Counties in North Carolina by personal income
Wake County had the highest personal income of 100 counties in 2021, at $85.92 billion. Tyrrell County had the lowest, at $160.73 million. The median was $2.58 billion and the figure for North Carolina was $604.84 billion. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Map of counties, 2021
- Under 800
- 800 to 1,700
- 1,700 to 2,600
- 2,600 to 4,200
- 4,200 to 8,600
- 8,600 and over
Top 40 counties, 2021
Full ranking
| Rank | Counties | 2021 | Change on 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wake County | 85,920.3 | +15.3% |
| 2 | Mecklenburg County | 84,459.1 | +10.4% |
| 3 | Guilford County | 29,639.9 | +9.7% |
| 4 | Forsyth County | 21,951.4 | +10.5% |
| 5 | Durham County | 19,248.8 | +8.3% |
| 6 | Buncombe County | 16,132.7 | +12.7% |
| 7 | Union County | 15,816.6 | +13.6% |
| 8 | Cumberland County | 15,564.3 | +8.8% |
| 9 | New Hanover County | 13,872.9 | +14.1% |
| 10 | Cabarrus County | 12,346.1 | +9.9% |
| 11 | Iredell County | 11,917.9 | +12.2% |
| 12 | Gaston County | 11,359.7 | +10.1% |
| 13 | Orange County | 11,325 | +12.1% |
| 14 | Johnston County | 11,076.4 | +12.9% |
| 15 | Onslow County | 10,585.4 | +10.3% |
| 16 | Pitt County | 9,143.8 | +9.3% |
| 17 | Catawba County | 8,756.5 | +10.8% |
| 18 | Alamance County | 8,448 | +11.3% |
| 19 | Brunswick County | 8,394.4 | +12.9% |
| 20 | Davidson County | 8,238.2 | +11% |
| 21 | Rowan County | 6,892 | +11% |
| 22 | Randolph County | 6,724.7 | +11.9% |
| 23 | Moore County | 6,368.1 | +10.6% |
| 24 | Henderson County | 6,315.1 | +11.7% |
| 25 | Chatham County | 6,070.9 | +13.2% |
| 26 | Harnett County | 6,020.9 | +14.3% |
| 27 | Wayne County | 5,781.8 | +11.5% |
| 28 | Craven County | 5,448.2 | +8.4% |
| 29 | Lincoln County | 5,075.4 | +12.8% |
| 30 | Robeson County | 4,857.3 | +13.1% |
| 31 | Nash County | 4,789.9 | +7.8% |
| 32 | Cleveland County | 4,497.2 | +9.2% |
| 33 | Carteret County | 4,295.1 | +11.3% |
| 34 | Rockingham County | 4,163.4 | +10.6% |
| 35 | Burke County | 3,916.3 | +9.2% |
| 36 | Wilson County | 3,836.6 | +9% |
| 37 | Caldwell County | 3,574.1 | +10% |
| 38 | Surry County | 3,447.3 | +12.6% |
| 39 | Franklin County | 3,318.8 | +15.7% |
| 40 | Lee County | 3,192.9 | +11.2% |
| 41 | Pender County | 3,139.9 | +15.3% |
| 42 | Haywood County | 3,106 | +10.9% |
| 43 | Wilkes County | 3,035.6 | +11.7% |
| 44 | Stanly County | 3,020 | +11.7% |
| 45 | Granville County | 2,880.2 | +10.2% |
| 46 | Sampson County | 2,776.8 | +14.9% |
| 47 | Dare County | 2,761.4 | +16.6% |
| 48 | Lenoir County | 2,745 | +11.4% |
| 49 | Rutherford County | 2,731.3 | +10.3% |
| 50 | Davie County | 2,591.3 | +13.8% |
| 51 | Duplin County | 2,578 | +19.8% |
| 52 | Watauga County | 2,571.2 | +9.9% |
| 53 | Beaufort County | 2,458.5 | +11.5% |
| 54 | Columbus County | 2,229.1 | +10.8% |
| 55 | Hoke County | 2,223.8 | +14% |
| 56 | Halifax County | 2,163.7 | +10.3% |
| 57 | Edgecombe County | 2,152.7 | +8.9% |
| 58 | Stokes County | 2,083.4 | +12.1% |
| 59 | McDowell County | 1,955.7 | +10.5% |
| 60 | Richmond County | 1,938.9 | +12.1% |
| 61 | Pasquotank County | 1,929.8 | +10.9% |
| 62 | Vance County | 1,892.3 | +11.8% |
| 63 | Jackson County | 1,880.2 | +11% |
| 64 | Macon County | 1,810.3 | +10.9% |
| 65 | Person County | 1,800.5 | +7.6% |
| 66 | Transylvania County | 1,787 | +14% |
| 67 | Yadkin County | 1,748.8 | +12.7% |
| 68 | Currituck County | 1,712.1 | +15% |
| 69 | Alexander County | 1,682.7 | +9% |
| 70 | Scotland County | 1,452.3 | +11.8% |
| 71 | Bladen County | 1,442.4 | +12.5% |
| 72 | Montgomery County | 1,188.8 | +10.2% |
| 73 | Ashe County | 1,187.3 | +9.3% |
| 74 | Polk County | 1,169.3 | +9.5% |
| 75 | Cherokee County | 1,162 | +9.6% |
| 76 | Anson County | 1,061.2 | +14.8% |
| 77 | Caswell County | 952.7 | +9.9% |
| 78 | Madison County | 943.8 | +12.4% |
| 79 | Martin County | 942 | +11.6% |
| 80 | Hertford County | 897.3 | +7% |
| 81 | Bertie County | 852.1 | +14.9% |
| 82 | Northampton County | 814.2 | +12.5% |
| 83 | Greene County | 806.4 | +12.2% |
| 84 | Yancey County | 791.1 | +8.3% |
| 85 | Avery County | 787.1 | +9.5% |
| 86 | Warren County | 732.9 | +12% |
| 87 | Swain County | 715.7 | +13.2% |
| 88 | Chowan County | 705.1 | +12.3% |
| 89 | Perquimans County | 699.6 | +16.2% |
| 90 | Mitchell County | 657.4 | +9.4% |
| 91 | Pamlico County | 650.6 | +8.4% |
| 92 | Camden County | 605.8 | +13% |
| 93 | Gates County | 518.5 | +11% |
| 94 | Washington County | 512.6 | +13% |
| 95 | Alleghany County | 505.1 | +11.3% |
| 96 | Clay County | 499.4 | +11.2% |
| 97 | Jones County | 469.5 | +19.9% |
| 98 | Graham County | 344.1 | +8.5% |
| 99 | Hyde County | 234.9 | +14.1% |
| 100 | Tyrrell County | 160.7 | +16.4% |
Other periods
About this ranking
Total income received by the residents of a place from work, own businesses, property and government benefits, before income taxes, in millions of current US dollars. United States: Bureau of Economic Analysis regional accounts, table SAINC1 line 1 for the nation and states and CAINC1 line 1 for counties.
Counted where people live, not where they work. The national figure is the total of the states, which differs slightly from personal income in the national accounts. Divided by BEA population it gives per_capita_personal_income.
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
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2026). CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents (Counties in North Carolina by personal income, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip
MLA 9
CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents, Counties in North Carolina by personal income, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 5 Feb. 2026, https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/personal-income/north-carolina-counties?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2026. CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Counties in North Carolina by personal income, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/personal-income/north-carolina-counties?period=2021.
Harvard
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2026) CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents, Counties in North Carolina by personal income, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/personal-income/north-carolina-counties?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_north_carolina_2021,
author = {{U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis}},
title = {{CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents: Counties in North Carolina by personal income, 2021}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/personal-income/north-carolina-counties?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
TI - CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents: Counties in North Carolina by personal income, 2021
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/02/05
PB - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
DB - Invokely
UR - https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/personal-income/north-carolina-counties?period=2021
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/personal-income/north-carolina-counties?period=2021.
N1 - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC1.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Counties in North Carolina by personal income using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"personal_income","level":"province","within":"North Carolina","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=personal_income&level=province&within=North%20Carolina&limit=10Questions
Which county has the highest personal income?
Wake County, with $85.92 billion in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Which county has the lowest personal income?
Tyrrell County, with $160.73 million in 2021.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CAINC1: county annual personal income summary, personal income (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Retrieved 2026-10-12.