State · North Carolina

All 549 North Carolina cities: complete list and data.

The complete North Carolina city list has 549 incorporated places tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau (Vintage 2025), with a combined population of 6,514,538 as of July 1, 2025. Charlotte is the largest at 964,784 residents. Browse by population, income, or download the full state list.

Source U.S. Census · PEP
Vintage V2025
Reference 2025-07-01
Geography North Carolina · cities reported under PEP
Coverage 549 cities
Last build 2026-10-09

Filter all North Carolina city rows

549 rows

All cities in North Carolina, sorted by 2025 population.
Rank	City	2025 pop	2020 base	5-yr Δ	5-yr Δ %
#1	Charlotte	964,784	874,708	90,076	+10.3%
#2	Raleigh	506,306	468,102	38,204	+8.2%
#3	Greensboro	308,667	299,197	9,470	+3.2%
#4	Durham	305,561	283,881	21,680	+7.6%
#5	Winston-Salem	257,271	249,549	7,722	+3.1%
#6	Fayetteville	209,120	208,427	693	+0.3%
#7	Cary	183,582	174,787	8,795	+5.0%
#8	Wilmington	126,809	115,494	11,315	+9.8%
#9	High Point	120,571	114,075	6,496	+5.7%
#10	Concord	114,598	105,316	9,282	+8.8%
#11	Greenville	96,443	89,262	7,181	+8.0%
#12	Asheville	93,523	94,738	-1,215	-1.3%
#13	Gastonia	87,067	80,453	6,614	+8.2%
#14	Apex	80,419	64,366	16,053	+24.9%
#15	Jacksonville	72,732	72,635	97	+0.1%
#16	Huntersville	68,535	61,418	7,117	+11.6%
#17	Chapel Hill	63,565	62,269	1,296	+2.1%
#18	Kannapolis	61,708	53,176	8,532	+16.0%
#19	Burlington	61,496	57,378	4,118	+7.2%
#20	Wake Forest	58,147	48,009	10,138	+21.1%
#21	Mooresville	55,842	50,288	5,554	+11.0%
#22	Rocky Mount	55,120	54,407	713	+1.3%
#23	Holly Springs	50,288	41,263	9,025	+21.9%
#24	Wilson	49,572	48,476	1,096	+2.3%
#25	Fuquay-Varina	48,536	34,280	14,256	+41.6%
#26	Hickory	45,975	43,622	2,353	+5.4%
#27	Indian Trail	44,303	40,160	4,143	+10.3%
#28	Monroe	42,644	34,637	8,007	+23.1%
#29	Garner	41,562	31,463	10,099	+32.1%
#30	Salisbury	36,879	35,435	1,444	+4.1%
#31	Leland	35,731	23,365	12,366	+52.9%
#32	Cornelius	35,094	31,417	3,677	+11.7%
#33	Goldsboro	35,012	34,218	794	+2.3%
#34	New Bern	34,724	31,319	3,405	+10.9%
#35	Sanford	34,138	30,197	3,941	+13.1%
#36	Matthews	32,769	29,427	3,342	+11.4%
#37	Clayton	32,633	26,314	6,319	+24.0%
#38	Morrisville	32,466	29,848	2,618	+8.8%
#39	Statesville	32,181	28,488	3,693	+13.0%
#40	Mint Hill	29,476	26,450	3,026	+11.4%
#41	Kernersville	29,128	26,514	2,614	+9.9%
#42	Asheboro	27,990	27,208	782	+2.9%
#43	Thomasville	27,733	27,076	657	+2.4%
#44	Shelby	23,309	21,895	1,414	+6.5%
#45	Knightdale	23,144	19,520	3,624	+18.6%
#46	Waxhaw	23,140	20,548	2,592	+12.6%
#47	Clemmons	22,808	21,177	1,631	+7.7%
#48	Mebane	21,952	17,752	4,200	+23.7%
#49	Carrboro	20,962	21,292	-330	-1.5%
#50	Harrisburg	20,742	19,013	1,729	+9.1%
#51	Lexington	20,238	19,636	602	+3.1%
#52	Graham	20,131	17,167	2,964	+17.3%
#53	Boone	19,929	19,127	802	+4.2%
#54	Kinston	19,705	19,808	-103	-0.5%
#55	Wendell	19,687	9,841	9,846	+100.1%
#56	Elizabeth City	19,622	18,642	980	+5.3%
#57	Mount Holly	19,033	17,690	1,343	+7.6%
#58	Lumberton	18,955	19,310	-355	-1.8%
#59	Pinehurst	18,670	17,585	1,085	+6.2%
#60	Lenoir	18,372	18,360	12	+0.1%
#61	Hope Mills	18,324	17,869	455	+2.5%
#62	Morganton	17,849	17,456	393	+2.3%
#63	Albemarle	17,769	16,452	1,317	+8.0%
#64	Stallings	17,760	16,110	1,650	+10.2%
#65	Havelock	17,430	16,735	695	+4.2%
#66	Southern Pines	17,357	15,607	1,750	+11.2%
#67	Davidson	16,662	15,154	1,508	+10.0%
#68	Belmont	16,415	15,006	1,409	+9.4%
#69	Hendersonville	15,867	15,183	684	+4.5%
#70	Eden	15,500	15,415	85	+0.6%
#71	Henderson	15,013	15,153	-140	-0.9%
#72	Reidsville	14,692	14,584	108	+0.7%
#73	Laurinburg	14,582	14,970	-388	-2.6%
#74	Weddington	14,517	13,179	1,338	+10.2%
#75	Lewisville	14,421	13,383	1,038	+7.8%
#76	Roanoke Rapids	14,386	15,237	-851	-5.6%
#77	Newton	13,822	13,129	693	+5.3%
#78	Smithfield	13,114	11,304	1,810	+16.0%
#79	Rolesville	12,839	9,663	3,176	+32.9%
#80	Lincolnton	12,465	11,077	1,388	+12.5%
#81	Archdale	12,254	11,889	365	+3.1%
#82	Kings Mountain	12,117	11,273	844	+7.5%
#83	Zebulon	11,933	6,915	5,018	+72.6%
#84	Pineville	11,851	10,605	1,246	+11.7%
#85	Elon	11,366	11,343	23	+0.2%
#86	Summerfield	11,327	10,952	375	+3.4%
#87	Spring Lake	11,252	11,684	-432	-3.7%
#88	Waynesville	11,006	10,130	876	+8.6%
#89	Tarboro	10,979	10,712	267	+2.5%
#90	Winterville	10,973	10,464	509	+4.9%
#91	Mount Airy	10,682	10,666	16	+0.2%
#92	Morehead City	10,434	9,570	864	+9.0%
#93	Aberdeen	10,066	8,521	1,545	+18.1%
#94	Washington	9,910	10,057	-147	-1.5%
#95	Gibsonville	9,876	8,945	931	+10.4%
#96	Hillsborough	9,778	9,654	124	+1.3%
#97	Wesley Chapel	9,566	8,674	892	+10.3%
#98	Angier	9,410	5,366	4,044	+75.4%
#99	Oak Island	9,337	8,396	941	+11.2%
#100	Oxford	8,985	8,783	202	+2.3%

All 549 cities in North Carolina. Use the controls to filter, sort, and download this state slice.

Source detail for this table

Values in this table inherit the source agency, native geography, transformation, and caveats below.

Source detail: 2025 population

2025 population

Source agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset: Census PEP
Vintage / period: Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography: Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation: Copied from POPESTIMATE2025, joined by Census GEOID, and used for ranks, filters, and city pages.

Known limit: Annual estimate, not a decennial count; each new PEP vintage can revise the prior series.

Methodology Original source

Source detail: 2020 Census base population

2020 Census base population

Source agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset: Census PEP
Vintage / period: Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography: Census PEP subcounty place records for the included city universe.
Transformation: Copied from the Vintage 2025 April 1, 2020 base and joined by Census GEOID.

Known limit: This is the PEP base for the 2020s estimate series; do not mix it with older PEP vintages as if they were one continuous methodology.

Methodology Original source

Source detail: Population change

Population change

Source agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset: Census PEP
Vintage / period: Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography: Census PEP subcounty place records, using values inside the same Vintage 2025 release.
Transformation: Computed as a displayed-year estimate minus the comparison-year estimate from the same vintage, then ranked or filtered as needed.

Known limit: Annual estimates can be revised with each vintage; this is not a decennial count or net-migration table.

Methodology Original source

Source detail: Population rank

Population rank

Source agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division
Dataset: Census PEP
Vintage / period: Vintage 2025 (Jul 1, 2025)
Native geography: Included Census place/consolidated-city universe after the site inclusion rules are applied.
Transformation: Ranks are computed from the site CSV with standard competition ranking, so ties share a rank and the next rank is skipped.

Known limit: Ranks are only within this city/place universe, not all counties, CDPs, metros, or total U.S. population.

Methodology Original source

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Population and demographics for North Carolina cities and places, curated into a paid workbook with a field dictionary and ACS margins of error.

776 Census places · 549 cities with annual population · Excel and CSV

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North Carolina map of one-year population percentage change, 2024 to 2025, for 549 Census PEP cities, over USGS shaded terrain relief. Green dots gained population, rust dots lost population, and gray dots did not change. Dot size reflects percentage change. Geographic context only; dots do not show ZIP income or rent values.

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Methodology · what counts as a city

North Carolina cities follow the V1 universe.

North Carolina cities follow the same V1 universe: incorporated places, consolidated city-county governments where applicable, and Washington DC where applicable. Census-designated places (CDPs) are excluded, with one named national exception — Urban Honolulu (Honolulu only). State ranks are standard competition ranking (“1224”) within North Carolina: tied cities share the lower rank and the next rank is skipped. Ranks are pre-computed in the dataset (state_rank_pop_current).

Read the full methodology →

Want the full dataset?

All 19,483 cities as a single CSV.

The national CSV includes every state. Every field for every place. Public-domain. sha256 verified.

Download cities-v2025.csv