North Carolina

The freest counties in North Carolina (2026)

North Carolina has 100 counties in the ranking. The freest is Clay, #189 of 3,144 in the country. The state itself scores7.59 of 10 for fraser institute state ranking and 10 of 10 for 2a, which every county in North Carolina shares.

  1. 189ClayNorth Carolina
  2. 347WataugaNorth Carolina
  3. 417PolkNorth Carolina
  4. 425CamdenNorth Carolina
  5. 441AveryNorth Carolina
  6. 457AsheNorth Carolina
  7. 498MitchellNorth Carolina
  8. 505TransylvaniaNorth Carolina
  9. 510GrahamNorth Carolina
  10. 527DareNorth Carolina
  11. 575UnionNorth Carolina
  12. 595AlleghanyNorth Carolina
  13. 626CurrituckNorth Carolina
  14. 626StanlyNorth Carolina
  15. 718CherokeeNorth Carolina
  16. 721LincolnNorth Carolina
  17. 732MadisonNorth Carolina
  18. 758IredellNorth Carolina
  19. 759YadkinNorth Carolina
  20. 774CarteretNorth Carolina
  21. 783ChathamNorth Carolina
  22. 835DavieNorth Carolina
  23. 855HendersonNorth Carolina
  24. 873MaconNorth Carolina
  25. 904YanceyNorth Carolina
  26. 978GatesNorth Carolina
  27. 1086MooreNorth Carolina
  28. 1086WakeNorth Carolina
  29. 1098JohnstonNorth Carolina
  30. 1101WilkesNorth Carolina
  31. 1139McDowellNorth Carolina
  32. 1145StokesNorth Carolina
  33. 1182OnslowNorth Carolina
  34. 1224PenderNorth Carolina
  35. 1261SurryNorth Carolina
  36. 1285RandolphNorth Carolina
  37. 1311CaldwellNorth Carolina
  38. 1316AlexanderNorth Carolina
  39. 1319BuncombeNorth Carolina
  40. 1326PamlicoNorth Carolina
  41. 1346BrunswickNorth Carolina
  42. 1368New HanoverNorth Carolina
  43. 1380JacksonNorth Carolina
  44. 1383OrangeNorth Carolina
  45. 1391CatawbaNorth Carolina
  46. 1432CabarrusNorth Carolina
  47. 1443BurkeNorth Carolina
  48. 1465FranklinNorth Carolina
  49. 1491DavidsonNorth Carolina
  50. 1515AlamanceNorth Carolina
  51. 1518HaywoodNorth Carolina
  52. 1570HydeNorth Carolina
  53. 1609HarnettNorth Carolina
  54. 1623CaswellNorth Carolina
  55. 1694RutherfordNorth Carolina
  56. 1743TyrrellNorth Carolina
  57. 1811PerquimansNorth Carolina
  58. 1815RowanNorth Carolina
  59. 1892GranvilleNorth Carolina
  60. 1920MontgomeryNorth Carolina
  61. 1967CravenNorth Carolina
  62. 2016RockinghamNorth Carolina
  63. 2042GastonNorth Carolina
  64. 2046PersonNorth Carolina
  65. 2055LeeNorth Carolina
  66. 2069BeaufortNorth Carolina
  67. 2080SwainNorth Carolina
  68. 2112JonesNorth Carolina
  69. 2167ClevelandNorth Carolina
  70. 2194ChowanNorth Carolina
  71. 2209GreeneNorth Carolina
  72. 2225MecklenburgNorth Carolina
  73. 2292PittNorth Carolina
  74. 2296NashNorth Carolina
  75. 2307ForsythNorth Carolina
  76. 2359GuilfordNorth Carolina
  77. 2374DuplinNorth Carolina
  78. 2379WayneNorth Carolina
  79. 2390DurhamNorth Carolina
  80. 2413SampsonNorth Carolina
  81. 2433WilsonNorth Carolina
  82. 2437WarrenNorth Carolina
  83. 2451PasquotankNorth Carolina
  84. 2536BladenNorth Carolina
  85. 2583NorthamptonNorth Carolina
  86. 2615HokeNorth Carolina
  87. 2628AnsonNorth Carolina
  88. 2628CumberlandNorth Carolina
  89. 2643MartinNorth Carolina
  90. 2667ColumbusNorth Carolina
  91. 2682LenoirNorth Carolina
  92. 2690ScotlandNorth Carolina
  93. 2719HertfordNorth Carolina
  94. 2722VanceNorth Carolina
  95. 2726WashingtonNorth Carolina
  96. 2737RobesonNorth Carolina
  97. 2786BertieNorth Carolina
  98. 2838HalifaxNorth Carolina
  99. 2848RichmondNorth Carolina
  100. 2853EdgecombeNorth Carolina

See the freest counties of 2026 nationally, or readhow the ranking works.