North Carolina is a state located in the Southern United States. According to the 2020 United States census, North Carolina is the 9th-most populous state with 10,439,388 inhabitants, but the 28th-largest by land area spanning 53,819 square miles (139,390 km2) of land.[1][2] North Carolina is divided into 100 counties and contains 551 municipalities consisting of cities, towns, or villages.[3] The three different terms have no legal distinction.
‡ State capital and county seat
† County seat
Below is a list of the 50 most populous municipalities in North Carolina according to the 2020 census and 2023 census estimate.[4][5][6]
Name | Population (2023) | Population (2020) | Change | Type | County |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Charlotte† | 911,311 | 874,579 | +4.20% | City | Mecklenburg |
Raleigh‡ | 482,295 | 467,665 | +3.13% | City | Wake (seat), Durham |
Greensboro† | 302,296 | 299,035 | +1.09% | City | Guilford |
Durham† | 296,186 | 283,506 | +4.47% | City | Durham (seat), Wake, Orange |
Winston-Salem† | 252,975 | 249,545 | +1.37% | City | Forsyth |
Fayetteville† | 209,749 | 208,501 | +0.60% | City | Cumberland |
Cary | 180,010 | 174,721 | +3.03% | Town | Wake, Chatham |
Wilmington† | 122,698 | 115,451 | +6.28% | City | New Hanover |
High Point | 116,926 | 114,059 | +2.51% | City | Guilford, Randolph, Davidson, Forsyth |
Concord† | 110,119 | 105,240 | +4.64% | City | Cabarrus |
Asheville† | 95,056 | 94,589 | +0.49% | City | Buncombe |
Greenville† | 90,053 | 87,521 | +2.89% | City | Pitt |
Gastonia† | 83,942 | 80,411 | +4.39% | City | Gaston |
Jacksonville† | 72,879 | 72,723 | +0.21% | City | Onslow |
Apex | 72,225 | 58,780 | +22.87% | Town | Wake |
Huntersville | 64,688 | 61,376 | +5.40% | Town | Mecklenburg |
Chapel Hill | 62,043 | 61,960 | +0.13% | Town | Orange, Durham |
Burlington | 60,032 | 57,303 | +4.76% | City | Alamance |
Kannapolis | 59,321 | 53,114 | +11.69% | City | Cabarrus, Rowan |
Wake Forest | 54,337 | 47,601 | +14.15% | Town | Wake, Franklin |
Rocky Mount | 54,245 | 54,341 | −0.18% | City | Edgecombe, Nash |
Mooresville | 53,721 | 50,193 | +7.03% | Town | Iredell |
Wilson† | 47,833 | 47,851 | −0.04% | City | Wilson |
Holly Springs | 46,271 | 41,239 | +12.20% | Town | Wake |
Hickory | 44,415 | 43,490 | +2.13% | City | Catawba, Burke, Caldwell |
Fuquay-Varina | 43,817 | 34,152 | +28.30% | Town | Wake |
Indian Trail | 42,854 | 39,997 | +7.14% | Town | Union |
Monroe† | 37,797 | 34,562 | +9.36% | City | Union |
Salisbury† | 36,319 | 35,540 | +2.19% | City | Rowan |
Garner | 35,265 | 31,159 | +13.18% | Town | Wake |
Goldsboro† | 33,469 | 33,657 | −0.56% | City | Wayne |
Cornelius | 33,139 | 31,412 | +5.50% | Town | Mecklenburg |
New Bern† | 32,226 | 31,291 | +2.99% | City | Craven |
Sanford† | 32,064 | 30,261 | +5.96% | City | Lee |
Morrisville | 31,703 | 29,630 | +7.00% | Town | Wake, Durham |
Matthews | 30,934 | 29,435 | +5.09% | Town | Mecklenburg |
Leland | 30,542 | 22,908 | +33.32% | Town | Brunswick |
Statesville† | 30,220 | 28,419 | +6.34% | City | Iredell |
Clayton | 30,216 | 26,307 | +14.86% | Town | Johnston, Wake |
Kernersville | 28,016 | 26,449 | +5.92% | Town | Forsyth, Guilford |
Mint Hill | 27,815 | 26,450 | +5.16% | Town | Mecklenburg, Union |
Asheboro† | 27,726 | 27,156 | +2.10% | City | Randolph |
Thomasville | 27,435 | 27,183 | +0.93% | City | Davidson, Randolph |
Waxhaw | 23,073 | 20,534 | +12.36% | Town | Union |
Clemmons | 22,159 | 21,163 | +4.71% | Village | Forsyth |
Shelby† | 22,010 | 21,918 | +0.42% | City | Cleveland |
Carrboro | 21,103 | 21,295 | −0.90% | Town | Orange |
Knightdale | 20,275 | 19,435 | +4.32% | Town | Wake |
Mebane | 20,212 | 17,797 | +13.57% | City | Alamance, Orange |
Harrisburg | 19,883 | 18,967 | +4.83% | Town | Cabarrus |