BLS LAUS · August 2026 preliminary · not seasonally adjusted
North Carolina Unemployment Rate by County
North Carolina statewide was 3.6% in August 2026, against 4.1% in August 2025; the United States was 4.3% on the same basis. The 100 counties and equivalents below are listed alphabetically, each with its August 2026 rate and the change from August 2025. They are not ranked: county estimates carry model error BLS does not publish, so an order would compare noise.
100 areas · rate August 2026 · change from August 2025
- Alamance County3.8% · −0.5 pts
- Alexander County3.4% · −0.6 pts
- Alleghany County3.5% · −0.5 pts
- Anson County4.5% · −0.5 pts
- Ashe County2.9% · −0.7 pts
- Avery County3.0% · −0.8 pts
- Beaufort County3.5% · −0.4 pts
- Bertie County4.6% · −0.9 pts
- Bladen County4.8% · −1.3 pts
- Brunswick County3.9% · −0.7 pts
- Buncombe County3.2% · −1.2 pts
- Burke County3.4% · −0.8 pts
- Cabarrus County3.5% · −0.5 pts
- Caldwell County3.5% · −0.7 pts
- Camden County3.0% · −0.4 pts
- Carteret County3.1% · −0.6 pts
- Caswell County3.7% · −0.5 pts
- Catawba County3.5% · −0.5 pts
- Chatham County3.1% · −0.6 pts
- Cherokee County3.6% · −0.8 pts
- Chowan County3.4% · −0.6 pts
- Clay County3.4% · −0.7 pts
- Cleveland County4.3% · −0.5 pts
- Columbus County4.2% · −0.4 pts
- Craven County3.8% · −0.4 pts
- Cumberland County4.6% · −0.6 pts
- Currituck County2.7% · −0.3 pts
- Dare County2.9% · −0.4 pts
- Davidson County3.6% · −0.6 pts
- Davie County3.4% · −0.5 pts
- Duplin County3.3% · −0.4 pts
- Durham County3.3% · −0.5 pts
- Edgecombe County5.4% · −0.8 pts
- Forsyth County3.9% · −0.5 pts
- Franklin County3.3% · −0.4 pts
- Gaston County3.7% · −0.6 pts
- Gates County3.6% · −0.5 pts
- Graham County3.2% · −0.5 pts
- Granville County3.4% · −0.6 pts
- Greene County3.3% · −0.4 pts
- Guilford County4.2% · −0.5 pts
- Halifax County5.3% · −1.0 pts
- Harnett County4.0% · −0.4 pts
- Haywood County3.1% · −0.9 pts
- Henderson County3.0% · −0.6 pts
- Hertford County4.2% · −0.6 pts
- Hoke County4.5% · −0.4 pts
- Hyde County4.2% · −0.8 pts
- Iredell County3.3% · −0.6 pts
- Jackson County3.5% · −0.2 pts
- Johnston County3.1% · −0.4 pts
- Jones County3.8% · −0.7 pts
- Lee County3.6% · −0.6 pts
- Lenoir County3.9% · −0.5 pts
- Lincoln County3.3% · −0.4 pts
- Macon County3.3% · −0.4 pts
- Madison County3.3% · −1.1 pts
- Martin County4.0% · −0.4 pts
- McDowell County3.7% · −0.7 pts
- Mecklenburg County3.7% · −0.5 pts
- Mitchell County3.4% · −1.3 pts
- Montgomery County3.9% · −0.6 pts
- Moore County3.2% · −0.6 pts
- Nash County4.6% · −0.8 pts
- New Hanover County3.3% · −0.4 pts
- Northampton County4.5% · −1.3 pts
- Onslow County3.9% · −0.5 pts
- Orange County3.5% · −0.2 pts
- Pamlico County3.3% · −0.6 pts
- Pasquotank County3.7% · −0.7 pts
- Pender County3.3% · −0.6 pts
- Perquimans County3.9% · −0.5 pts
- Person County3.3% · −0.7 pts
- Pitt County4.3% · −0.3 pts
- Polk County3.1% · −0.8 pts
- Randolph County3.5% · −0.5 pts
- Richmond County3.9% · −0.9 pts
- Robeson County5.1% · −0.7 pts
- Rockingham County3.8% · −0.7 pts
- Rowan County3.6% · −0.5 pts
- Rutherford County4.1% · −0.9 pts
- Sampson County3.6% · −0.7 pts
- Scotland County4.7% · −0.9 pts
- Stanly County3.1% · −0.6 pts
- Stokes County3.4% · −0.8 pts
- Surry County3.3% · −0.5 pts
- Swain County3.0% · −0.6 pts
- Transylvania County3.2% · −0.6 pts
- Tyrrell County4.3% · −0.8 pts
- Union County3.4% · −0.3 pts
- Vance County4.5% · −0.4 pts
- Wake County3.1% · −0.4 pts
- Warren County4.5% · −0.7 pts
- Washington County4.8% · −0.5 pts
- Watauga County3.7% · 0.0 pts
- Wayne County3.9% · −0.5 pts
- Wilkes County3.7% · −0.7 pts
- Wilson County5.0% · −0.8 pts
- Yadkin County3.2% · −0.4 pts
- Yancey County3.0% · −1.2 pts