North Carolina Counties Map: Click All 100 Counties

How many counties are in North Carolina?

North Carolina has 100 counties. Six states have more, and 43 have fewer.

North Carolina has 100 counties. Wake County (Raleigh, the capital) and Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) are the two most populous. The map spans three regions children often learn: the mountains in the west, the Piedmont in the middle and the Coastal Plain in the east.

How North Carolina's counties were formed

North Carolina's oldest counties grew out of Albemarle County, created in 1664 and divided into precincts around Albemarle Sound: Currituck, Pasquotank, Perquimans and Chowan. As settlers moved west, the colony and then the state kept dividing counties so courthouses stayed close. The state reached 100 counties in 1911, when Avery and Hoke counties were created, and the number has not changed since. Dare County, on the Outer Banks, is named for Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the Americas.

North Carolina regions and the counties in each

North Carolina's three regions are a staple of state history lessons. The Mountains cover the western counties, including Buncombe (Asheville), Watauga and Swain, where the Great Smoky Mountains rise. The Piedmont, in the middle, holds the big cities: Mecklenburg (Charlotte), Guilford (Greensboro), Forsyth (Winston-Salem) and the Research Triangle counties of Wake, Durham and Orange. The Coastal Plain covers the east, including Cumberland (Fayetteville), New Hanover (Wilmington) and the Outer Banks counties of Currituck, Dare and Hyde.

Notable places on the North Carolina county map

Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet, is in Yancey County. The Wright Brothers National Memorial, where the first powered airplane flew in 1903, is at Kill Devil Hills in Dare County, and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is in Dare County too. Great Smoky Mountains National Park reaches into Swain and Haywood counties.

North Carolina counties map: the biggest and smallest

Robeson County is the largest county in North Carolina, with 947 square miles of land, about 2% of the state. Chowan County is the smallest, at 173 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Chowan County (173 sq mi), New Hanover County (192 sq mi) and Clay County (215 sq mi).

Which counties in North Carolina have the most people?

Wake County has the most people, about 1,232,444 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 11% of everyone in North Carolina. The three biggest counties together hold 27% of the state's 11,046,024 people. Tyrrell County has the fewest, about 3,517.

The most crowded is Mecklenburg County, with about 2,304 people per square mile. The emptiest is Hyde County, with about 7 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Raleigh in?

Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, is in Wake County. It's also the county with the most people. North Carolina is called the Tar Heel State, and it became the 12th state in 1789.

Counties on the North Carolina border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. North Carolina shares a border with Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

How North Carolina's counties compare with other states

North Carolina ranks 29th among the 50 states in land area and 9th in population. Its average county covers about 486 square miles and holds about 110,460 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so North Carolina's counties are smaller than usual in size. Small counties pack more names into the same space, so zooming in helps.

Landmarks for learning the counties of North Carolina

• The mountain counties, including Buncombe (Asheville), fill the western tip.
• Wake, Durham and Orange counties form the Research Triangle in the middle.
• Dare County holds much of the Outer Banks on the coast.

With 100 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the North Carolina county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 100 North Carolina counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

North Carolina geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Southeast states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in north carolina, and check nc school choice to see whether a program may help pay for North Carolina history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.