Ranking of North Carolina Counties By Population in 2022

Updated on August 1, 2024.

Based on the US Census Vintage data estimates, in 2022, the Population for North Carolina was 10.70M. Among all North Carolina counties, Wake County had the highest population (1.17M), followed by Mecklenburg County (1.14M), and Guilford County (546.46K).

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 2022
Wake
Mecklenburg
Guilford
Forsyth
Cumberland
Durham
Buncombe
Union
Cabarrus
New Hanover
Ranking of North Carolina Counties By Population in 2022
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Rank County Population
1 Wake County 1170778
2 Mecklenburg County 1144075
3 Guilford County 546457
4 Forsyth County 389661
5 Cumberland County 336781
6 Durham County 333292
7 Buncombe County 273790
8 Union County 249172
9 Cabarrus County 235909
10 New Hanover County 235784
11 Johnston County 234902
12 Gaston County 233970
13 Onslow County 209031
14 Iredell County 195874
15 Alamance County 176618
16 Pitt County 173610
17 Davidson County 172380
18 Catawba County 163167
19 Brunswick County 152908
20 Orange County 150253
21 Rowan County 149673
22 Randolph County 146196
23 Harnett County 138478
24 Henderson County 118298
25 Wayne County 117449
26 Robeson County 116466
27 Moore County 105491
28 Craven County 101087
29 Cleveland County 100653
30 Nash County 95820
31 Lincoln County 93108
32 Rockingham County 91966
33 Burke County 87972
34 Caldwell County 80347
35 Chatham County 79939
36 Wilson County 78306
37 Franklin County 74400
38 Surry County 71482
39 Carteret County 69326
40 Wilkes County 65791
41 Pender County 65698
42 Lee County 65543
43 Rutherford County 64945
44 Stanly County 64231
45 Haywood County 62615
46 Granville County 61702
47 Sampson County 59027
48 Watauga County 55013
49 Lenoir County 54499
50 Hoke County 53691
51 Columbus County 50075
52 Duplin County 48934
53 Edgecombe County 48389
54 Halifax County 47711
55 Stokes County 45136
56 McDowell County 44755
57 Beaufort County 44400
58 Davie County 44115
59 Jackson County 43922
60 Richmond County 42573
61 Vance County 42154
62 Pasquotank County 41168
63 Person County 39343
64 Dare County 37987
65 Macon County 37969
66 Yadkin County 37507
67 Alexander County 36316
68 Scotland County 34350
69 Transylvania County 33373
70 Currituck County 31008
71 Cherokee County 29459
72 Bladen County 29391
73 Ashe County 27062
74 Montgomery County 25841
75 Caswell County 22431
76 Anson County 21958
77 Madison County 21881
78 Martin County 21478
79 Greene County 20367
80 Polk County 20012
81 Hertford County 19634
82 Yancey County 18768
83 Warren County 18677
84 Avery County 17541
85 Bertie County 17068
86 Northampton County 16827
87 Mitchell County 15048
88 Swain County 13936
89 Chowan County 13898
90 Perquimans County 13221
91 Pamlico County 12234
92 Clay County 11615
93 Alleghany County 11193
94 Camden County 11090
95 Washington County 10776
96 Gates County 10370
97 Jones County 9219
98 Graham County 8032
99 Hyde County 4656
100 Tyrrell County 3473