Ranking of North Carolina Counties By Population in 2017

Updated on January 28, 2024.

Based on the US Census Vintage data estimates, in 2017, the Population for North Carolina was 10.28M. Among all North Carolina counties, Mecklenburg County had the highest population (1.08M), followed by Wake County (1.07M), and Guilford County (528.62K).

The chart below shows the top 10 counties, and the table below shows the ranking of all North Carolina counties.

You can see similar ranking information for related topics, and for other states. You can also see the ranking of all counties in the United States.

See this for other years:
Ranking of North Carolina Counties By Population in 2017
Mecklenburg
Wake
Guilford
Forsyth
Cumberland
Durham
Buncombe
Union
New Hanover
Gaston
Ranking of North Carolina Counties By Population in 2017
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Rank County Population
1 Mecklenburg County 1079656
2 Wake County 1072463
3 Guilford County 528622
4 Forsyth County 375901
5 Cumberland County 331702
6 Durham County 312466
7 Buncombe County 257408
8 Union County 231525
9 New Hanover County 228863
10 Gaston County 219788
11 Cabarrus County 206987
12 Johnston County 196541
13 Onslow County 195332
14 Pitt County 178661
15 Iredell County 175673
16 Davidson County 165489
17 Alamance County 163326
18 Catawba County 157822
19 Orange County 143624
20 Randolph County 143000
21 Rowan County 140289
22 Robeson County 132606
23 Harnett County 132584
24 Brunswick County 130996
25 Wayne County 123201
26 Henderson County 115431
27 Craven County 102740
28 Moore County 97376
29 Cleveland County 97198
30 Nash County 94095
31 Rockingham County 90844
32 Burke County 90143
33 Lincoln County 82608
34 Caldwell County 81961
35 Wilson County 81446
36 Surry County 72114
37 Chatham County 71248
38 Carteret County 69014
39 Wilkes County 68461
40 Rutherford County 66558
41 Franklin County 66175
42 Sampson County 63188
43 Stanly County 61458
44 Haywood County 61167
45 Pender County 60787
46 Lee County 60418
47 Granville County 59452
48 Duplin County 58942
49 Lenoir County 56644
50 Columbus County 56000
51 Watauga County 55250
52 Hoke County 54207
53 Edgecombe County 52793
54 Halifax County 51329
55 Beaufort County 47097
56 Stokes County 45710
57 McDowell County 45089
58 Richmond County 44786
59 Vance County 44387
60 Jackson County 43220
61 Davie County 42297
62 Pasquotank County 39420
63 Person County 39412
64 Yadkin County 37599
65 Alexander County 37105
66 Dare County 36257
67 Scotland County 35178
68 Macon County 34610
69 Transylvania County 33812
70 Bladen County 33446
71 Cherokee County 28000
72 Montgomery County 27274
73 Ashe County 26795
74 Currituck County 26330
75 Anson County 24856
76 Hertford County 23917
77 Martin County 22773
78 Caswell County 22623
79 Madison County 21603
80 Greene County 20965
81 Polk County 20567
82 Northampton County 19898
83 Warren County 19829
84 Bertie County 19246
85 Yancey County 17709
86 Avery County 17522
87 Mitchell County 14992
88 Swain County 14268
89 Chowan County 14015
90 Perquimans County 13464
91 Pamlico County 12631
92 Washington County 11947
93 Gates County 11502
94 Clay County 11033
95 Alleghany County 11004
96 Camden County 10517
97 Jones County 9550
98 Graham County 8529
99 Hyde County 5230
100 Tyrrell County 4172