Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people

Charlotte, NC had the highest unemployed people of 43 cities in 2014, at 21,717. Clayton, NC had the lowest, at 370. The median was 972. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest21,717Charlotte, NC
Lowest370Clayton, NC
Median97243 cities

All cities, 2014

Charlotte, NC: 21,717 personsCharlotte, NC21,717Raleigh, NC: 10,393 personsRaleigh, NC10,393Greensboro, NC: 8,190 personsGreensboro, NC8,190Winston-Salem, NC: 6,258 personsWinston-Salem, NC6,258Durham, NC: 5,874 personsDurham, NC5,874Fayetteville, NC: 4,613 personsFayetteville, NC4,613High Point, NC: 3,320 personsHigh Point, NC3,320Cary, NC: 3,027 personsCary, NC3,027Wilmington, NC: 3,003 personsWilmington, NC3,003Greenville, NC: 2,574 personsGreenville, NC2,574Gastonia, NC: 2,154 personsGastonia, NC2,154Rocky Mount, NC: 2,148 personsRocky Mount, NC2,148Wilson, NC: 1,978 personsWilson, NC1,978Asheville, NC: 1,849 personsAsheville, NC1,849Concord, NC: 1,777 personsConcord, NC1,777Chapel Hill, NC: 1,433 personsChapel Hill, NC1,433Burlington, NC: 1,349 personsBurlington, NC1,349Kannapolis, NC: 1,260 personsKannapolis, NC1,260Jacksonville, NC: 1,217 personsJacksonville, NC1,217Hickory, NC: 1,086 personsHickory, NC1,086Huntersville, NC: 1,036 personsHuntersville, NC1,036Goldsboro, NC: 972 personsGoldsboro, NC972Salisbury, NC: 962 personsSalisbury, NC962Mooresville, NC: 910 personsMooresville, NC910Sanford, NC: 892 personsSanford, NC892Monroe, NC: 870 personsMonroe, NC870Apex, NC: 845 personsApex, NC845Statesville, NC: 820 personsStatesville, NC820Thomasville, NC: 754 personsThomasville, NC754Kinston, NC: 752 personsKinston, NC752Indian Trail, NC: 730 personsIndian Trail, NC730New Bern, NC: 722 personsNew Bern, NC722Matthews, NC: 675 personsMatthews, NC675Garner, NC: 666 personsGarner, NC666Asheboro, NC: 650 personsAsheboro, NC650Wake Forest, NC: 615 personsWake Forest, NC615Kernersville, NC: 571 personsKernersville, NC571Mint Hill, NC: 565 personsMint Hill, NC565Cornelius, NC: 536 personsCornelius, NC536Holly Springs, NC: 500 personsHolly Springs, NC500Fuquay-Varina, NC: 423 personsFuquay-Varina, NC423Morrisville, NC: 400 personsMorrisville, NC400Clayton, NC: 370 personsClayton, NC370Charlotte, NC: 21,717 personsCharlotte, NC21,717Raleigh, NC: 10,393 personsRaleigh, NC10,393Greensboro, NC: 8,190 personsGreensboro, NC8,190Winston-Salem, NC: 6,258 personsWinston-Salem, NC6,258Durham, NC: 5,874 personsDurham, NC5,874Fayetteville, NC: 4,613 personsFayetteville, NC4,613High Point, NC: 3,320 personsHigh Point, NC3,320Cary, NC: 3,027 personsCary, NC3,027Wilmington, NC: 3,003 personsWilmington, NC3,003Greenville, NC: 2,574 personsGreenville, NC2,574Gastonia, NC: 2,154 personsGastonia, NC2,154Rocky Mount, NC: 2,148 personsRocky Mount, NC2,148Wilson, NC: 1,978 personsWilson, NC1,978Asheville, NC: 1,849 personsAsheville, NC1,849Concord, NC: 1,777 personsConcord, NC1,777Chapel Hill, NC: 1,433 personsChapel Hill, NC1,433Burlington, NC: 1,349 personsBurlington, NC1,349Kannapolis, NC: 1,260 personsKannapolis, NC1,260Jacksonville, NC: 1,217 personsJacksonville, NC1,217Hickory, NC: 1,086 personsHickory, NC1,086Huntersville, NC: 1,036 personsHuntersville, NC1,036Goldsboro, NC: 972 personsGoldsboro, NC972Salisbury, NC: 962 personsSalisbury, NC962Mooresville, NC: 910 personsMooresville, NC910Sanford, NC: 892 personsSanford, NC892Monroe, NC: 870 personsMonroe, NC870Apex, NC: 845 personsApex, NC845Statesville, NC: 820 personsStatesville, NC820Thomasville, NC: 754 personsThomasville, NC754Kinston, NC: 752 personsKinston, NC752Indian Trail, NC: 730 personsIndian Trail, NC730New Bern, NC: 722 personsNew Bern, NC722Matthews, NC: 675 personsMatthews, NC675Garner, NC: 666 personsGarner, NC666Asheboro, NC: 650 personsAsheboro, NC650Wake Forest, NC: 615 personsWake Forest, NC615Kernersville, NC: 571 personsKernersville, NC571Mint Hill, NC: 565 personsMint Hill, NC565Cornelius, NC: 536 personsCornelius, NC536Holly Springs, NC: 500 personsHolly Springs, NC500Fuquay-Varina, NC: 423 personsFuquay-Varina, NC423Morrisville, NC: 400 personsMorrisville, NC400Clayton, NC: 370 personsClayton, NC370
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2014
persons
Change on 2013
1Charlotte, NC21,717-19.9%
2Raleigh, NC10,393-16.7%
3Greensboro, NC8,190-21.6%
4Winston-Salem, NC6,258-21%
5Durham, NC5,874-17.2%
6Fayetteville, NC4,613-18.1%
7High Point, NC3,320-19.4%
8Cary, NC3,027-14.1%
9Wilmington, NC3,003-19.9%
10Greenville, NC2,574-17.7%
11Gastonia, NC2,154-23.7%
12Rocky Mount, NC2,148-25.1%
13Wilson, NC1,978-21%
14Asheville, NC1,849-20.5%
15Concord, NC1,777-18.2%
16Chapel Hill, NC1,433-11.1%
17Burlington, NC1,349-24.1%
18Kannapolis, NC1,260-21.1%
19Jacksonville, NC1,217-12.3%
20Hickory, NC1,086-23.7%
21Huntersville, NC1,036-17.1%
22Goldsboro, NC972-17.4%
23Salisbury, NC962-21.2%
24Mooresville, NC910-19.3%
25Sanford, NC892-22.3%
26Monroe, NC870-18%
27Apex, NC845-11.9%
28Statesville, NC820-24.9%
29Thomasville, NC754-23.1%
30Kinston, NC752-20.8%
31Indian Trail, NC730-16%
32New Bern, NC722-22.9%
33Matthews, NC675-15.2%
34Garner, NC666-19.2%
35Asheboro, NC650-30.6%
36Wake Forest, NC615-12.3%
37Kernersville, NC571-17.1%
38Mint Hill, NC565-19.1%
39Cornelius, NC536-17.9%
40Holly Springs, NC500-13.2%
41Fuquay-Varina, NC423-8.8%
42Morrisville, NC400-17.9%
43Clayton, NC370-15.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, 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. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. 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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2014 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people, 2014. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2014. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2014.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2014 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2014,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people, 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2014. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people, 2014
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.CurrentU10-14
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU10-14. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Rank Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Charlotte, NC, with 21,717 in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Clayton, NC, with 370 in 2014.

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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 1 cities have no value for 2014 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings