The graph below ranks each North Carolina County by total residents according to the 2006 census estimates.
North Carolina total population by county
| County | Total Population |
| Mecklenburg |  827,445 |
| Wake | 786,522 |
| Guilford | 451,905 |
| Forsyth | 332,355 |
| Cumberland | 299,060 |
| Durham | 246,896 |
| Buncombe | 222,174 |
| Gaston | 199,397 |
| New Hanover | 182,591 |
| Union | 175,272 |
| Cabarrus | 156,395 |
| Davidson | 156,236 |
| Catawba | 153,784 |
| Johnston | 152,143 |
| Onslow | 150,673 |
| Iredell | 146,206 |
| Pitt | 145,619 |
| Alamance | 142,661 |
| Randolph | 140,410 |
| Rowan | 136,254 |
| Robeson | 129,021 |
| Orange | 120,100 |
| Wayne | 113,847 |
| Harnett | 106,283 |
| Henderson | 99,033 |
| Cleveland | 98,373 |
| Brunswick | 94,945 |
| Craven | 94,875 |
| Rockingham | 93,063 |
| Nash | 92,312 |
| Burke | 90,054 |
| Moore | 83,162 |
| Caldwell | 79,841 |
| Wilson | 76,624 |
| Surry | 72,687 |
| Lincoln | 71,894 |
| Wilkes | 67,310 |
| Rutherford | 63,867 |
| Carteret | 63,584 |
| Sampson | 63,561 |
| Chatham | 60,052 |
| Stanly | 59,358 |
| Lenoir | 57,662 |
| Lee | 56,908 |
| Haywood | 56,447 |
| Franklin | 55,886 |
| Halifax | 55,521 |
| Columbus | 54,637 |
| Granville | 54,473 |
| Edgecombe | 53,964 |
| Duplin | 52,790 |
| Pender | 48,630 |
| Richmond | 46,555 |
| Beaufort | 46,355 |
| Stokes | 46,168 |
| Vance | 43,810 |
| McDowell | 43,414 |
| Watauga | 42,700 |
| Hoke | 42,303 |
| Davie | 40,035 |
| Pasquotank | 39,591 |
| Yadkin | 38,056 |
| Person | 37,341 |
| Scotland | 37,094 |
| Alexander | 36,177 |
| Jackson | 35,562 |
| Dare | 33,935 |
| Bladen | 32,921 |
| Macon | 32,395 |
| Transylvania | 29,780 |
| Montgomery | 27,638 |
| Cherokee | 26,309 |
| Ashe | 25,499 |
| Anson | 25,472 |
| Martin | 24,342 |
| Currituck | 23,770 |
| Hertford | 23,581 |
| Caswell | 23,546 |
| Northampton | 21,247 |
| Madison | 20,355 |
| Greene | 20,157 |
| Warren | 19,605 |
| Polk | 19,226 |
| Bertie | 19,094 |
| Yancey | 18,421 |
| Avery | 17,674 |
| Mitchell | 15,681 |
| Chowan | 14,695 |
| Swain | 13,445 |
| Washington | 13,227 |
| Pamlico | 12,785 |
| Perquimans | 12,337 |
| Gates | 11,527 |
| Alleghany | 10,912 |
| Jones | 10,204 |
| Clay | 10,008 |
| Camden | 9,271 |
| Graham | 7,995 |
| Hyde | 5,341 |
| Tyrrell | 4,187 |