Population
11,197,968
2025
+7.2% since 2020
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (Vintage 2025), 2025. Resident population, July 1 estimate.
North Carolina county growth data
Population, jobs, wages, unemployment, new homes and household income for all 100 counties in North Carolina, from public federal data, with the source of every number.
Data as of 2025 · updated
Statewide totals
Net domestic migration
+84,064
2025
7.5 per 1,000 residents
+468,133 in total, 2021–2025
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (Vintage 2025), 2025. People moving in from other U.S. counties minus people moving out.
Jobs
4,696,447
2025
+12.1% since 2020
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025. Average annual employment covered by unemployment insurance.
New homes permitted
86,167
2025
−9.2% since 2021
7.7 per 1,000 residents
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2025. Housing units authorized by building permits in the year.
Private-sector employment
4,127,093
2023
+9.9% since 2018
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. Paid employees of private employers in mid-March (County Business Patterns).
Fastest-growing counties
- Brunswick County, NCpop +26.5% · jobs +32.5%
- Pender County, NCpop +19.0% · jobs +29.0%
- Franklin County, NCpop +18.8% · jobs +21.5%
- Johnston County, NCpop +17.9% · jobs +28.7%
- Currituck County, NCpop +16.7% · jobs +8.5%
- Lincoln County, NCpop +13.2% · jobs +19.8%
- Iredell County, NCpop +12.9% · jobs +8.6%
- Harnett County, NCpop +12.3% · jobs +17.2%
- Union County, NCpop +11.7% · jobs +24.3%
- Wake County, NCpop +11.2% · jobs +20.9%
All 100 counties
- Alamance County
- Alexander County
- Alleghany County
- Anson County
- Ashe County
- Avery County
- Beaufort County
- Bertie County
- Bladen County
- Brunswick County
- Buncombe County
- Burke County
- Cabarrus County
- Caldwell County
- Camden County
- Carteret County
- Caswell County
- Catawba County
- Chatham County
- Cherokee County
- Chowan County
- Clay County
- Cleveland County
- Columbus County
- Craven County
- Cumberland County
- Currituck County
- Dare County
- Davidson County
- Davie County
- Duplin County
- Durham County
- Edgecombe County
- Forsyth County
- Franklin County
- Gaston County
- Gates County
- Graham County
- Granville County
- Greene County
- Guilford County
- Halifax County
- Harnett County
- Haywood County
- Henderson County
- Hertford County
- Hoke County
- Hyde County
- Iredell County
- Jackson County
- Johnston County
- Jones County
- Lee County
- Lenoir County
- Lincoln County
- Macon County
- Madison County
- Martin County
- McDowell County
- Mecklenburg County
- Mitchell County
- Montgomery County
- Moore County
- Nash County
- New Hanover County
- Northampton County
- Onslow County
- Orange County
- Pamlico County
- Pasquotank County
- Pender County
- Perquimans County
- Person County
- Pitt County
- Polk County
- Randolph County
- Richmond County
- Robeson County
- Rockingham County
- Rowan County
- Rutherford County
- Sampson County
- Scotland County
- Stanly County
- Stokes County
- Surry County
- Swain County
- Transylvania County
- Tyrrell County
- Union County
- Vance County
- Wake County
- Warren County
- Washington County
- Watauga County
- Wayne County
- Wilkes County
- Wilson County
- Yadkin County
- Yancey County
Metro areas
- Albemarle, NC
- Anderson Creek, NC
- Asheville, NC
- Boone, NC
- Brevard, NC
- Burlington, NC
- Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
- Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
- Elizabeth City, NC
- Fayetteville, NC
- Forest City, NC
- Goldsboro, NC
- Greensboro-High Point, NC
- Greenville, NC
- Henderson, NC
- Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC
- Jacksonville, NC
- Kill Devil Hills, NC
- Kinston, NC
- Laurinburg, NC
- Lumberton, NC
- Marion, NC
- Morehead City, NC
- Mount Airy, NC
- New Bern, NC
- North Wilkesboro, NC
- Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC
- Raleigh-Cary, NC
- Roanoke Rapids, NC
- Rockingham, NC
- Rocky Mount, NC
- Sanford, NC
- Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
- Washington, NC
- Waynesville, NC
- Wilmington, NC
- Wilson, NC
- Winston-Salem, NC
Fastest-growing metro areas in North Carolina · Fastest-growing metro areas in the U.S. · Largest metro areas in North Carolina
Questions
Is North Carolina growing?
North Carolina as a whole grew 7.2% between 2020 and 2025, to 11,197,968 residents. Statewide figures add up its counties (Census Bureau population estimates).
What is the fastest-growing county in North Carolina?
Brunswick County, NC, which grew 26.5% between 2020 and 2025 to 174,702 residents (Census Bureau population estimates).
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Sources and method
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program (Vintage 2025)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns
Each number shows its own period. Changes compare the latest period with five years earlier (or the earliest period available). Beacon CRE last refreshed these figures on 2026-11-05. Figures come from public federal statistics and are informational only, not investment advice. Check the source before relying on a number. Methodology: how we compute every number. More on every layer: data sources and licences.