Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people

Charlotte, NC had the highest unemployed people of 43 cities in 2015, at 21,657. Clayton, NC had the lowest, at 406. The median was 957. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest21,657Charlotte, NC
Lowest406Clayton, NC
Median95743 cities

All cities, 2015

Charlotte, NC: 21,657 personsCharlotte, NC21,657Raleigh, NC: 10,813 personsRaleigh, NC10,813Greensboro, NC: 7,898 personsGreensboro, NC7,898Winston-Salem, NC: 6,155 personsWinston-Salem, NC6,155Durham, NC: 6,141 personsDurham, NC6,141Fayetteville, NC: 4,736 personsFayetteville, NC4,736Cary, NC: 3,267 personsCary, NC3,267High Point, NC: 3,040 personsHigh Point, NC3,040Wilmington, NC: 3,004 personsWilmington, NC3,004Greenville, NC: 2,592 personsGreenville, NC2,592Gastonia, NC: 2,115 personsGastonia, NC2,115Wilson, NC: 2,086 personsWilson, NC2,086Rocky Mount, NC: 2,056 personsRocky Mount, NC2,056Asheville, NC: 1,909 personsAsheville, NC1,909Concord, NC: 1,811 personsConcord, NC1,811Chapel Hill, NC: 1,483 personsChapel Hill, NC1,483Burlington, NC: 1,290 personsBurlington, NC1,290Jacksonville, NC: 1,259 personsJacksonville, NC1,259Kannapolis, NC: 1,198 personsKannapolis, NC1,198Huntersville, NC: 1,121 personsHuntersville, NC1,121Hickory, NC: 1,017 personsHickory, NC1,017Goldsboro, NC: 957 personsGoldsboro, NC957Mooresville, NC: 944 personsMooresville, NC944Salisbury, NC: 900 personsSalisbury, NC900Apex, NC: 884 personsApex, NC884Monroe, NC: 876 personsMonroe, NC876Sanford, NC: 839 personsSanford, NC839Indian Trail, NC: 752 personsIndian Trail, NC752Statesville, NC: 742 personsStatesville, NC742Matthews, NC: 715 personsMatthews, NC715Wake Forest, NC: 709 personsWake Forest, NC709Thomasville, NC: 699 personsThomasville, NC699Kinston, NC: 661 personsKinston, NC661New Bern, NC: 661 personsNew Bern, NC661Garner, NC: 651 personsGarner, NC651Asheboro, NC: 640 personsAsheboro, NC640Cornelius, NC: 603 personsCornelius, NC603Holly Springs, NC: 575 personsHolly Springs, NC575Mint Hill, NC: 565 personsMint Hill, NC565Kernersville, NC: 545 personsKernersville, NC545Morrisville, NC: 474 personsMorrisville, NC474Fuquay-Varina, NC: 466 personsFuquay-Varina, NC466Clayton, NC: 406 personsClayton, NC406Charlotte, NC: 21,657 personsCharlotte, NC21,657Raleigh, NC: 10,813 personsRaleigh, NC10,813Greensboro, NC: 7,898 personsGreensboro, NC7,898Winston-Salem, NC: 6,155 personsWinston-Salem, NC6,155Durham, NC: 6,141 personsDurham, NC6,141Fayetteville, NC: 4,736 personsFayetteville, NC4,736Cary, NC: 3,267 personsCary, NC3,267High Point, NC: 3,040 personsHigh Point, NC3,040Wilmington, NC: 3,004 personsWilmington, NC3,004Greenville, NC: 2,592 personsGreenville, NC2,592Gastonia, NC: 2,115 personsGastonia, NC2,115Wilson, NC: 2,086 personsWilson, NC2,086Rocky Mount, NC: 2,056 personsRocky Mount, NC2,056Asheville, NC: 1,909 personsAsheville, NC1,909Concord, NC: 1,811 personsConcord, NC1,811Chapel Hill, NC: 1,483 personsChapel Hill, NC1,483Burlington, NC: 1,290 personsBurlington, NC1,290Jacksonville, NC: 1,259 personsJacksonville, NC1,259Kannapolis, NC: 1,198 personsKannapolis, NC1,198Huntersville, NC: 1,121 personsHuntersville, NC1,121Hickory, NC: 1,017 personsHickory, NC1,017Goldsboro, NC: 957 personsGoldsboro, NC957Mooresville, NC: 944 personsMooresville, NC944Salisbury, NC: 900 personsSalisbury, NC900Apex, NC: 884 personsApex, NC884Monroe, NC: 876 personsMonroe, NC876Sanford, NC: 839 personsSanford, NC839Indian Trail, NC: 752 personsIndian Trail, NC752Statesville, NC: 742 personsStatesville, NC742Matthews, NC: 715 personsMatthews, NC715Wake Forest, NC: 709 personsWake Forest, NC709Thomasville, NC: 699 personsThomasville, NC699Kinston, NC: 661 personsKinston, NC661New Bern, NC: 661 personsNew Bern, NC661Garner, NC: 651 personsGarner, NC651Asheboro, NC: 640 personsAsheboro, NC640Cornelius, NC: 603 personsCornelius, NC603Holly Springs, NC: 575 personsHolly Springs, NC575Mint Hill, NC: 565 personsMint Hill, NC565Kernersville, NC: 545 personsKernersville, NC545Morrisville, NC: 474 personsMorrisville, NC474Fuquay-Varina, NC: 466 personsFuquay-Varina, NC466Clayton, NC: 406 personsClayton, NC406
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2015
persons
Change on 2014
1Charlotte, NC21,657-0.3%
2Raleigh, NC10,813+4%
3Greensboro, NC7,898-3.6%
4Winston-Salem, NC6,155-1.6%
5Durham, NC6,141+4.5%
6Fayetteville, NC4,736+2.7%
7Cary, NC3,267+7.9%
8High Point, NC3,040-8.4%
9Wilmington, NC3,0040%
10Greenville, NC2,592+0.7%
11Gastonia, NC2,115-1.8%
12Wilson, NC2,086+5.5%
13Rocky Mount, NC2,056-4.3%
14Asheville, NC1,909+3.2%
15Concord, NC1,811+1.9%
16Chapel Hill, NC1,483+3.5%
17Burlington, NC1,290-4.4%
18Jacksonville, NC1,259+3.5%
19Kannapolis, NC1,198-4.9%
20Huntersville, NC1,121+8.2%
21Hickory, NC1,017-6.4%
22Goldsboro, NC957-1.5%
23Mooresville, NC944+3.7%
24Salisbury, NC900-6.4%
25Apex, NC884+4.6%
26Monroe, NC876+0.7%
27Sanford, NC839-5.9%
28Indian Trail, NC752+3%
29Statesville, NC742-9.5%
30Matthews, NC715+5.9%
31Wake Forest, NC709+15.3%
32Thomasville, NC699-7.3%
33Kinston, NC661-12.1%
33New Bern, NC661-8.4%
35Garner, NC651-2.3%
36Asheboro, NC640-1.5%
37Cornelius, NC603+12.5%
38Holly Springs, NC575+15%
39Mint Hill, NC5650%
40Kernersville, NC545-4.6%
41Morrisville, NC474+18.5%
42Fuquay-Varina, NC466+10.2%
43Clayton, NC406+9.7%

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 2015 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people, 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2015. 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, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2015.

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, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2015,
  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, 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2015. 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.CurrentU15-19. 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, 2015
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.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2015.
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.CurrentU15-19. 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 21,657 in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Clayton, NC, with 406 in 2015.

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 2015 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings