Counties in North Carolina by wages and salaries paid

Mecklenburg County had the highest wages and salaries paid of 100 counties in 2017, at $49.03 billion. Tyrrell County had the lowest, at $41.67 million. The median was $669.42 million and the figure for North Carolina was $232.42 billion. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Highest49,032.1Mecklenburg County

Lowest41.7Tyrrell County

Median669.4100 counties

North Carolina232,415.4History

Map of counties, 2017

Under 200
200 to 400
400 to 700
700 to 1,100
1,100 to 2,500
2,500 and over

USD million, 2017. Source: BEA, CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

Top 40 counties, 2017

USD million. Source: BEA, CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Counties	2017 USD million	Change on 2016
1	Mecklenburg County	49,032.1	+6%
2	Wake County	34,295.6	+6.3%
3	Guilford County	14,856.3	+5%
4	Durham County	14,715.6	+5%
5	Forsyth County	10,434.1	+6.4%
6	Cumberland County	8,790	+3%
7	Buncombe County	5,984.6	+5.1%
8	New Hanover County	5,524.5	+6.7%
9	Onslow County	4,219.7	-3.2%
10	Orange County	4,217.2	+3.3%
11	Catawba County	4,050.6	+6.8%
12	Iredell County	3,753.5	+0.8%
13	Pitt County	3,682.7	+4.1%
14	Cabarrus County	3,533.6	+8.3%
15	Gaston County	3,154.6	+6.1%
16	Union County	3,060.2	+6.9%
17	Alamance County	2,691.2	+5%
18	Rowan County	2,255.9	+3.8%
19	Craven County	2,245.8	-0.8%
20	Johnston County	2,084.6	+5.5%
21	Wayne County	1,975.5	+2.9%
22	Davidson County	1,945.5	+5.6%
23	Randolph County	1,773.4	+2.9%
24	Wilson County	1,751.2	+2.8%
25	Nash County	1,736.5	+1.5%
26	Henderson County	1,638.5	+5.6%
27	Moore County	1,515.9	+4.6%
28	Cleveland County	1,498.3	+4.7%
29	Robeson County	1,444.7	+2.9%
30	Brunswick County	1,374.1	+6.8%
31	Burke County	1,175.3	+2.6%
32	Lenoir County	1,159.1	+6.7%
33	Lee County	1,144.6	+5.3%
34	Surry County	1,133.2	+6.2%
35	Caldwell County	1,051.8	+9.5%
36	Granville County	1,023.8	+5.2%
37	Rockingham County	1,012.8	-1.4%
38	Harnett County	1,005.9	+6.1%
39	Lincoln County	990.6	+5%
40	Watauga County	925.3	+4.8%
41	Carteret County	901.7	+6.6%
42	Wilkes County	893.8	+5.4%
43	Stanly County	747.4	+5%
44	Sampson County	737.8	+4.4%
45	Dare County	715.6	+3.4%
46	Duplin County	706.4	+0.1%
47	Jackson County	706	+6.4%
48	Pasquotank County	704.7	+2.9%
49	Rutherford County	687.7	+1%
50	Haywood County	683.9	+2.8%
51	Edgecombe County	654.9	+1.5%
52	Beaufort County	654.5	+1.5%
53	McDowell County	642.7	+6%
54	Chatham County	617.1	+6.4%
55	Halifax County	592.6	+2%
56	Columbus County	586.6	-1.2%
57	Vance County	566.9	+0.9%
58	Franklin County	566	+7.8%
59	Richmond County	543.8	+2.4%
60	Bladen County	510.1	+3.3%
61	Davie County	505.6	+8.1%
62	Scotland County	469.8	+2.7%
63	Pender County	463.1	+5.2%
64	Person County	436.2	+2.2%
65	Macon County	422.6	+4.1%
66	Yadkin County	381.5	+3%
67	Montgomery County	379	+5.3%
68	Hertford County	360.8	+4.4%
69	Transylvania County	354.9	+5.8%
70	Hoke County	343.2	+6.3%
71	Alexander County	342.2	+6.3%
72	Martin County	297.2	+2.3%
73	Cherokee County	297.2	+6.3%
74	Ashe County	288.4	+7%
75	Anson County	267.2	+0.1%
76	Stokes County	267	+6.8%
77	Currituck County	262	+7.2%
78	Swain County	252.7	+2.7%
79	Avery County	246.3	+5.1%
80	Bertie County	217.3	+1.1%
81	Northampton County	203.5	+0.7%
82	Mitchell County	187.4	+4.8%
83	Chowan County	184.7	+4.4%
84	Polk County	181.1	+3.3%
85	Greene County	166	+7.2%
86	Madison County	141.3	+4.2%
87	Yancey County	136.3	+2.1%
88	Caswell County	116.5	+6.4%
89	Warren County	111.7	-3.9%
90	Pamlico County	110.2	+3.6%
91	Alleghany County	109.2	+3.5%
92	Washington County	107.9	+1.8%
93	Perquimans County	80.5	+3.8%
94	Hyde County	80.3	+3%
95	Graham County	77.9	+9.5%
96	Jones County	67.5	+4.6%
97	Clay County	65.9	+1%
98	Gates County	58.3	+4.4%
99	Camden County	54.9	-6.2%
100	Tyrrell County	41.7	+8.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Total wages and salaries paid to employees for jobs located in a place, including tips, bonuses and pay in kind, before deductions, in millions of current US dollars. United States: Bureau of Economic Analysis regional accounts, table SAINC4 line 50 for the nation and states and CAINC4 line 50 for counties.

Counted where the jobs are, not where the workers live, so places with many commuters coming in can pay more in wages than their residents receive in personal income (the District of Columbia does). Excludes employer contributions to pensions, insurance and social security, and the income of the self-employed.

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. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. 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 Economic Analysis. (2026). CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents (Counties in North Carolina by wages and salaries paid, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip

MLA 9

CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents, Counties in North Carolina by wages and salaries paid, 2017. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 5 Feb. 2026, https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/north-carolina-counties?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2026. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Counties in North Carolina by wages and salaries paid, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/north-carolina-counties?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2026) CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents, Counties in North Carolina by wages and salaries paid, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/north-carolina-counties?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{bureau_counties_in_north_carolina_2017,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis}},
  title = {{CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents: Counties in North Carolina by wages and salaries paid, 2017}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/north-carolina-counties?period=2017. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
TI  - CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents: Counties in North Carolina by wages and salaries paid, 2017
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/05
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/north-carolina-counties?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/wages-and-salaries/north-carolina-counties?period=2017.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. https://apps.bea.gov/regional/zip/CAINC4.zip. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -

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Questions

Which county has the highest wages and salaries paid?

Mecklenburg County, with $49.03 billion in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Which county has the lowest wages and salaries paid?

Tyrrell County, with $41.67 million in 2017.

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, CAINC4: personal income by major component, wages and salaries (published in thousands of dollars, shown in millions), individual counties and county equivalents. Retrieved 2026-10-12.