Cities and counties in North Carolina
Every city, town, and village in North Carolina sits inside one of the state's 100 counties. Counties hold the deeds, vital records, public-school systems, sheriff's office, and most public services — so when you ask "what county is this city in?" you're really asking which courthouse, registrar, and school district govern it.
North Carolina is unusual in two ways. First, several major cities cross county lines: Durham extends into Wake and Orange, Cary into Chatham, High Point into Davidson, Forsyth, and Randolph, and Kannapolis into both Cabarrus and Rowan. The "primary" county listed on this page is the one that contains the city hall and the majority of the population. Second, North Carolina has no civil townships with government powers — outside city limits, the county is the unit of local government.
The Piedmont's urban crescent
The Piedmont region contains the state's two largest metros — Charlotte and the Research Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary) — plus the Piedmont Triad (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point). Together these three metropolitan areas hold more than half of North Carolina's population and almost all of its job growth since 2000.
Coastal Plain cities
East of the Piedmont, the largest cities anchor military installations or coastal commerce: Fayetteville (Fort Liberty), Jacksonville (Camp Lejeune), Havelock (MCAS Cherry Point), Goldsboro (Seymour Johnson AFB), and the port city of Wilmington. Greenville and Rocky Mount serve as regional commerce and university centers.
Mountain cities
The Mountains region has only two cities above 15,000 residents — Asheville (Buncombe County) and Hendersonville (Henderson County). College town Boone (Watauga County) anchors the High Country, while Morganton sits in the foothills where the Blue Ridge meets the western Piedmont.
Find your county from your city
Quick lookups for the most-searched NC cities:
- Charlotte — Mecklenburg County
- Raleigh — Wake County
- Greensboro — Guilford County
- Durham — Durham County
- Winston-Salem — Forsyth County
- Fayetteville — Cumberland County
- Asheville — Buncombe County
- Wilmington — New Hanover County
- Cary — Wake County
- Concord — Cabarrus County
See the full list and more cities on the city-to-county lookup.