Cities in North Carolina by unemployed people

Charlotte, NC had the highest unemployed people of 43 cities in 2016, at 22,044. Clayton, NC had the lowest, at 452. The median was 1,000. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest22,044Charlotte, NC
Lowest452Clayton, NC
Median1,00043 cities

All cities, 2016

Charlotte, NC: 22,044 personsCharlotte, NC22,044Raleigh, NC: 11,104 personsRaleigh, NC11,104Greensboro, NC: 7,845 personsGreensboro, NC7,845Durham, NC: 6,319 personsDurham, NC6,319Winston-Salem, NC: 5,976 personsWinston-Salem, NC5,976Fayetteville, NC: 5,127 personsFayetteville, NC5,127Cary, NC: 3,419 personsCary, NC3,419High Point, NC: 3,002 personsHigh Point, NC3,002Wilmington, NC: 2,865 personsWilmington, NC2,865Greenville, NC: 2,686 personsGreenville, NC2,686Concord, NC: 2,158 personsConcord, NC2,158Gastonia, NC: 2,092 personsGastonia, NC2,092Rocky Mount, NC: 2,054 personsRocky Mount, NC2,054Wilson, NC: 1,987 personsWilson, NC1,987Asheville, NC: 1,925 personsAsheville, NC1,925Chapel Hill, NC: 1,451 personsChapel Hill, NC1,451Jacksonville, NC: 1,317 personsJacksonville, NC1,317Burlington, NC: 1,290 personsBurlington, NC1,290Huntersville, NC: 1,226 personsHuntersville, NC1,226Kannapolis, NC: 1,163 personsKannapolis, NC1,163Mooresville, NC: 1,112 personsMooresville, NC1,112Hickory, NC: 1,000 personsHickory, NC1,000Goldsboro, NC: 968 personsGoldsboro, NC968Salisbury, NC: 965 personsSalisbury, NC965Apex, NC: 941 personsApex, NC941Wake Forest, NC: 844 personsWake Forest, NC844Indian Trail, NC: 831 personsIndian Trail, NC831Monroe, NC: 820 personsMonroe, NC820Sanford, NC: 757 personsSanford, NC757Statesville, NC: 710 personsStatesville, NC710Thomasville, NC: 690 personsThomasville, NC690Garner, NC: 679 personsGarner, NC679Holly Springs, NC: 659 personsHolly Springs, NC659Cornelius, NC: 658 personsCornelius, NC658New Bern, NC: 655 personsNew Bern, NC655Kinston, NC: 652 personsKinston, NC652Matthews, NC: 639 personsMatthews, NC639Asheboro, NC: 613 personsAsheboro, NC613Mint Hill, NC: 592 personsMint Hill, NC592Kernersville, NC: 572 personsKernersville, NC572Fuquay-Varina, NC: 570 personsFuquay-Varina, NC570Morrisville, NC: 498 personsMorrisville, NC498Clayton, NC: 452 personsClayton, NC452Charlotte, NC: 22,044 personsCharlotte, NC22,044Raleigh, NC: 11,104 personsRaleigh, NC11,104Greensboro, NC: 7,845 personsGreensboro, NC7,845Durham, NC: 6,319 personsDurham, NC6,319Winston-Salem, NC: 5,976 personsWinston-Salem, NC5,976Fayetteville, NC: 5,127 personsFayetteville, NC5,127Cary, NC: 3,419 personsCary, NC3,419High Point, NC: 3,002 personsHigh Point, NC3,002Wilmington, NC: 2,865 personsWilmington, NC2,865Greenville, NC: 2,686 personsGreenville, NC2,686Concord, NC: 2,158 personsConcord, NC2,158Gastonia, NC: 2,092 personsGastonia, NC2,092Rocky Mount, NC: 2,054 personsRocky Mount, NC2,054Wilson, NC: 1,987 personsWilson, NC1,987Asheville, NC: 1,925 personsAsheville, NC1,925Chapel Hill, NC: 1,451 personsChapel Hill, NC1,451Jacksonville, NC: 1,317 personsJacksonville, NC1,317Burlington, NC: 1,290 personsBurlington, NC1,290Huntersville, NC: 1,226 personsHuntersville, NC1,226Kannapolis, NC: 1,163 personsKannapolis, NC1,163Mooresville, NC: 1,112 personsMooresville, NC1,112Hickory, NC: 1,000 personsHickory, NC1,000Goldsboro, NC: 968 personsGoldsboro, NC968Salisbury, NC: 965 personsSalisbury, NC965Apex, NC: 941 personsApex, NC941Wake Forest, NC: 844 personsWake Forest, NC844Indian Trail, NC: 831 personsIndian Trail, NC831Monroe, NC: 820 personsMonroe, NC820Sanford, NC: 757 personsSanford, NC757Statesville, NC: 710 personsStatesville, NC710Thomasville, NC: 690 personsThomasville, NC690Garner, NC: 679 personsGarner, NC679Holly Springs, NC: 659 personsHolly Springs, NC659Cornelius, NC: 658 personsCornelius, NC658New Bern, NC: 655 personsNew Bern, NC655Kinston, NC: 652 personsKinston, NC652Matthews, NC: 639 personsMatthews, NC639Asheboro, NC: 613 personsAsheboro, NC613Mint Hill, NC: 592 personsMint Hill, NC592Kernersville, NC: 572 personsKernersville, NC572Fuquay-Varina, NC: 570 personsFuquay-Varina, NC570Morrisville, NC: 498 personsMorrisville, NC498Clayton, NC: 452 personsClayton, NC452
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2016
persons
Change on 2015
1Charlotte, NC22,044+1.8%
2Raleigh, NC11,104+2.7%
3Greensboro, NC7,845-0.7%
4Durham, NC6,319+2.9%
5Winston-Salem, NC5,976-2.9%
6Fayetteville, NC5,127+8.3%
7Cary, NC3,419+4.7%
8High Point, NC3,002-1.3%
9Wilmington, NC2,865-4.6%
10Greenville, NC2,686+3.6%
11Concord, NC2,158+19.2%
12Gastonia, NC2,092-1.1%
13Rocky Mount, NC2,054-0.1%
14Wilson, NC1,987-4.7%
15Asheville, NC1,925+0.8%
16Chapel Hill, NC1,451-2.2%
17Jacksonville, NC1,317+4.6%
18Burlington, NC1,2900%
19Huntersville, NC1,226+9.4%
20Kannapolis, NC1,163-2.9%
21Mooresville, NC1,112+17.8%
22Hickory, NC1,000-1.7%
23Goldsboro, NC968+1.1%
24Salisbury, NC965+7.2%
25Apex, NC941+6.4%
26Wake Forest, NC844+19%
27Indian Trail, NC831+10.5%
28Monroe, NC820-6.4%
29Sanford, NC757-9.8%
30Statesville, NC710-4.3%
31Thomasville, NC690-1.3%
32Garner, NC679+4.3%
33Holly Springs, NC659+14.6%
34Cornelius, NC658+9.1%
35New Bern, NC655-0.9%
36Kinston, NC652-1.4%
37Matthews, NC639-10.6%
38Asheboro, NC613-4.2%
39Mint Hill, NC592+4.8%
40Kernersville, NC572+5%
41Fuquay-Varina, NC570+22.3%
42Morrisville, NC498+5.1%
43Clayton, NC452+11.3%

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 2016 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, 2016) [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, 2016. 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=2016. 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, 2016. 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=2016.

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, 2016 [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=2016 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_north_carolina_2016,
  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, 2016}},
  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=2016. 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, 2016
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=2016
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/north-carolina-cities?period=2016.
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 22,044 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Clayton, NC, with 452 in 2016.

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 2016 and are not ranked.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in North Carolina: more rankings