North Carolina Counties by Population (2025)

There are 100 counties in North Carolina.

Location of the Wright brothers’ first powered air flight and a stunning landscape that offers the tranquility of the mountains and beautiful beaches, North Carolina‘s population has been increasing steadily over the last 8 years. Since 2010, more than half of North Carolina‘s 100 counties has experienced a growth in population – 53 to be exact.

Counties with Positive Population Growth

Mecklenburg County has the largest population with 1,076,837, closely followed by Wake County which has a population of 1,072,203 experiencing an increase of 17.1% and 19% since 2010, respectively.

Counties with Rapid Growth

These are by no means the highest surge in numbers. Brunswick County has a fairly small population in comparison at 130,897 but grew by 21.8%.

Smaller counties that are similar to Brunswick have experienced significant population growth as well:

• Durham County grew by 15.4%
• Union County grew by 14.47%
• Cabarrus County grew by 16.27%
• Johnston County grew by 15.93%

Counties with Negative Population Growth

47 counties decreased in population but by less than 10%. The largest drops in numbers were experienced in:

• Northampton County (-9.86%)
• Bertie County (-9.53%)