2025

Counties in North Carolina ranked by Native American Population

This list ranks the 98 counties in North Carolina based on their American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) 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 Native American population in North Carolina

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  • 1
    Robeson County
    Native American population in Robeson County is 48,541
    40.02% of Robeson County population is Native American
  • 2
    Wake County
    Native American population in Wake County is 15,094
    1.21% of Wake County population is Native American
  • 3
    Mecklenburg County
    Native American population in Mecklenburg County is 14,660
    1.19% of Mecklenburg County population is Native American
  • 4
    Cumberland County
    Native American population in Cumberland County is 12,171
    3.23% of Cumberland County population is Native American
  • 5
    Guilford County
    Native American population in Guilford County is 9,398
    1.60% of Guilford County population is Native American

List of 98 counties in North Carolina by Native American Population

View Methodology
Rank by Native American Population
County
Native American Population
% of Total County Population
% of Total North Carolina Native American Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Robeson County 48,541 40.02% 20.11%
2 Wake County 15,094 1.21% 6.25%
3 Mecklenburg County 14,660 1.19% 6.07%
4 Cumberland County 12,171 3.23% 5.04%
5 Guilford County 9,398 1.60% 3.89%
6 Onslow County 7,886 3.31% 3.27%
7 Forsyth County 6,051 1.44% 2.51%
8 5,973 1.66% 2.47%
9 5,314 9.06% 2.20%
10 5,139 13.97% 2.13%
11 4,488 29.55% 1.86%
12 4,157 1.70% 1.72%
13 4,130 1.57% 1.71%
14 4,003 8.65% 1.66%
15 3,477 2.22% 1.44%
16 3,299 2.23% 1.37%
17 3,274 1.11% 1.36%
18 3,207 1.71% 1.33%
19 3,189 1.30% 1.32%
20 3,007 1.21% 1.25%
21 2,731 1.09% 1.13%
22 2,721 1.71% 1.13%
23 2,710 5.13% 1.12%
24 2,462 4.83% 1.02%
25 2,458 1.20% 1.02%
26 2,277 1.47% 0.94%
27 2,165 1.95% 0.90%
28 2,162 1.24% 0.90%
29 1,997 1.26% 0.83%
30 1,983 1.08% 0.82%
31 1,970 1.85% 0.82%
32 1,841 1.02% 0.76%
33 1,769 2.85% 0.73%
34 1,706 1.37% 0.71%
35 1,702 3.60% 0.71%
36 1,650 1.80% 0.68%
37 1,636 1.68% 0.68%
38 1,613 1.62% 0.67%
39 1,514 2.07% 0.63%
40 1,506 1.39% 0.62%
41 1,481 3.33% 0.61%
42 1,413 1.08% 0.59%
43 1,311 1.99% 0.54%
44 1,256 1.63% 0.52%
45 1,247 6.28% 0.52%
46 1,234 3.24% 0.51%
47 1,199 3.95% 0.50%
48 1,090 1.54% 0.45%
49 1,033 2.46% 0.43%
50 985 1.30% 0.41%
51 955 1.43% 0.40%
52 933 2.05% 0.39%
53 931 1.42% 0.39%
54 889 3.84% 0.37%
55 883 2.90% 0.37%
56 793 9.67% 0.33%
57 786 1.36% 0.33%
58 771 0.93% 0.32%
59 769 1.76% 0.32%
60 738 0.88% 0.31%
61 677 0.80% 0.28%
62 664 1.16% 0.28%
63 646 0.67% 0.27%
64 579 0.88% 0.24%
65 547 1.04% 0.23%
66 537 2.54% 0.22%
67 530 0.77% 0.22%
68 514 1.09% 0.21%
69 509 1.45% 0.21%
70 500 0.72% 0.21%
71 498 1.06% 0.21%
72 496 1.07% 0.21%
73 491 0.97% 0.20%
74 489 1.74% 0.20%
75 430 1.08% 0.18%
76 428 1.09% 0.18%
77 407 1.03% 0.17%
78 404 2.24% 0.17%
79 355 1.56% 0.15%
80 347 2.41% 0.14%
81 343 1.48% 0.14%
82 324 2.77% 0.13%
83 315 1.75% 0.13%
84 298 1.24% 0.12%
85 268 1.17% 0.11%
86 267 0.96% 0.11%
87 227 1.46% 0.09%
88 222 1.06% 0.09%
89 178 0.92% 0.07%
90 161 1.17% 0.07%
91 160 0.87% 0.07%
92 152 1.40% 0.06%
93 151 1.30% 0.06%
94 142 1.26% 0.06%
95 140 1.08% 0.06%
96 123 1.23% 0.05%
97 78 0.66% 0.03%
98 25 0.71% 0.01%

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 American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Native American 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 Native American, 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 Native American alone, while others identify as Native American along with another race (such as Native American and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Native American .
  • We’ve used the “Native American alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Native American population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Native American 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 Native American .
  2. % of Total North Carolina Native American Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Native American 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 Native American 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 Native American 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 Native American 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.