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 2024, at 500,087. Kinston, NC had the lowest, at 6,936. The median was 23,100. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest500,087Charlotte, NC
Lowest6,936Kinston, NC
Median23,10044 cities

All cities, 2024

Charlotte, NC: 500,087 personsCharlotte, NC500,087Raleigh, NC: 278,654 personsRaleigh, NC278,654Durham, NC: 164,614 personsDurham, NC164,614Greensboro, NC: 143,234 personsGreensboro, NC143,234Winston-Salem, NC: 112,073 personsWinston-Salem, NC112,073Cary, NC: 97,633 personsCary, NC97,633Fayetteville, NC: 76,261 personsFayetteville, NC76,261Wilmington, NC: 63,138 personsWilmington, NC63,138Concord, NC: 55,084 personsConcord, NC55,084High Point, NC: 51,755 personsHigh Point, NC51,755Asheville, NC: 49,110 personsAsheville, NC49,110Greenville, NC: 44,790 personsGreenville, NC44,790Apex, NC: 40,005 personsApex, NC40,005Gastonia, NC: 39,155 personsGastonia, NC39,155Huntersville, NC: 35,744 personsHuntersville, NC35,744Chapel Hill, NC: 30,824 personsChapel Hill, NC30,824Kannapolis, NC: 28,853 personsKannapolis, NC28,853Wake Forest, NC: 28,509 personsWake Forest, NC28,509Mooresville, NC: 27,079 personsMooresville, NC27,079Burlington, NC: 26,564 personsBurlington, NC26,564Holly Springs, NC: 24,105 personsHolly Springs, NC24,105Indian Trail, NC: 23,157 personsIndian Trail, NC23,157Fuquay-Varina, NC: 23,043 personsFuquay-Varina, NC23,043Rocky Mount, NC: 22,432 personsRocky Mount, NC22,432Garner, NC: 20,433 personsGarner, NC20,433Wilson, NC: 20,144 personsWilson, NC20,144Hickory, NC: 19,809 personsHickory, NC19,809Morrisville, NC: 19,052 personsMorrisville, NC19,052Jacksonville, NC: 18,287 personsJacksonville, NC18,287Monroe, NC: 18,248 personsMonroe, NC18,248Cornelius, NC: 16,960 personsCornelius, NC16,960Clayton, NC: 16,768 personsClayton, NC16,768Matthews, NC: 15,954 personsMatthews, NC15,954Leland, NC: 15,373 personsLeland, NC15,373Salisbury, NC: 14,852 personsSalisbury, NC14,852Statesville, NC: 14,682 personsStatesville, NC14,682New Bern, NC: 14,426 personsNew Bern, NC14,426Mint Hill, NC: 14,348 personsMint Hill, NC14,348Sanford, NC: 14,067 personsSanford, NC14,067Kernersville, NC: 14,008 personsKernersville, NC14,008Goldsboro, NC: 12,059 personsGoldsboro, NC12,059Thomasville, NC: 11,914 personsThomasville, NC11,914Asheboro, NC: 11,445 personsAsheboro, NC11,445Kinston, NC: 6,936 personsKinston, NC6,936Charlotte, NC: 500,087 personsCharlotte, NC500,087Raleigh, NC: 278,654 personsRaleigh, NC278,654Durham, NC: 164,614 personsDurham, NC164,614Greensboro, NC: 143,234 personsGreensboro, NC143,234Winston-Salem, NC: 112,073 personsWinston-Salem, NC112,073Cary, NC: 97,633 personsCary, NC97,633Fayetteville, NC: 76,261 personsFayetteville, NC76,261Wilmington, NC: 63,138 personsWilmington, NC63,138Concord, NC: 55,084 personsConcord, NC55,084High Point, NC: 51,755 personsHigh Point, NC51,755Asheville, NC: 49,110 personsAsheville, NC49,110Greenville, NC: 44,790 personsGreenville, NC44,790Apex, NC: 40,005 personsApex, NC40,005Gastonia, NC: 39,155 personsGastonia, NC39,155Huntersville, NC: 35,744 personsHuntersville, NC35,744Chapel Hill, NC: 30,824 personsChapel Hill, NC30,824Kannapolis, NC: 28,853 personsKannapolis, NC28,853Wake Forest, NC: 28,509 personsWake Forest, NC28,509Mooresville, NC: 27,079 personsMooresville, NC27,079Burlington, NC: 26,564 personsBurlington, NC26,564Holly Springs, NC: 24,105 personsHolly Springs, NC24,105Indian Trail, NC: 23,157 personsIndian Trail, NC23,157Fuquay-Varina, NC: 23,043 personsFuquay-Varina, NC23,043Rocky Mount, NC: 22,432 personsRocky Mount, NC22,432Garner, NC: 20,433 personsGarner, NC20,433Wilson, NC: 20,144 personsWilson, NC20,144Hickory, NC: 19,809 personsHickory, NC19,809Morrisville, NC: 19,052 personsMorrisville, NC19,052Jacksonville, NC: 18,287 personsJacksonville, NC18,287Monroe, NC: 18,248 personsMonroe, NC18,248Cornelius, NC: 16,960 personsCornelius, NC16,960Clayton, NC: 16,768 personsClayton, NC16,768Matthews, NC: 15,954 personsMatthews, NC15,954Leland, NC: 15,373 personsLeland, NC15,373Salisbury, NC: 14,852 personsSalisbury, NC14,852Statesville, NC: 14,682 personsStatesville, NC14,682New Bern, NC: 14,426 personsNew Bern, NC14,426Mint Hill, NC: 14,348 personsMint Hill, NC14,348Sanford, NC: 14,067 personsSanford, NC14,067Kernersville, NC: 14,008 personsKernersville, NC14,008Goldsboro, NC: 12,059 personsGoldsboro, NC12,059Thomasville, NC: 11,914 personsThomasville, NC11,914Asheboro, NC: 11,445 personsAsheboro, NC11,445Kinston, NC: 6,936 personsKinston, NC6,936
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2024
persons		Change on 2023
1Charlotte, NC500,087+0.5%
2Raleigh, NC278,654+0.8%
3Durham, NC164,614+1.6%
4Greensboro, NC143,234+0.5%
5Winston-Salem, NC112,073-1%
6Cary, NC97,633-0.1%
7Fayetteville, NC76,261-1%
8Wilmington, NC63,138+0.2%
9Concord, NC55,084-0.2%
10High Point, NC51,755+0.1%
11Asheville, NC49,110-2.7%
12Greenville, NC44,790+0.4%
13Apex, NC40,005+3.4%
14Gastonia, NC39,155-0.5%
15Huntersville, NC35,744+0.6%
16Chapel Hill, NC30,824+1.1%
17Kannapolis, NC28,853-0.3%
18Wake Forest, NC28,509+3.3%
19Mooresville, NC27,079-3.8%
20Burlington, NC26,564-0.3%
21Holly Springs, NC24,105+3.6%
22Indian Trail, NC23,157-0.1%
23Fuquay-Varina, NC23,043+4.1%
24Rocky Mount, NC22,432-0.7%
25Garner, NC20,433+9.3%
26Wilson, NC20,144-2.3%
27Hickory, NC19,809-1.5%
28Morrisville, NC19,052+0.8%
29Jacksonville, NC18,287-1.6%
30Monroe, NC18,248+3.4%
31Cornelius, NC16,960+0.6%
32Clayton, NC16,768+3.7%
33Matthews, NC15,954+0.5%
34Leland, NC15,373+8.2%
35Salisbury, NC14,852-1.3%
36Statesville, NC14,682+2.5%
37New Bern, NC14,426+0.2%
38Mint Hill, NC14,348+0.5%
39Sanford, NC14,067+1.7%
40Kernersville, NC14,008+0.2%
41Goldsboro, NC12,059-0.4%
42Thomasville, NC11,914-1.3%
43Asheboro, NC11,445-0%
44Kinston, NC6,936-0.5%

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, 2024) [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, 2024. 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=2024. 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, 2024. 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=2024.

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, 2024 [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=2024 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  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=2024. 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, 2024
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=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/north-carolina-cities?period=2024.
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 500,087 in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Kinston, NC, with 6,936 in 2024.

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