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

Durham County had the highest GDP per capita (US dollars) of 100 counties in 2021, at $127,318. Caswell County had the lowest, at $17,153. The median was $39,935 and the figure for North Carolina was $62,412. Source: BEA.

Highest127,318Durham County
Lowest17,153Caswell County
Median39,935100 counties
North Carolina62,412History

Top 40 counties, 2021

CSVChart (SVG)

Durham CountyDurham County: 127,318 USD127,318Mecklenburg CountyMecklenburg County: 124,175 USD124,175Wake CountyWake County: 85,291 USD85,291Forsyth CountyForsyth County: 73,590 USD73,590Dare CountyDare County: 72,120 USD72,120New Hanover CountyNew Hanover County: 71,126 USD71,126Orange CountyOrange County: 70,109 USD70,109Guilford CountyGuilford County: 68,995 USD68,995Granville CountyGranville County: 63,249 USD63,249Catawba CountyCatawba County: 63,135 USD63,135Buncombe CountyBuncombe County: 60,953 USD60,953Nash CountyNash County: 60,398 USD60,398Cumberland CountyCumberland County: 60,083 USD60,083Iredell CountyIredell County: 59,416 USD59,416Pitt CountyPitt County: 58,335 USD58,335Transylvania CountyTransylvania County: 56,594 USD56,594Craven CountyCraven County: 56,355 USD56,355Swain CountySwain County: 56,320 USD56,320Lenoir CountyLenoir County: 55,198 USD55,198Bladen CountyBladen County: 54,234 USD54,234Wilson CountyWilson County: 53,360 USD53,360Duplin CountyDuplin County: 50,837 USD50,837Onslow CountyOnslow County: 50,273 USD50,273Richmond CountyRichmond County: 50,164 USD50,164Montgomery CountyMontgomery County: 48,685 USD48,685Wayne CountyWayne County: 48,528 USD48,528Lee CountyLee County: 48,453 USD48,453Hertford CountyHertford County: 48,009 USD48,009Cleveland CountyCleveland County: 47,135 USD47,135Watauga CountyWatauga County: 46,785 USD46,785McDowell CountyMcDowell County: 46,625 USD46,625Macon CountyMacon County: 45,314 USD45,314Beaufort CountyBeaufort County: 45,141 USD45,141Pasquotank CountyPasquotank County: 44,713 USD44,713Rowan CountyRowan County: 43,936 USD43,936Hyde CountyHyde County: 43,496 USD43,496Jackson CountyJackson County: 43,367 USD43,367Brunswick CountyBrunswick County: 43,253 USD43,253Alamance CountyAlamance County: 42,882 USD42,882Person CountyPerson County: 42,544 USD42,544
USD. Source: Invokely calculation with data from BEA. Retrieved 2026-10-09.

Full ranking

RankCounties2021
USD
Change on 2020
1Durham County127,318+8.3%
2Mecklenburg County124,175+8.9%
3Wake County85,291+10.3%
4Forsyth County73,590+8.2%
5Dare County72,120+15.5%
6New Hanover County71,126+10.7%
7Orange County70,109+5.3%
8Guilford County68,995+7.1%
9Granville County63,249+3.6%
10Catawba County63,135+10%
11Buncombe County60,953+11%
12Nash County60,398+8.3%
13Cumberland County60,083+8.2%
14Iredell County59,416+9.2%
15Pitt County58,335+5%
16Transylvania County56,5940%
17Craven County56,355+9.1%
18Swain County56,320+8.9%
19Lenoir County55,198+9.1%
20Bladen County54,234+13%
21Wilson County53,360+4.1%
22Duplin County50,837+22.3%
23Onslow County50,273+10.7%
24Richmond County50,164+9.2%
25Montgomery County48,685+15.6%
26Wayne County48,528+11.8%
27Lee County48,453+5.7%
28Hertford County48,009+25%
29Cleveland County47,135+7.3%
30Watauga County46,785+8.4%
31McDowell County46,625+0.7%
32Macon County45,314-0.4%
33Beaufort County45,141+8.7%
34Pasquotank County44,713+8.9%
35Rowan County43,936+12.4%
36Hyde County43,496+7.4%
37Jackson County43,367+8.8%
38Brunswick County43,253+4.5%
39Alamance County42,882+8.9%
40Person County42,544+6.2%
41Chowan County42,425+12.6%
42Wilkes County42,396+11.4%
43Moore County41,997+4.7%
44Mitchell County41,535+8.6%
45Bertie County41,295+16.3%
46Carteret County41,182+9.8%
47Cabarrus County40,962+9.9%
48Avery County40,737+9.7%
49Surry County40,723+12.2%
50Henderson County40,306+8.1%
51Tyrrell County39,563+10.5%
52Anson County39,424+14%
53Union County38,485+11.3%
54Lincoln County38,334+6.2%
55Scotland County38,148+8.3%
56Gaston County37,783+8.6%
57Robeson County37,171+6%
58Johnston County37,130+3.6%
59Sampson County36,916+18.7%
60Davie County36,875+6.8%
61Edgecombe County36,465+12.7%
62Northampton County35,743+15.8%
63Haywood County34,531+6.1%
64Rockingham County34,518+5.8%
65Graham County34,478+8.1%
66Columbus County34,046+10.9%
67Halifax County33,990+9%
68Vance County33,731+13.4%
69Caldwell County33,670+3.8%
70Martin County33,666+7.2%
71Burke County33,286+6.6%
72Davidson County33,144+9.1%
73Stanly County33,106+10.4%
74Randolph County32,461+8%
75Ashe County31,909+2.8%
76Pender County31,785+19.3%
77Alleghany County31,592+7.6%
78Rutherford County31,583+8%
79Currituck County31,557+9.5%
80Cherokee County31,015+3.5%
81Stokes County30,877+31.2%
82Washington County30,628+21.8%
83Franklin County29,949+4.8%
84Polk County29,380+10%
85Jones County29,002+59.5%
86Yadkin County28,384+14.5%
87Pamlico County27,433+10.3%
88Chatham County26,731+5.8%
89Alexander County26,360+11.1%
90Perquimans County25,916+17.8%
91Greene County25,837+24.1%
92Yancey County25,125+0.7%
93Hoke County23,457+0.1%
94Harnett County22,963+9.6%
95Gates County22,847+10.7%
96Madison County21,797+8.1%
97Clay County21,524+2%
98Warren County19,768+12.8%
99Camden County18,536+14.4%
100Caswell County17,153+4.5%

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 $127,318 in 2021, according to BEA.

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

Caswell County, with $17,153 in 2021.

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