North Carolina: cities and towns by population
By
James Burfield , SEO consultant, Bath · Page updated
18 September 2026 · GeoNames
The largest of North Carolina's 590 recorded places, ranked by population — 6,178,927 people across the state's towns and cities.
The essentials
Charlotte is the largest place we record in North Carolina, with 911,311 residents. The three largest together hold 27% of the 6,178,927 people counted across the state's recorded towns and cities. That total sums listed places rather than measuring the state itself, so treat it as coverage, never as an official population.
All 590 places, ranked
Figures are the latest available in
GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), which draws on national censuses of varying dates — treat them as recent, not same-year. Country totals are
UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant) where the UN lists the country separately; the handful it reports under a parent state keep a GeoNames figure and are marked as such.
Sources & method .
# Place Population 1 Charlotte 911,311 2 Raleigh 482,295 3 Greensboro 285,342 4 Durham 257,636 5 Winston-Salem 241,218 6 Fayetteville 201,963 7 Cary 159,769 8 Wilmington 115,933 9 High Point 110,268 10 Asheville 95,056 11 Greenville 90,597 12 Concord 87,696 13 Gastonia 74,543 14 Jacksonville 67,357 15 Chapel Hill 59,568 16 Rocky Mount 55,806 17 Huntersville 52,704 18 Burlington 52,472 19 Wilson 49,643 20 Kannapolis 46,144 21 Apex 45,585 22 Hickory 40,374 23 Wake Forest 38,199 24 Indian Trail 37,073 25 Mooresville 36,009 26 Goldsboro 35,826 27 Monroe 34,623 28 Salisbury 34,017 29 Holly Springs 31,377 30 Matthews 30,678 31 New Bern 30,070 32 Fort Bragg 29,183 33 Sanford 29,144 34 Cornelius 28,092 35 Garner 28,053 36 Thomasville 27,061 37 Statesville 26,221 38 Asheboro 26,103 39 Mint Hill 25,627 40 Fuquay-Varina 23,907 41 Morrisville 23,820 42 Kernersville 23,811 43 Lumberton 21,667 44 Kinston 21,337 45 Carrboro 21,156 46 Havelock 20,364 47 Shelby 20,189 48 Clemmons 19,844 49 Lexington 19,326 50 Clayton 19,304 51 Boone 18,156 52 Elizabeth City 17,988 53 Leland 17,924 54 Lenoir 17,888 55 Morganton 16,692 56 Hope Mills 16,163 57 Albemarle 16,003 58 Pinehurst 15,752 59 Laurinburg 15,507 60 Eden 15,403 61 Roanoke Rapids 15,345 62 Henderson 15,271 63 Stallings 15,270 64 Masonboro 14,826 65 Graham 14,647 66 Harrisburg 14,539 67 Knightdale 14,256 68 Murraysville 14,215 69 Mount Holly 14,176 70 Reidsville 14,067 71 Hendersonville 13,814 72 Mebane 13,698 73 Lewisville 13,567 74 Southern Pines 13,539 75 Waxhaw 13,495 76 Piney Green 13,293 77 Spring Lake 13,234 78 Newton 13,035 79 Davidson 12,207 80 Smithfield 12,022 81 Archdale 11,564 82 Tarboro 11,164 83 Lincolnton 10,900 84 Summerfield 10,861 85 Kings Mountain 10,760 86 Belmont 10,533 87 Weddington 10,531 88 Mount Airy 10,354 89 Elon 10,024 90 Waynesville 9,809 91 Washington 9,788 92 Dunn 9,723 93 Winterville 9,464 94 Morehead City 9,347 95 Rockingham 9,220 96 Myrtle Grove 8,875 97 Clinton 8,767 98 Saint Stephens 8,759 99 Oxford 8,742 100 Pineville 8,429 101 Siler City 8,396 102 Wesley Chapel 8,355 103 Half Moon 8,352 104 Roxboro 8,334 105 Black Mountain 8,278 106 Kings Grant 8,278 107 Conover 8,248 108 Marion 7,861 109 Butner 7,751 110 Brevard 7,735 111 Pope Air Force Base (historical) 7,680 112 Fletcher 7,582 113 Oak Island 7,507 114 Aberdeen 7,343 115 Forest City 7,282 116 Mills River 7,162 117 King 7,059 118 Kill Devil Hills 7,058 119 Etowah 6,944 120 Gibsonville 6,773 121 Ogden 6,766 122 Oak Ridge 6,671 123 Trinity 6,669 124 Unionville 6,547 125 Hamlet 6,454 126 Hillsborough 6,415 127 Woodfin 6,349 128 Selma 6,307 129 Rolesville 6,289 130 Wendell 6,285 131 Cullowhee 6,228 132 Marvin 6,181 133 Carolina Beach 6,137 134 Cherryville 5,974 135 James City 5,899 136 Boiling Spring Lakes 5,789 137 Long Beach 5,618 138 Silver Lake 5,598 139 Whiteville 5,589 140 Wadesboro 5,584 141 Bessemer City 5,548 142 Williamston 5,508 143 Nashville 5,460 144 Stokesdale 5,340 145 South Gastonia 5,312 146 Mocksville 5,151 147 Briar Chapel 5,108 148 Sawmills 5,104 149 Lake Norman of Catawba 5,075 150 Ayden 5,053 151 East Flat Rock 4,995 152 Angier 4,970 153 Walkertown 4,969 154 Zebulon 4,964 155 Ahoskie 4,910 156 Wrightsboro 4,896 157 Seven Lakes 4,888 158 Longview 4,871 159 Raeford 4,860 160 Edenton 4,849 161 Farmville 4,758 162 Midway 4,742 163 Mount Olive 4,728 164 Newport 4,723 165 Pleasant Garden 4,715 166 Archer Lodge 4,708 167 Erwin 4,679 168 Boiling Springs 4,674 169 Granite Falls 4,662 170 Dallas 4,622 171 Farmville 4,613 172 Seagate 4,590 173 Swannanoa 4,576 174 Valdese 4,459 175 Creedmoor 4,425 176 River Road 4,394 177 Walkertown 4,331 178 Cramerton 4,328 179 Royal Pines 4,272 180 Spindale 4,263 181 North Wilkesboro 4,226 182 Bethlehem 4,214 183 Beaufort 4,212 184 Pittsboro 4,198 185 Canton 4,190 186 Trent Woods 4,189 187 China Grove 4,182 188 Rutherfordton 4,182 189 Welcome 4,162 190 Randleman 4,153 191 Burgaw 4,100 192 Hampstead 4,083 193 Elkin 4,060 194 Westport 4,026 195 Shallotte 3,991 196 Wallace 3,964 197 Gamewell 3,957 198 Franklin 3,940 199 Weaverville 3,936 200 Tabor City 3,927
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