# Counties in North Carolina by population, 2025

All 100 values come from U.S. Census Bureau for 2025, so the places are comparable.

- Indicator id: `population`
- Unit: persons
- Definition: Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
- Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program) (https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/)
- Retrieved: 2026-10-08
- Citation: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, states and counties, 1 July (Population Estimates Program). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
- Web page: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/north-carolina-counties
- CSV: https://invokely.ai/download/rankings/population/north-carolina-counties.csv

| Rank | Place | persons |
|---:|---|---:|
| 1 | Wake County | 1,257,235 |
| 2 | Mecklenburg County | 1,233,383 |
| 3 | Guilford County | 562,234 |
| 4 | Forsyth County | 401,718 |
| 5 | Durham County | 347,240 |
| 6 | Cumberland County | 338,473 |
| 7 | Buncombe County | 277,417 |
| 8 | Union County | 267,674 |
| 9 | Johnston County | 256,448 |
| 10 | Cabarrus County | 249,725 |
| 11 | Gaston County | 246,558 |
| 12 | New Hanover County | 245,959 |
| 13 | Onslow County | 217,175 |
| 14 | Iredell County | 211,798 |
| 15 | Alamance County | 186,177 |
| 16 | Pitt County | 182,936 |
| 17 | Davidson County | 180,182 |
| 18 | Brunswick County | 174,702 |
| 19 | Catawba County | 170,172 |
| 20 | Rowan County | 155,096 |
| 21 | Orange County | 152,498 |
| 22 | Harnett County | 150,137 |
| 23 | Randolph County | 149,516 |
| 24 | Henderson County | 122,375 |
| 25 | Wayne County | 122,278 |
| 26 | Robeson County | 119,941 |
| 27 | Moore County | 110,619 |
| 28 | Craven County | 105,025 |
| 29 | Cleveland County | 103,325 |
| 30 | Nash County | 99,365 |
| 31 | Lincoln County | 98,654 |
| 32 | Rockingham County | 94,195 |
| 33 | Burke County | 88,655 |
| 34 | Chatham County | 85,111 |
| 35 | Franklin County | 82,037 |
| 36 | Wilson County | 81,150 |
| 37 | Caldwell County | 81,105 |
| 38 | Surry County | 72,287 |
| 39 | Pender County | 72,111 |
| 40 | Carteret County | 70,469 |
| 41 | Lee County | 70,258 |
| 42 | Stanly County | 68,830 |
| 43 | Wilkes County | 66,233 |
| 44 | Rutherford County | 65,745 |
| 45 | Haywood County | 63,369 |
| 46 | Sampson County | 61,504 |
| 47 | Granville County | 61,421 |
| 48 | Hoke County | 56,939 |
| 49 | Lenoir County | 55,837 |
| 50 | Watauga County | 54,786 |
| 51 | Duplin County | 51,571 |
| 52 | Columbus County | 50,487 |
| 53 | Edgecombe County | 49,121 |
| 54 | Halifax County | 46,534 |
| 55 | Stokes County | 46,126 |
| 56 | Davie County | 45,855 |
| 57 | McDowell County | 45,198 |
| 58 | Jackson County | 45,039 |
| 59 | Beaufort County | 44,670 |
| 60 | Vance County | 42,638 |
| 61 | Pasquotank County | 42,201 |
| 62 | Richmond County | 42,041 |
| 63 | Person County | 40,636 |
| 64 | Macon County | 39,232 |
| 65 | Yadkin County | 38,325 |
| 66 | Dare County | 38,245 |
| 67 | Alexander County | 36,958 |
| 68 | Transylvania County | 34,211 |
| 69 | Scotland County | 33,322 |
| 70 | Currituck County | 33,158 |
| 71 | Cherokee County | 30,830 |
| 72 | Bladen County | 30,007 |
| 73 | Ashe County | 27,514 |
| 74 | Montgomery County | 26,403 |
| 75 | Caswell County | 22,563 |
| 76 | Madison County | 22,553 |
| 77 | Anson County | 21,758 |
| 78 | Martin County | 21,601 |
| 79 | Greene County | 20,700 |
| 80 | Polk County | 20,533 |
| 81 | Yancey County | 19,084 |
| 82 | Hertford County | 19,015 |
| 83 | Warren County | 18,898 |
| 84 | Avery County | 18,110 |
| 85 | Bertie County | 17,086 |
| 86 | Northampton County | 16,491 |
| 87 | Mitchell County | 15,062 |
| 88 | Chowan County | 14,082 |
| 89 | Swain County | 14,024 |
| 90 | Perquimans County | 13,490 |
| 91 | Pamlico County | 12,758 |
| 92 | Clay County | 12,239 |
| 93 | Alleghany County | 11,479 |
| 94 | Camden County | 11,315 |
| 95 | Washington County | 10,638 |
| 96 | Gates County | 10,234 |
| 97 | Jones County | 9,575 |
| 98 | Graham County | 8,190 |
| 99 | Hyde County | 4,554 |
| 100 | Tyrrell County | 3,537 |