North Carolina · 335 places

Cities and towns in North Carolina

Short answer

North Carolina has 335 incorporated places of 1,000 or more people, home to 6,318,696 residents in 2024. Charlotte is the largest with 943,476.
Places 1,000+
335
5,000+
147
Share of state
57%

Where the places are

Each dot is a place of 1,000+, sized by population. The median place of 5,000+ is Roanoke Rapids with 14,573 people, and the smallest in that group is Midland with 5,027. 129 of the 147 places of 5,000+ grew between July 2020 and July 2024. 36 places cross a county line.

Largest places in North Carolina

  1. 01Charlotte943,476
  2. 02Raleigh499,825
  3. 03Greensboro307,381
  4. 04Durham301,870
  5. 05Winston-Salem255,769
  6. 06Fayetteville209,496
  7. 07Cary182,659
  8. 08Wilmington125,284
  9. 09High Point118,601
  10. 10Concord112,395
  11. 11Greenville95,138
  12. 12Asheville94,992
  13. 13Gastonia85,535
  14. 14Apex75,977
  15. 15Jacksonville70,840
  16. 16Huntersville67,087
  17. 17Chapel Hill64,028
  18. 18Burlington61,365
  19. 19Kannapolis60,521
  20. 20Wake Forest56,764
July 1, 2024 estimates, Census Vintage 2024.

Fastest growth among places of 5,000+: Wendell (+68.6%), Zebulon (+49.2%), Angier (+45.3%). Largest decline: Rockingham (-4.4%).

All 335 places, A to Z

Places under 5,000 people have short profile pages that search engines do not index. Figures are July 1, 2024 estimates.

A

D

V

Z

Questions people ask

How many cities and towns are in North Carolina?

The Census Vintage 2024 subcounty estimates list 335 incorporated places of 1,000 or more people in North Carolina, and 147 of 5,000 or more. Smaller towns and census-designated places are not counted here.

What is the largest city in North Carolina?

Charlotte, with 943,476 residents on July 1, 2024.

Which North Carolina town grew fastest since 2020?

Among places of 5,000+, Wendell grew fastest from July 2020 to July 2024, +68.6%, to 16,845.

What share of North Carolina lives in incorporated places?

57%: 6,318,696 of the state's 11,046,024 residents live in the 335 places listed. The rest live in smaller towns, census-designated places or unincorporated land.

Sources and data as of

Data as of: Census Vintage 2024 population estimates, 2024 Gazetteer land area and internal points, SAIPE 2023 median household income.

  1. 01Census Vintage 2024 subcounty population estimates
  2. 02Census 2024 Gazetteer, places

How every number is computed: methodology. Spotted a wrong figure? Report an error.