2025

Counties in North Carolina ranked by Black Population

This list ranks the 98 counties in North Carolina based on their Black or African American population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these counties over the past five years.
Updated Feb 10, 2025

Top 5 counties with the largest Black population in North Carolina

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  • 1
    Mecklenburg County
    Black population in Mecklenburg County is 374,319
    30.31% of Mecklenburg County population is Black
  • 2
    Wake County
    Black population in Wake County is 248,008
    19.80% of Wake County population is Black
  • 3
    Guilford County
    Black population in Guilford County is 201,021
    34.31% of Guilford County population is Black
  • 4
    Cumberland County
    Black population in Cumberland County is 142,084
    37.76% of Cumberland County population is Black
  • 5
    Durham County
    Black population in Durham County is 117,977
    32.74% of Durham County population is Black

List of 98 counties in North Carolina by Black Population

View Methodology
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Rank by Black Population
County
Black Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total North Carolina Black Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Mecklenburg County 374,319 30.31% 15.47%
2 Wake County 248,008 19.80% 10.25%
3 Guilford County 201,021 34.31% 8.31%
4 Cumberland County 142,084 37.76% 5.87%
5 Durham County 117,977 32.74% 4.88%
6 Forsyth County 108,711 25.90% 4.49%
7 Pitt County 63,822 35.25% 2.64%
8 50,684 20.20% 2.09%
9 45,980 18.53% 1.90%
10 41,880 17.16% 1.73%
11 40,276 40.33% 1.66%
12 39,101 20.90% 1.62%
13 39,084 29.95% 1.62%
14 35,023 14.69% 1.45%
15 32,295 12.25% 1.33%
16 32,131 21.75% 1.33%
17 31,973 38.55% 1.32%
18 31,528 12.82% 1.30%
19 29,018 23.92% 1.20%
20 28,340 56.05% 1.17%
21 26,332 16.54% 1.09%
22 26,211 51.46% 1.08%
23 25,502 12.47% 1.05%
24 23,491 40.64% 0.97%
25 22,749 20.93% 0.94%
26 22,033 48.46% 0.91%
27 20,618 19.41% 0.85%
28 19,869 33.86% 0.82%
29 19,448 29.49% 0.80%
30 19,289 10.46% 0.80%
31 19,169 24.93% 0.79%
32 18,969 6.45% 0.78%
33 18,599 11.78% 0.77%
34 18,058 18.50% 0.75%
35 16,126 9.24% 0.67%
36 15,698 29.72% 0.65%
37 15,642 35.84% 0.65%
38 15,466 24.93% 0.64%
39 14,949 9.56% 0.62%
40 14,056 31.63% 0.58%
41 14,046 38.17% 0.58%
42 13,688 19.30% 0.57%
43 12,489 11.24% 0.52%
44 12,255 23.41% 0.51%
45 12,071 57.12% 0.50%
46 11,217 7.26% 0.46%
47 10,892 23.06% 0.45%
48 10,851 25.83% 0.45%
49 10,836 47.54% 0.45%
50 10,766 59.66% 0.44%
51 10,179 33.58% 0.42%
52 9,954 55.09% 0.41%
53 9,689 11.49% 0.40%
54 9,510 47.87% 0.39%
55 9,199 40.05% 0.38%
56 8,868 13.24% 0.37%
57 7,857 11.94% 0.32%
58 7,794 33.66% 0.32%
59 7,470 30.98% 0.31%
60 7,024 10.24% 0.29%
61 6,590 7.19% 0.27%
62 6,049 6.31% 0.25%
63 5,445 48.27% 0.23%
64 5,301 4.25% 0.22%
65 5,028 17.91% 0.21%
66 4,932 5.82% 0.20%
67 4,662 32.40% 0.19%
68 4,647 6.35% 0.19%
69 3,803 5.01% 0.16%
70 3,666 5.26% 0.15%
71 3,342 30.71% 0.14%
72 2,960 21.49% 0.12%
73 2,839 28.40% 0.12%
74 2,397 18.51% 0.10%
75 2,207 4.67% 0.09%
76 2,155 4.63% 0.09%
77 2,108 4.51% 0.09%
78 1,935 5.08% 0.08%
79 1,706 2.98% 0.07%
80 1,586 4.51% 0.07%
81 1,498 3.77% 0.06%
82 1,433 3.10% 0.06%
83 1,286 3.25% 0.05%
84 1,231 1.87% 0.05%
85 1,140 32.36% 0.05%
86 1,134 5.41% 0.05%
87 1,096 9.38% 0.05%
88 854 4.66% 0.04%
89 821 2.10% 0.03%
90 739 3.20% 0.03%
91 635 2.09% 0.03%
92 414 1.49% 0.02%
93 391 2.57% 0.02%
94 362 3.08% 0.01%
95 304 1.57% 0.01%
96 254 2.19% 0.01%
97 171 1.10% 0.01%
98 89 1.09% -

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks counties in North Carolina by their Black or African American population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Black Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Black, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Black alone, while others identify as Black along with another race (such as Black and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Black .
  • We’ve used the “Black alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Black population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Black alone or in combination in counties. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total County Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Black .
  2. % of Total North Carolina Black Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Black population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Black populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Counties that don’t have any reported Black population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Black populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.