The graph below ranks each North Carolina County by total residents according to the 2012 census estimates.
North Carolina total population by county
| County | Total Population |
| Mecklenburg |  967,971 |
| Wake | 952,143 |
| Guilford | 501,018 |
| Forsyth | 357,850 |
| Cumberland | 323,011 |
| Durham | 282,081 |
| Buncombe | 244,461 |
| New Hanover | 209,165 |
| Union | 208,498 |
| Gaston | 208,005 |
| Cabarrus | 184,173 |
| Onslow | 184,001 |
| Johnston | 174,801 |
| Pitt | 172,971 |
| Davidson | 163,118 |
| Iredell | 162,694 |
| Catawba | 154,452 |
| Alamance | 153,672 |
| Randolph | 142,500 |
| Orange | 138,237 |
| Rowan | 138,004 |
| Robeson | 135,379 |
| Wayne | 124,318 |
| Harnett | 122,132 |
| Brunswick | 112,197 |
| Henderson | 108,097 |
| Craven | 105,232 |
| Cleveland | 97,440 |
| Nash | 95,517 |
| Rockingham | 92,664 |
| Moore | 90,387 |
| Burke | 90,352 |
| Caldwell | 81,954 |
| Wilson | 81,755 |
| Lincoln | 79,269 |
| Surry | 73,531 |
| Wilkes | 69,208 |
| Carteret | 67,750 |
| Rutherford | 67,303 |
| Chatham | 65,899 |
| Sampson | 63,948 |
| Franklin | 61,560 |
| Stanly | 60,510 |
| Duplin | 60,005 |
| Lee | 59,579 |
| Lenoir | 59,171 |
| Haywood | 58,778 |
| Granville | 57,884 |
| Columbus | 57,593 |
| Edgecombe | 55,736 |
| Pender | 54,188 |
| Halifax | 53,962 |
| Watauga | 52,106 |
| Hoke | 50,495 |
| Beaufort | 47,483 |
| Stokes | 46,765 |
| Richmond | 46,433 |
| Vance | 45,052 |
| McDowell | 44,975 |
| Davie | 41,394 |
| Pasquotank | 40,505 |
| Jackson | 40,500 |
| Person | 39,214 |
| Yadkin | 38,094 |
| Alexander | 36,971 |
| Scotland | 36,205 |
| Bladen | 34,948 |
| Dare | 34,517 |
| Macon | 33,854 |
| Transylvania | 32,805 |
| Montgomery | 27,648 |
| Ashe | 27,160 |
| Cherokee | 27,032 |
| Anson | 26,353 |
| Hertford | 24,456 |
| Currituck | 24,100 |
| Martin | 23,906 |
| Caswell | 23,140 |
| Greene | 21,369 |
| Northampton | 21,301 |
| Madison | 20,873 |
| Warren | 20,582 |
| Bertie | 20,581 |
| Polk | 20,242 |
| Avery | 17,633 |
| Yancey | 17,626 |
| Mitchell | 15,369 |
| Chowan | 14,711 |
| Swain | 14,099 |
| Perquimans | 13,526 |
| Pamlico | 13,072 |
| Washington | 12,717 |
| Gates | 11,894 |
| Alleghany | 10,977 |
| Clay | 10,645 |
| Jones | 10,284 |
| Camden | 10,052 |
| Graham | 8,696 |
| Hyde | 5,739 |
| Tyrrell | 4,141 |