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Population per Square Mile in North Carolina, by County

Population per Square Mile for every county in North Carolina, ranked. The highest is Mecklenburg County at 2,205.2 and the lowest is Hyde County at 7.5.

North Carolina: 220.7 · United States: n/a · median county in North Carolina: 114.4

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#County Population per Square Mile
1Mecklenburg County2,205.2
2Wake County1,412.2
3New Hanover County1,223.7
4Durham County1,155.8
5Forsyth County955.7
6Guilford County848.2
7Gaston County660.2
8Cabarrus County653.7
9Cumberland County518.8
10Buncombe County417.9
11Alamance County417.7
12Catawba County407.5
13Union County396.6
14Orange County376.5
15Iredell County342.1
16Henderson County317.7
17Lincoln County313.4
18Davidson County312.8
19Johnston County295.8
20Rowan County292.9
21Onslow County272.8
22Pitt County271.6
23Lee County258.0
24Harnett County233.8
25Cleveland County217.5
26Wilson County215.7
27Wayne County214.2
28Randolph County187.1
29Pasquotank County180.0
30Brunswick County179.5
31Nash County178.0
32Watauga County176.4
33Burke County173.4
34Caldwell County170.7
35Vance County167.7
36Davie County167.3
37Stanly County163.6
38Rockingham County162.9
39Franklin County151.3
40Moore County150.3
41Craven County145.2
42Alexander County140.1
43Hoke County138.0
44Lenoir County137.6
45Carteret County136.2
46Surry County134.1
47Robeson County123.4
48Chatham County117.6
49Currituck County116.8
50Rutherford County114.8
51Granville County114.4
52Haywood County113.2
53Yadkin County112.2
54Scotland County105.3
55McDowell County101.9
56Person County100.8
57Stokes County100.5
58Dare County98.8
59Edgecombe County96.4
60Richmond County89.4
61Jackson County89.1
62Transylvania County89.0
63Wilkes County87.5
64Polk County83.7
65Chowan County80.1
66Greene County76.8
67Pender County75.2
68Macon County73.6
69Avery County71.5
70Mitchell County67.8
71Halifax County65.9
72Cherokee County64.9
73Ashe County63.2
74Sampson County62.9
75Duplin County60.6
76Yancey County60.1
77Hertford County56.4
78Clay County54.0
79Perquimans County53.6
80Beaufort County53.4
81Columbus County53.4
82Montgomery County52.9
83Caswell County52.7
84Madison County48.6
85Alleghany County47.6
86Martin County47.4
87Camden County45.5
88Warren County43.8
89Anson County41.9
90Pamlico County36.8
91Bladen County33.8
92Northampton County31.5
93Washington County31.2
94Gates County30.5
95Graham County27.6
96Swain County26.6
97Bertie County24.6
98Jones County19.7
99Tyrrell County8.8
100Hyde County7.5

People divided by land area. Water is excluded, so lake and coastal counties are not unfairly diluted.

Source: ACS 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, 2024.

North Carolina ranks 16th of 52 states for population per square mile.

Population per Square Mile in other states

Other statistics for North Carolina by county