Counties in North Carolina by GDP per capita (US dollars)

Durham County had the highest GDP per capita (US dollars) of 100 counties in 2016, at $103,504. Gates County had the lowest, at $15,253. The median was $32,933 and the figure for North Carolina was $52,447. Source: BEA.

Highest103,504Durham County
Lowest15,253Gates County
Median32,933100 counties
North Carolina52,447History

Top 40 counties, 2016

CSVChart (SVG)

Durham CountyDurham County: 103,504 USD103,504Mecklenburg CountyMecklenburg County: 100,792 USD100,792Nash CountyNash County: 71,265 USD71,265Forsyth CountyForsyth County: 69,181 USD69,181Wake CountyWake County: 68,944 USD68,944Guilford CountyGuilford County: 63,649 USD63,649Dare CountyDare County: 61,238 USD61,238Orange CountyOrange County: 57,619 USD57,619New Hanover CountyNew Hanover County: 56,641 USD56,641Pitt CountyPitt County: 55,066 USD55,066Catawba CountyCatawba County: 54,783 USD54,783Cumberland CountyCumberland County: 54,428 USD54,428Wilson CountyWilson County: 52,103 USD52,103Beaufort CountyBeaufort County: 51,625 USD51,625Lenoir CountyLenoir County: 51,358 USD51,358Iredell CountyIredell County: 48,767 USD48,767Buncombe CountyBuncombe County: 48,435 USD48,435Craven CountyCraven County: 46,729 USD46,729Lee CountyLee County: 46,345 USD46,345Granville CountyGranville County: 46,093 USD46,093Bladen CountyBladen County: 44,477 USD44,477Richmond CountyRichmond County: 43,703 USD43,703Swain CountySwain County: 42,118 USD42,118Onslow CountyOnslow County: 41,475 USD41,475Person CountyPerson County: 40,874 USD40,874Wayne CountyWayne County: 39,769 USD39,769Brunswick CountyBrunswick County: 39,692 USD39,692Duplin CountyDuplin County: 39,069 USD39,069Watauga CountyWatauga County: 38,854 USD38,854Alamance CountyAlamance County: 38,202 USD38,202McDowell CountyMcDowell County: 37,922 USD37,922Cleveland CountyCleveland County: 37,900 USD37,900Chowan CountyChowan County: 37,743 USD37,743Macon CountyMacon County: 37,523 USD37,523Pasquotank CountyPasquotank County: 37,040 USD37,040Moore CountyMoore County: 36,366 USD36,366Henderson CountyHenderson County: 36,040 USD36,040Rowan CountyRowan County: 35,866 USD35,866Bertie CountyBertie County: 35,829 USD35,829Wilkes CountyWilkes County: 35,536 USD35,536
USD. Source: Invokely calculation with data from BEA. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Full ranking

RankCounties2016
USD
Change on 2015
1Durham County103,504-3.9%
2Mecklenburg County100,792+2.8%
3Nash County71,265+0.7%
4Forsyth County69,181+2.9%
5Wake County68,944+4.7%
6Guilford County63,649-0.8%
7Dare County61,238+5.6%
8Orange County57,619+3.8%
9New Hanover County56,641+4.4%
10Pitt County55,066+2.4%
11Catawba County54,783+3.2%
12Cumberland County54,428+2.8%
13Wilson County52,103+0.2%
14Beaufort County51,625+14.9%
15Lenoir County51,358+3.5%
16Iredell County48,767+2.1%
17Buncombe County48,435+3.3%
18Craven County46,729-7.4%
19Lee County46,345-1.2%
20Granville County46,093+13%
21Bladen County44,477+0.4%
22Richmond County43,703+3%
23Swain County42,118+4.7%
24Onslow County41,475-2.8%
25Person County40,874-1.5%
26Wayne County39,769+2.1%
27Brunswick County39,692+6%
28Duplin County39,069-3.5%
29Watauga County38,854+5%
30Alamance County38,202+4.1%
31McDowell County37,922+5.3%
32Cleveland County37,900+4.9%
33Chowan County37,743+9.3%
34Macon County37,523+8.5%
35Pasquotank County37,040+0.4%
36Moore County36,366+2.1%
37Henderson County36,040+6.2%
38Rowan County35,866+2.7%
39Bertie County35,8290%
40Wilkes County35,536+1.1%
41Scotland County35,334-24.8%
42Cabarrus County35,098+5.1%
43Montgomery County34,965-0.3%
44Carteret County34,348+7.8%
45Rockingham County34,040+0.8%
46Transylvania County33,573+19.7%
47Anson County33,508+0.6%
48Jackson County33,213+0.4%
49Avery County33,167+7%
50Surry County33,112+1.7%
51Gaston County32,755+1.7%
52Tyrrell County32,305+18.4%
53Hyde County32,221-0.3%
54Johnston County32,213+9.2%
55Sampson County31,595-3.6%
56Hertford County31,558+3.8%
57Lincoln County31,406+3.5%
58Mitchell County31,334+7.4%
59Burke County31,228+3.8%
60Union County31,116+4.9%
61Alleghany County31,009+1.4%
62Edgecombe County29,960+4.8%
63Martin County29,947-0.9%
64Vance County29,833+3.8%
65Davie County29,518+1.9%
66Stanly County29,099+4.9%
67Caldwell County28,943+6.3%
68Haywood County28,510+3.2%
69Ashe County28,339+8.4%
70Randolph County28,269+0.3%
71Robeson County28,140+7.3%
72Davidson County28,044+7%
73Halifax County27,765+2.4%
74Franklin County27,333+5.1%
75Columbus County26,890+2%
76Stokes County26,420-5.5%
77Cherokee County26,125-7.1%
78Rutherford County26,086+3.2%
79Northampton County25,970+10%
80Graham County25,870-6.8%
81Currituck County25,758-4.1%
82Yadkin County24,770-0.1%
83Pender County24,346+7.6%
84Polk County24,204+3.4%
85Chatham County24,044+4.6%
86Washington County22,352+2.3%
87Pamlico County22,177+3.6%
88Alexander County21,486+0.1%
89Yancey County21,374+7.5%
90Greene County21,014+2.6%
91Jones County18,783+3.7%
92Harnett County18,642+3.4%
93Clay County18,347-4.4%
94Hoke County18,213+7.9%
95Madison County17,678+1.2%
96Perquimans County16,448-0.5%
97Warren County15,626+0.4%
98Camden County15,590-7.1%
99Caswell County15,465+4.3%
100Gates County15,253+0.1%

Other periods

About this ranking

Gross domestic product at current prices in US dollars divided by the resident population.

United States, states and counties: Invokely calculation, BEA current-dollar GDP divided by the BEA mid-year population of the same year and place; both inputs are shown with each value. GDP is counted where production happens and population where people live, so places with many commuters or capital-intensive industries, such as the District of Columbia or oil counties, show very high values. Not the same as per_capita_personal_income. For Spain and the EU use gdp_per_capita (EUR) or gdp_per_capita_pps. Other countries and the World: World Bank, converted at official annual average exchange rates (market rates, not purchasing power parity, so it understates living standards in lower-price countries). For euros use gdp_per_capita.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Invokely calculation from GDP in current dollars (BEA SAGDP2 and CAGDP1) divided by mid-year population (BEA SAINC1 and CAINC1). https://invokely.ai/docs/methodology#gdp_per_capita_usd. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

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Questions

Which county has the highest GDP per capita (US dollars)?

Durham County, with $103,504 in 2016, according to BEA.

Which county has the lowest GDP per capita (US dollars)?

Gates County, with $15,253 in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Invokely, GDP in current dollars (BEA SAGDP2 and CAGDP1) divided by mid-year population (BEA SAINC1 and CAINC1). Retrieved 2026-10-09.

GDP per capita, US dollars: other rankings

Counties in North Carolina: more rankings