Reference list
NC county seats — all 100 North Carolina county seats
The county seat is the municipality where each NC county's courthouse and principal government offices are located. Below is the complete alphabetical list of all 100, with region and population context.
Last reviewed: June 2026 · Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, NC OneMap
One per county. No NC county has multiple seats.
Mecklenburg County · ~875,000 residents
Wake County · also serves as NC's state capital
Complete alphabetical list
Click any county name to open its full reference page.
| County | County seat | Region | County population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alamance | Graham | Piedmont | 171,415 |
| Alexander | Taylorsville | Piedmont | 36,063 |
| Alleghany | Sparta | Mountains | 10,888 |
| Anson | Wadesboro | Piedmont | 22,055 |
| Ashe | Jefferson | Mountains | 26,577 |
| Avery | Newland | Mountains | 17,557 |
| Beaufort | Washington | Coastal Plain | 44,652 |
| Bertie | Windsor | Coastal Plain | 17,934 |
| Bladen | Elizabethtown | Coastal Plain | 29,606 |
| Brunswick | Bolivia | Coastal Plain | 136,693 |
| Buncombe | Asheville | Mountains | 269,452 |
| Burke | Morganton | Mountains | 87,570 |
| Cabarrus | Concord | Piedmont | 225,804 |
| Caldwell | Lenoir | Mountains | 80,652 |
| Camden | Camden | Coastal Plain | 10,867 |
| Carteret | Beaufort | Coastal Plain | 67,686 |
| Caswell | Yanceyville | Piedmont | 22,736 |
| Catawba | Newton | Piedmont | 160,610 |
| Chatham | Pittsboro | Piedmont | 76,285 |
| Cherokee | Murphy | Mountains | 28,612 |
| Chowan | Edenton | Coastal Plain | 13,943 |
| Clay | Hayesville | Mountains | 11,089 |
| Cleveland | Shelby | Piedmont | 99,519 |
| Columbus | Whiteville | Coastal Plain | 50,623 |
| Craven | New Bern | Coastal Plain | 100,720 |
| Cumberland | Fayetteville | Coastal Plain | 334,728 |
| Currituck | Currituck | Coastal Plain | 28,100 |
| Dare | Manteo | Coastal Plain | 36,915 |
| Davidson | Lexington | Piedmont | 168,930 |
| Davie | Mocksville | Piedmont | 42,712 |
| Duplin | Kenansville | Coastal Plain | 49,043 |
| Durham | Durham | Piedmont | 324,833 |
| Edgecombe | Tarboro | Coastal Plain | 48,903 |
| Forsyth | Winston-Salem | Piedmont | 382,590 |
| Franklin | Louisburg | Piedmont | 68,573 |
| Gaston | Gastonia | Piedmont | 227,943 |
| Gates | Gatesville | Coastal Plain | 10,478 |
| Graham | Robbinsville | Mountains | 8,030 |
| Granville | Oxford | Piedmont | 60,992 |
| Greene | Snow Hill | Coastal Plain | 20,456 |
| Guilford | Greensboro | Piedmont | 541,299 |
| Halifax | Halifax | Coastal Plain | 48,622 |
| Harnett | Lillington | Piedmont | 133,568 |
| Haywood | Waynesville | Mountains | 62,317 |
| Henderson | Hendersonville | Mountains | 116,281 |
| Hertford | Winton | Coastal Plain | 21,552 |
| Hoke | Raeford | Coastal Plain | 52,082 |
| Hyde | Swan Quarter | Coastal Plain | 4,589 |
| Iredell | Statesville | Piedmont | 186,693 |
| Jackson | Sylva | Mountains | 43,109 |
| Johnston | Smithfield | Coastal Plain | 215,999 |
| Jones | Trenton | Coastal Plain | 9,172 |
| Lee | Sanford | Piedmont | 63,285 |
| Lenoir | Kinston | Coastal Plain | 55,122 |
| Lincoln | Lincolnton | Piedmont | 86,111 |
| Macon | Franklin | Mountains | 37,014 |
| Madison | Marshall | Mountains | 21,193 |
| Martin | Williamston | Coastal Plain | 22,158 |
| McDowell | Marion | Mountains | 44,578 |
| Mecklenburg | Charlotte | Piedmont | 1,115,482 |
| Mitchell | Bakersville | Mountains | 14,903 |
| Montgomery | Troy | Piedmont | 25,564 |
| Moore | Carthage | Piedmont | 99,727 |
| Nash | Nashville | Coastal Plain | 94,970 |
| New Hanover | Wilmington | Coastal Plain | 225,702 |
| Northampton | Jackson | Coastal Plain | 17,471 |
| Onslow | Jacksonville | Coastal Plain | 204,576 |
| Orange | Hillsborough | Piedmont | 148,696 |
| Pamlico | Bayboro | Coastal Plain | 12,276 |
| Pasquotank | Elizabeth City | Coastal Plain | 40,568 |
| Pender | Burgaw | Coastal Plain | 60,203 |
| Perquimans | Hertford | Coastal Plain | 13,005 |
| Person | Roxboro | Piedmont | 39,097 |
| Pitt | Greenville | Coastal Plain | 170,243 |
| Polk | Columbus | Mountains | 19,328 |
| Randolph | Asheboro | Piedmont | 144,171 |
| Richmond | Rockingham | Piedmont | 42,946 |
| Robeson | Lumberton | Coastal Plain | 116,530 |
| Rockingham | Wentworth | Piedmont | 91,096 |
| Rowan | Salisbury | Piedmont | 146,875 |
| Rutherford | Rutherfordton | Mountains | 64,444 |
| Sampson | Clinton | Coastal Plain | 59,036 |
| Scotland | Laurinburg | Coastal Plain | 34,782 |
| Stanly | Albemarle | Piedmont | 62,806 |
| Stokes | Danbury | Piedmont | 45,591 |
| Surry | Dobson | Piedmont | 71,219 |
| Swain | Bryson City | Mountains | 14,117 |
| Transylvania | Brevard | Mountains | 33,090 |
| Tyrrell | Columbia | Coastal Plain | 3,245 |
| Union | Monroe | Piedmont | 238,267 |
| Vance | Henderson | Piedmont | 42,578 |
| Wake | Raleigh | Piedmont | 1,129,410 |
| Warren | Warrenton | Piedmont | 18,642 |
| Washington | Plymouth | Coastal Plain | 11,003 |
| Watauga | Boone | Mountains | 54,086 |
| Wayne | Goldsboro | Coastal Plain | 117,333 |
| Wilkes | Wilkesboro | Mountains | 65,969 |
| Wilson | Wilson | Coastal Plain | 78,580 |
| Yadkin | Yadkinville | Piedmont | 37,214 |
| Yancey | Burnsville | Mountains | 18,470 |
In North Carolina, the county seat is the municipality designated as the administrative center of the county. It hosts the county courthouse, the county manager's office, and the principal offices of the Register of Deeds, the Board of Elections, the Sheriff's Office, and the Tax Administration. For most residents, the county seat is also where they go to vote in person, record a deed, get married at the magistrate's office, or appear in district court.
North Carolina's county seats vary enormously in size — from Charlotte (Mecklenburg County) with roughly 875,000 residents down to small communities of under 1,000 in some of the rural Mountains and Coastal Plain counties. Some NC county seats are themselves unincorporated communities; the courthouse remains the seat of government even when the surrounding settlement has not been formally incorporated as a town.
What is a county seat?
A county seat is the municipality that serves as the administrative center of a county. It is where the county courthouse is located, along with the principal offices of county government — the Register of Deeds, the Board of Elections, and the county manager's office. Each of North Carolina's 100 counties has exactly one county seat.
What is the largest county seat in NC?
Charlotte (Mecklenburg County), with roughly 875,000 residents. Raleigh (Wake County, also the state capital) is a close second at about 468,000.
What is the smallest county seat in NC?
Several NC county seats have populations under 1,000 — including Bakersville (Mitchell County), Currituck (Currituck County), and Yanceyville (Caswell County). Some county seats are unincorporated communities rather than incorporated towns.
Are all NC county seats also the largest city in their county?
No. While most are, there are exceptions — for example, Cabarrus County's seat is Concord, but Kannapolis (also in Cabarrus) is comparably sized. Mooresville is larger than the Iredell county seat of Statesville in some measures, though Statesville remains the seat of government.
Can a county seat be moved?
Historically, yes — several NC county seats have moved over the centuries, usually following a population shift or a courthouse fire. In modern practice, moving a county seat would require an act of the North Carolina General Assembly and is exceedingly rare.