RANKING · 2000 CENSUS · 100 SHOWN OF 100

Most population gained, North Carolina counties · 2000

North Carolina counties that added the most residents from the 1990 census to 2000, by raw count of people rather than percentage. This list covers the 100 counties in North Carolina that qualify, ranked against each other statewide. The median across all 100 is +6,312.

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SAME RANKING BYCities States Metros

RELATEDLargest by population Fastest growing Fastest shrinking Most population lost Most densely populated Most sparsely populated

YEAR2000 2010 2020 2025

RANKPLACESTATEPOPPOPULATION CHANGEVS –

01Wake County, NCNC1,257,235+204,466–

02Mecklenburg County, NCNC1,233,383+184,021–

03Guilford County, NCNC562,234+73,628–

04Durham County, NCNC347,240+41,479–

05Johnston County, NCNC256,448+40,659–

06Forsyth County, NCNC401,718+40,189–

07New Hanover County, NCNC245,959+40,023–

08Union County, NCNC267,674+39,466–

09Cabarrus County, NCNC249,725+32,128–

10Buncombe County, NCNC277,417+31,509–

11Iredell County, NCNC211,798+29,729–

12Cumberland County, NCNC338,473+28,397–

13Pitt County, NCNC182,936+25,874–

14Orange County, NCNC152,498+24,376–

15Randolph County, NCNC149,516+23,908–

16Catawba County, NCNC170,172+23,273–

17Harnett County, NCNC150,137+23,203–

18Alamance County, NCNC186,177+22,587–

19Brunswick County, NCNC174,702+22,158–

20Davidson County, NCNC180,182+20,569–

21Henderson County, NCNC122,375+19,888–

22Rowan County, NCNC155,096+19,735–

23Robeson County, NCNC119,941+18,160–

24Moore County, NCNC110,619+15,756–

25Gaston County, NCNC246,558+15,272–

26Lincoln County, NCNC98,654+13,461–

27Burke County, NCNC88,655+13,404–

28Sampson County, NCNC61,504+12,864–

29Pender County, NCNC72,111+12,227–

30Cleveland County, NCNC103,325+11,573–

31Franklin County, NCNC82,037+10,846–

32Hoke County, NCNC56,939+10,790–

33Nash County, NCNC99,365+10,743–

34Chatham County, NCNC85,111+10,570–

35Granville County, NCNC61,421+10,153–

36Craven County, NCNC105,025+9,823–

37Surry County, NCNC72,287+9,515–

38Duplin County, NCNC51,571+9,068–

39Wayne County, NCNC122,278+8,663–

40Wilson County, NCNC81,150+7,753–

41Lee County, NCNC70,258+7,666–

42Stokes County, NCNC46,126+7,488–

43Dare County, NCNC38,245+7,221–

44Haywood County, NCNC63,369+7,091–

45Davie County, NCNC45,855+6,976–

46Carteret County, NCNC70,469+6,827–

47Caldwell County, NCNC81,105+6,706–

48McDowell County, NCNC45,198+6,470–

49Stanly County, NCNC68,830+6,335–

50Macon County, NCNC39,232+6,312–

51Jackson County, NCNC45,039+6,275–

52Wilkes County, NCNC66,233+6,239–

53Alexander County, NCNC36,958+6,059–

54Rutherford County, NCNC65,745+5,981–

55Rockingham County, NCNC94,195+5,864–

56Yadkin County, NCNC38,325+5,860–

57Watauga County, NCNC54,786+5,743–

58Person County, NCNC40,636+5,443–

59Columbus County, NCNC50,487+5,162–

60Currituck County, NCNC33,158+4,454–

61Cherokee County, NCNC30,830+4,128–

62Vance County, NCNC42,638+4,062–

63Polk County, NCNC20,533+3,908–

64Transylvania County, NCNC34,211+3,814–

65Bladen County, NCNC30,007+3,615–

66Pasquotank County, NCNC42,201+3,599–

67Greene County, NCNC20,700+3,590–

68Montgomery County, NCNC26,403+3,476–

69Caswell County, NCNC22,563+2,808–

70Warren County, NCNC18,898+2,707–

71Madison County, NCNC22,553+2,682–

72Beaufort County, NCNC44,670+2,675–

73Lenoir County, NCNC55,837+2,374–

74Yancey County, NCNC19,084+2,355–

75Avery County, NCNC18,110+2,300–

76Scotland County, NCNC33,322+2,244–

77Ashe County, NCNC27,514+2,175–

78Richmond County, NCNC42,041+2,046–

79Halifax County, NCNC46,534+1,854–

80Anson County, NCNC21,758+1,801–

81Swain County, NCNC14,024+1,700–

82Clay County, NCNC12,239+1,620–

83Pamlico County, NCNC12,758+1,562–

84Northampton County, NCNC16,491+1,288–

85Mitchell County, NCNC15,062+1,254–

86Gates County, NCNC10,234+1,211–

87Alleghany County, NCNC11,479+1,087–

88Chowan County, NCNC14,082+1,020–

89Camden County, NCNC11,315+981–

90Jones County, NCNC9,575+967–

91Perquimans County, NCNC13,490+921–

92Graham County, NCNC8,190+797–

93Onslow County, NCNC217,175+517–

94Martin County, NCNC21,601+515–

95Hyde County, NCNC4,554+415–

96Tyrrell County, NCNC3,537+293–

97Hertford County, NCNC19,015+78–

98Washington County, NCNC10,638-274–

99Bertie County, NCNC17,086-615–

100Edgecombe County, NCNC49,121-952–

SHOWING 1–100 OF 100

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UPDATED 2026-09-11 · DATA: US CENSUS BUREAU DECENNIAL CENSUS