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 2023, at 497,661. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 6,970. The median was 22,885. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest497,661Charlotte, NC
Lowest6,970Kinston, NC
Median22,88544 cities

All cities, 2023

Charlotte, NC: 497,661 personsCharlotte, NC497,661Raleigh, NC: 276,377 personsRaleigh, NC276,377Durham, NC: 162,085 personsDurham, NC162,085Greensboro, NC: 142,518 personsGreensboro, NC142,518Winston-Salem, NC: 113,212 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,212Cary, NC: 97,775 personsCary, NC97,775Fayetteville, NC: 77,006 personsFayetteville, NC77,006Wilmington, NC: 63,032 personsWilmington, NC63,032Concord, NC: 55,201 personsConcord, NC55,201High Point, NC: 51,693 personsHigh Point, NC51,693Asheville, NC: 50,484 personsAsheville, NC50,484Greenville, NC: 44,598 personsGreenville, NC44,598Gastonia, NC: 39,341 personsGastonia, NC39,341Apex, NC: 38,694 personsApex, NC38,694Huntersville, NC: 35,541 personsHuntersville, NC35,541Chapel Hill, NC: 30,487 personsChapel Hill, NC30,487Kannapolis, NC: 28,949 personsKannapolis, NC28,949Mooresville, NC: 28,154 personsMooresville, NC28,154Wake Forest, NC: 27,598 personsWake Forest, NC27,598Burlington, NC: 26,644 personsBurlington, NC26,644Holly Springs, NC: 23,276 personsHolly Springs, NC23,276Indian Trail, NC: 23,176 personsIndian Trail, NC23,176Rocky Mount, NC: 22,594 personsRocky Mount, NC22,594Fuquay-Varina, NC: 22,132 personsFuquay-Varina, NC22,132Wilson, NC: 20,626 personsWilson, NC20,626Hickory, NC: 20,105 personsHickory, NC20,105Morrisville, NC: 18,908 personsMorrisville, NC18,908Garner, NC: 18,692 personsGarner, NC18,692Jacksonville, NC: 18,578 personsJacksonville, NC18,578Monroe, NC: 17,640 personsMonroe, NC17,640Cornelius, NC: 16,863 personsCornelius, NC16,863Clayton, NC: 16,176 personsClayton, NC16,176Matthews, NC: 15,873 personsMatthews, NC15,873Salisbury, NC: 15,042 personsSalisbury, NC15,042New Bern, NC: 14,393 personsNew Bern, NC14,393Statesville, NC: 14,326 personsStatesville, NC14,326Mint Hill, NC: 14,276 personsMint Hill, NC14,276Leland, NC: 14,212 personsLeland, NC14,212Kernersville, NC: 13,975 personsKernersville, NC13,975Sanford, NC: 13,838 personsSanford, NC13,838Goldsboro, NC: 12,107 personsGoldsboro, NC12,107Thomasville, NC: 12,073 personsThomasville, NC12,073Asheboro, NC: 11,447 personsAsheboro, NC11,447Kinston, NC: 6,970 personsKinston, NC6,970Charlotte, NC: 497,661 personsCharlotte, NC497,661Raleigh, NC: 276,377 personsRaleigh, NC276,377Durham, NC: 162,085 personsDurham, NC162,085Greensboro, NC: 142,518 personsGreensboro, NC142,518Winston-Salem, NC: 113,212 personsWinston-Salem, NC113,212Cary, NC: 97,775 personsCary, NC97,775Fayetteville, NC: 77,006 personsFayetteville, NC77,006Wilmington, NC: 63,032 personsWilmington, NC63,032Concord, NC: 55,201 personsConcord, NC55,201High Point, NC: 51,693 personsHigh Point, NC51,693Asheville, NC: 50,484 personsAsheville, NC50,484Greenville, NC: 44,598 personsGreenville, NC44,598Gastonia, NC: 39,341 personsGastonia, NC39,341Apex, NC: 38,694 personsApex, NC38,694Huntersville, NC: 35,541 personsHuntersville, NC35,541Chapel Hill, NC: 30,487 personsChapel Hill, NC30,487Kannapolis, NC: 28,949 personsKannapolis, NC28,949Mooresville, NC: 28,154 personsMooresville, NC28,154Wake Forest, NC: 27,598 personsWake Forest, NC27,598Burlington, NC: 26,644 personsBurlington, NC26,644Holly Springs, NC: 23,276 personsHolly Springs, NC23,276Indian Trail, NC: 23,176 personsIndian Trail, NC23,176Rocky Mount, NC: 22,594 personsRocky Mount, NC22,594Fuquay-Varina, NC: 22,132 personsFuquay-Varina, NC22,132Wilson, NC: 20,626 personsWilson, NC20,626Hickory, NC: 20,105 personsHickory, NC20,105Morrisville, NC: 18,908 personsMorrisville, NC18,908Garner, NC: 18,692 personsGarner, NC18,692Jacksonville, NC: 18,578 personsJacksonville, NC18,578Monroe, NC: 17,640 personsMonroe, NC17,640Cornelius, NC: 16,863 personsCornelius, NC16,863Clayton, NC: 16,176 personsClayton, NC16,176Matthews, NC: 15,873 personsMatthews, NC15,873Salisbury, NC: 15,042 personsSalisbury, NC15,042New Bern, NC: 14,393 personsNew Bern, NC14,393Statesville, NC: 14,326 personsStatesville, NC14,326Mint Hill, NC: 14,276 personsMint Hill, NC14,276Leland, NC: 14,212 personsLeland, NC14,212Kernersville, NC: 13,975 personsKernersville, NC13,975Sanford, NC: 13,838 personsSanford, NC13,838Goldsboro, NC: 12,107 personsGoldsboro, NC12,107Thomasville, NC: 12,073 personsThomasville, NC12,073Asheboro, NC: 11,447 personsAsheboro, NC11,447Kinston, NC: 6,970 personsKinston, NC6,970
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2023
persons		Change on 2022
1Charlotte, NC497,661+2.2%
2Raleigh, NC276,377+3.9%
3Durham, NC162,085+3.1%
4Greensboro, NC142,518-0%
5Winston-Salem, NC113,212-0%
6Cary, NC97,775+1%
7Fayetteville, NC77,006+0.7%
8Wilmington, NC63,032+2.2%
9Concord, NC55,201+1.3%
10High Point, NC51,693+0.3%
11Asheville, NC50,484+2.2%
12Greenville, NC44,598+2.1%
13Gastonia, NC39,341+1.8%
14Apex, NC38,694+2.9%
15Huntersville, NC35,541+2.1%
16Chapel Hill, NC30,487+2.5%
17Kannapolis, NC28,949+3%
18Mooresville, NC28,154+1.9%
19Wake Forest, NC27,598+4.4%
20Burlington, NC26,644+2.4%
21Holly Springs, NC23,276+2%
22Indian Trail, NC23,176+2.7%
23Rocky Mount, NC22,594-0.4%
24Fuquay-Varina, NC22,132+8.7%
25Wilson, NC20,626+1%
26Hickory, NC20,105+0.4%
27Morrisville, NC18,908+1.9%
28Garner, NC18,692+5.9%
29Jacksonville, NC18,578+0.8%
30Monroe, NC17,640+5%
31Cornelius, NC16,863+2.1%
32Clayton, NC16,176+3.4%
33Matthews, NC15,873+2%
34Salisbury, NC15,042+1.5%
35New Bern, NC14,393+6.3%
36Statesville, NC14,326+1.8%
37Mint Hill, NC14,276+2.1%
38Leland, NC14,212+7.2%
39Kernersville, NC13,975+0.2%
40Sanford, NC13,838+2.1%
41Goldsboro, NC12,107+1.7%
42Thomasville, NC12,073-0.4%
43Asheboro, NC11,447-0.2%
44Kinston, NC6,970+0.9%

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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [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=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2023.
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 497,661 in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 6,970 in 2023.

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