Charlotte is the largest city in the state and rivals Jacksonville in Florida for the title of the biggest city in the south-eastern United States. It is the county seat of the county of Mecklenburg. As of 2017, the city of Charlotte had a population of 859,035 placing it as the 17th most populous city in the country. The whole metropolitan area is the 22nd largest in the country, and it had a population of 2,474,314 in 2016. The city of Charlotte is of the headquarters of the Bank of America. The growth of Charlotte is rooted in the city’s financial sector. Debatably Charlotte has also been touted to have the best nightlife in North Carolina and possibly the southern parts of the country.
Largest Cities in North Carolina
- Raleigh
Raleigh is the capital city of North Carolina and is situated in Wake County, in the central part of the state. Raleigh has an estimated population of around 464,000 people, with over 1.3 million living in the surrounding metropolitan area. This large North Carolina city covers an area of 144.8 square miles.
- Greensboro
Greensboro is the largest city and the seat of its host county Guilford. It is also the 3rd most populous city in the state of North Carolina, and the 68th most populous city in the whole country. As of 2010, the population was approximately 269,666 residents, and by 2017 the estimate was put at 290,222. Before 1895, the name of the city was spelled as Greensborough.
- Durham
Located in Durham County in the north-central part of North Carolina, Durham is the fourth largest city in the state. This city has an estimated population of around 263,000 people, with over 540,000 living in the surrounding metropolitan area. Durham covers an area of 108.3 square miles and was named after Bartlett S. Durham, an American doctor, and entrepreneur who donated the land on which the city was built.
- Winston-Salem
Situated in Forsyth County in the north-central part of the state, Winston-Salem is the fifth biggest city in North Carolina. This city has an estimated population of 242,000 people, with over 667,000 in the surrounding metropolitan area.