Ranking of North Carolina Counties By Population in 2022

Updated on June 21, 2025.

Based on the US Census Vintage data estimates, in 2022, the Population for North Carolina was 10.71M. Among all North Carolina counties, Wake County had the highest population (1.17M), followed by Mecklenburg County (1.15M), and Guilford County (547.20K).

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
New Hanover
Cabarrus
Ranking of North Carolina Counties By Population in 2022
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Rank County Population
1 Wake County 1174107
2 Mecklenburg County 1149349
3 Guilford County 547195
4 Forsyth County 389519
5 Cumberland County 339068
6 Durham County 331568
7 Buncombe County 274112
8 Union County 249714
9 New Hanover County 236147
10 Cabarrus County 236078
11 Johnston County 234762
12 Gaston County 234208
13 Onslow County 206718
14 Iredell County 196129
15 Pitt County 177090
16 Alamance County 176544
17 Davidson County 172443
18 Catawba County 163286
19 Brunswick County 152836
20 Orange County 150744
21 Rowan County 149514
22 Randolph County 146174
23 Harnett County 138583
24 Henderson County 118336
25 Wayne County 118185
26 Robeson County 116313
27 Moore County 105548
28 Craven County 102392
29 Cleveland County 100771
30 Nash County 95922
31 Lincoln County 93103
32 Rockingham County 92044
33 Burke County 87732
34 Caldwell County 80259
35 Chatham County 80080
36 Wilson County 78838
37 Franklin County 74326
38 Surry County 71489
39 Carteret County 69369
40 Wilkes County 65801
41 Pender County 65697
42 Lee County 65687
43 Rutherford County 64829
44 Stanly County 64285
45 Haywood County 62595
46 Granville County 60867
47 Sampson County 59096
48 Watauga County 55404
49 Lenoir County 54529
50 Hoke County 53759
51 Columbus County 50027
52 Duplin County 49072
53 Edgecombe County 48481
54 Halifax County 47623
55 Stokes County 45137
56 McDowell County 44759
57 Beaufort County 44356
58 Davie County 44087
59 Jackson County 43880
60 Richmond County 42360
61 Vance County 42258
62 Pasquotank County 40818
63 Person County 39396
64 Dare County 38047
65 Macon County 37996
66 Yadkin County 37539
67 Alexander County 36237
68 Transylvania County 33668
69 Scotland County 33548
70 Currituck County 31011
71 Cherokee County 29431
72 Bladen County 29365
73 Ashe County 27062
74 Montgomery County 25884
75 Anson County 22346
76 Caswell County 22219
77 Madison County 21912
78 Martin County 21502
79 Greene County 20415
80 Polk County 20006
81 Hertford County 19525
82 Yancey County 18790
83 Warren County 18700
84 Avery County 17550
85 Bertie County 16947
86 Northampton County 16806
87 Mitchell County 15051
88 Swain County 13968
89 Chowan County 13921
90 Perquimans County 13243
91 Pamlico County 12269
92 Clay County 11610
93 Alleghany County 11187
94 Camden County 11089
95 Washington County 10798
96 Gates County 10373
97 Jones County 9243
98 Graham County 8052
99 Hyde County 4616
100 Tyrrell County 3469