27,627Wake Forest, NC: 26,433 personsWake Forest, NC26,433Burlington, NC: 26,029 personsBurlington, NC26,029Holly Springs, NC: 22,830 personsHolly Springs, NC22,830Rocky Mount, NC: 22,691 personsRocky Mount, NC22,691Indian Trail, NC: 22,561 personsIndian Trail, NC22,561Wilson, NC: 20,423 personsWilson, NC20,423Fuquay-Varina, NC: 20,362 personsFuquay-Varina, NC20,362Hickory, NC: 20,018 personsHickory, NC20,018Morrisville, NC: 18,560 personsMorrisville, NC18,560Jacksonville, NC: 18,423 personsJacksonville, NC18,423Garner, NC: 17,653 personsGarner, NC17,653Monroe, NC: 16,798 personsMonroe, NC16,798Cornelius, NC: 16,515 personsCornelius, NC16,515Clayton, NC: 15,643 personsClayton, NC15,643Matthews, NC: 15,555 personsMatthews, NC15,555Salisbury, NC: 14,813 personsSalisbury, NC14,813Statesville, NC: 14,076 personsStatesville, NC14,076Mint Hill, NC: 13,987 personsMint Hill, NC13,987Kernersville, NC: 13,942 personsKernersville, NC13,942Sanford, NC: 13,560 personsSanford, NC13,560New Bern, NC: 13,543 personsNew Bern, NC13,543Leland, NC: 13,260 personsLeland, NC13,260Thomasville, NC: 12,119 personsThomasville, NC12,119Goldsboro, NC: 11,905 personsGoldsboro, NC11,905Asheboro, NC: 11,474 personsAsheboro, NC11,474Kinston, NC: 6,908 personsKinston, NC6,908Charlotte, NC: 486,791 personsCharlotte, NC486,791Raleigh, NC: 266,108 personsRaleigh, NC266,108Durham, NC: 157,221 personsDurham, NC157,221Greensboro, NC: 142,584 personsGreensboro, NC142,584Winston-Salem, NC: 113,258 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,258Cary, NC: 96,850 personsCary, NC96,850Fayetteville, NC: 76,445 personsFayetteville, NC76,445Wilmington, NC: 61,647 personsWilmington, NC61,647Concord, NC: 54,471 personsConcord, NC54,471High Point, NC: 51,515 personsHigh Point, NC51,515Asheville, NC: 49,388 personsAsheville, NC49,388Greenville, NC: 43,677 personsGreenville, NC43,677Gastonia, NC: 38,652 personsGastonia, NC38,652Apex, NC: 37,620 personsApex, NC37,620Huntersville, NC: 34,800 personsHuntersville, NC34,800Chapel Hill, NC: 29,745 personsChapel Hill, NC29,745Kannapolis, NC: 28,094 personsKannapolis, NC28,094Mooresville, NC: 27,627 personsMooresville, NC27,627Wake Forest, NC: 26,433 personsWake Forest, NC26,433Burlington, NC: 26,029 personsBurlington, NC26,029Holly Springs, NC: 22,830 personsHolly Springs, NC22,830Rocky Mount, NC: 22,691 personsRocky Mount, NC22,691Indian Trail, NC: 22,561 personsIndian Trail, NC22,561Wilson, NC: 20,423 personsWilson, NC20,423Fuquay-Varina, NC: 20,362 personsFuquay-Varina, NC20,362Hickory, NC: 20,018 personsHickory, NC20,018Morrisville, NC: 18,560 personsMorrisville, NC18,560Jacksonville, NC: 18,423 personsJacksonville, NC18,423Garner, NC: 17,653 personsGarner, NC17,653Monroe, NC: 16,798 personsMonroe, NC16,798Cornelius, NC: 16,515 personsCornelius, NC16,515Clayton, NC: 15,643 personsClayton, NC15,643Matthews, NC: 15,555 personsMatthews, NC15,555Salisbury, NC: 14,813 personsSalisbury, NC14,813Statesville, NC: 14,076 personsStatesville, NC14,076Mint Hill, NC: 13,987 personsMint Hill, NC13,987Kernersville, NC: 13,942 personsKernersville, NC13,942Sanford, NC: 13,560 personsSanford, NC13,560New Bern, NC: 13,543 personsNew Bern, NC13,543Leland, NC: 13,260 personsLeland, NC13,260Thomasville, NC: 12,119 personsThomasville, NC12,119Goldsboro, NC: 11,905 personsGoldsboro, NC11,905Asheboro, NC: 11,474 personsAsheboro, NC11,474Kinston, NC: 6,908 personsKinston, NC6,908
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2022
persons		Change on 2021
1Charlotte, NC486,791+6.6%
2Raleigh, NC266,108+6.5%
3Durham, NC157,221+6.7%
4Greensboro, NC142,584+4.7%
5Winston-Salem, NC113,258+4.3%
6Cary, NC96,850+7.7%
7Fayetteville, NC76,445+3.7%
8Wilmington, NC61,647+6.9%
9Concord, NC54,471+6.4%
10High Point, NC51,515+4.2%
11Asheville, NC49,388+4.9%
12Greenville, NC43,677+5.8%
13Gastonia, NC38,652+6.3%
14Apex, NC37,620+10.1%
15Huntersville, NC34,800+8%
16Chapel Hill, NC29,745+6%
17Kannapolis, NC28,094+7.2%
18Mooresville, NC27,627+6.8%
19Wake Forest, NC26,433+8.5%
20Burlington, NC26,029+3.6%
21Holly Springs, NC22,830+11.5%
22Rocky Mount, NC22,691+2%
23Indian Trail, NC22,561+6.5%
24Wilson, NC20,423+3.8%
25Fuquay-Varina, NC20,362+17%
26Hickory, NC20,018+5.7%
27Morrisville, NC18,560+6.4%
28Jacksonville, NC18,423+4.3%
29Garner, NC17,653+11.4%
30Monroe, NC16,798+7.7%
31Cornelius, NC16,515+8%
32Clayton, NC15,643+9.7%
33Matthews, NC15,555+8.1%
34Salisbury, NC14,813+6.2%
35Statesville, NC14,076+6.6%
36Mint Hill, NC13,987+7.9%
37Kernersville, NC13,942+7.6%
38Sanford, NC13,560+7.2%
39New Bern, NC13,543+3.4%
40Leland, NC13,260+12.1%
41Thomasville, NC12,119+4.2%
42Goldsboro, NC11,905+1.8%
43Asheboro, NC11,474+4.3%
44Kinston, NC6,908+4.2%

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. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2022) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by employed residents, 2022. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2022. 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, 2022. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2022.

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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2022. 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.CurrentU20-24. 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, 2022
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.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2022.
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.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Charlotte, NC, with 486,791 in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 6,908 in 2022.

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.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings