County facts · Land area · October 21, 2026
Largest Counties in North Carolina by Area and Population
The largest North Carolina counties by land area and by 2023 population, plus the smallest, county seats and a link to each official parcel map.
Looking for the largest counties in North Carolina? North Carolina has 100 counties covering about 48,623 square miles of land, based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. The largest by land area is Robeson County, at about 947 square miles, roughly 5.5 times the size of the smallest, Chowan County (173 sq mi). Measured by people instead, the largest is Wake County, with about 1,190,275 residents in the Census Bureau's July 1, 2023 estimate.
The tables below rank the counties both ways. Each row links to the county's Platbookmapper page and straight to its official parcel viewer.
North Carolina counties at a glance
- Counties: 100
- Land area: about 48,623 sq mi, plus about 5,196 sq mi of water inside county lines
- Residents, 2023 estimates: about 10,835,491, or about 223 people per square mile of land
- Median county land area: about 460 sq mi
- With a verified public parcel viewer in our directory: 100 of 100
The 10 largest North Carolina counties by land area
| # | County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | People per sq mi | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robeson County | Lumberton | 947 | 117,365 | 124 | county web map |
| 2 | Sampson County | Clinton | 946 | 59,601 | 63 | county web map |
| 3 | Columbus County | Whiteville | 938 | 50,121 | 53 | county web map |
| 4 | Bladen County | Elizabethtown | 875 | 29,484 | 34 | county web map |
| 5 | Pender County | Burgaw | 871 | 68,521 | 79 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| 6 | Brunswick County | Bolivia | 850 | 159,964 | 188 | ArcGIS Web AppBuilder |
| 7 | Wake County | Raleigh | 835 | 1,190,275 | 1,426 | county web map |
| 8 | Beaufort County | Washington | 833 | 44,481 | 53 | ArcGIS Web AppBuilder |
| 9 | Duplin County | Kenansville | 815 | 49,520 | 61 | county web map |
| 10 | Johnston County | Smithfield | 792 | 241,955 | 305 | county web map |
Together these 10 cover about 18% of North Carolina's land area and hold about 19% of its residents.
The 10 most populous North Carolina counties
| # | County | Seat | 2023 pop. | Land (sq mi) | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wake County | Raleigh | 1,190,275 | 835 | county web map |
| 2 | Mecklenburg County | Charlotte | 1,163,701 | 524 | county web map |
| 3 | Guilford County | Greensboro | 549,866 | 646 | county web map |
| 4 | Forsyth County | Winston-Salem | 392,921 | 408 | ArcGIS Web AppBuilder |
| 5 | Cumberland County | Fayetteville | 337,890 | 653 | ArcGIS Map Viewer |
| 6 | Durham County | Durham | 336,892 | 287 | county web map |
| 7 | Buncombe County | Asheville | 275,901 | 656 | county web map |
| 8 | Union County | Monroe | 256,452 | 633 | county web map |
| 9 | Johnston County | Smithfield | 241,955 | 792 | county web map |
| 10 | Cabarrus County | Concord | 240,016 | 361 | county web map |
These 10 hold about 46% of North Carolina's residents in the 2023 estimates.
The 5 smallest North Carolina counties by land area
| County | Seat | Land (sq mi) | 2023 pop. | Parcel viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chowan County | Edenton | 173 | 13,891 | ArcGIS Web AppBuilder |
| New Hanover County | Wilmington | 192 | 238,852 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| Clay County | Hayesville | 215 | 11,864 | ArcGIS Experience Builder |
| Mitchell County | Bakersville | 221 | 14,999 | county web map |
| Pasquotank County | Elizabeth City | 227 | 41,444 | ArcGIS Web AppBuilder |
Most and least crowded
- Most people per square mile: Mecklenburg County, about 2,222 (then Wake County, 1,426, and New Hanover County, 1,242)
- Fewest people per square mile: Hyde County, about 7.5 (then Tyrrell County, 8.9, and Jones County, 20)
Counties with the most water
The Census Bureau reports water separately from land. It counts lakes, reservoirs, rivers and, for coastal and Great Lakes counties, the water inside the county boundary.
- Dare County: about 1,159 sq mi of water, 75% of its total area
- Hyde County: about 847 sq mi of water, 58% of its total area
- Carteret County: about 823 sq mi of water, 62% of its total area
Using these numbers in a land search
- Land area is not parcel count. A large rural county can hold fewer parcels than a small suburban one, so size alone says little about how busy its parcel map is.
- Search, don't scroll. In a big county, type an address, owner name or parcel number into the viewer's search box, where it has one, instead of panning across the map.
- Records follow the county line. Deeds, plats and tax bills are kept by the county where the parcel sits, so a tract that crosses a county line usually has a parcel number in each county.
- Rounded figures. Land and water areas are rounded to whole square miles. People per square mile is the 2023 estimate divided by land area.
Related guides
- North Carolina county GIS websites by viewer
- North Carolina plat maps
- North Carolina landowner maps for hunting
- North Carolina–South Carolina border counties
- North Carolina–Tennessee border counties
- North Carolina–Virginia border counties
More: All North Carolina counties on Platbookmapper
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer files, 2020 county land and water area.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, county totals, Vintage 2023 (July 1, 2023 estimates)
- Platbookmapper county GIS directory (live data file behind our county pages, pulled October 21, 2026) for each county's official parcel viewer.
- County seats: Wikidata (county seat property), cross-checked against Census place names.