The 10 Gayest Places In North Carolina For 2026


The gayest cities in North Carolina are Plymouth and Haw River for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: May 26, 2026

Gayest places in North Carolina research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to research the cities in North Carolina with the highest percent of same-sex households for 2026. The data comes from the American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year vintage, which counts same-sex married spouses and same-sex unmarried partners at the city level.

  • The city with the highest rate of same-sex houesholds in North Carolina is Plymouth. 6.09% of households in Plymouth are gay.

  • The city in North Carolina with the most same-sex houesholds is Charlotte with 4,076 gay households.

  • North Carolina is the 28th most gay in the United States.

Gayest Cities In North Carolina Map

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

An estimated 0.83% of North Carolina residents are gay.

That means there are a total of 35,516 gay households in The Tar Heel State.

Our goal with this post is to use Saturday Night Science and data to determine the gayest cities in North Carolina.

After analyzing 240 cities with over 1,000 households, we’ve determined these are The Gayest Cities in North Carolina for 2026.

The 10 Gayest Places In North Carolina For 2026

  1. Plymouth
  2. Haw River
  3. Surf City
  4. Wallace
  5. Erwin
  6. Red Oak
  7. Carthage
  8. Weaverville
  9. Aberdeen
  10. Troy

What’s the gayest place in North Carolina? According to the facts, Plymouth is the gayest place in North Carolina for 2026.

For more on how we calculated the top ten, and for more information about these places, read on.

For more North Carolina reading, check out:

The 10 Gayest Cities In North Carolina For 2026

1. Plymouth

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Households: 1,314
Gay Households: 80 (45th highest)
% Gay Households: 6.09% (1st highest)
More on Plymouth: Crime | Movers

2. Haw River

Haw River, NC

Source: Wikipedia User Bureau of Labor Statistics, State of North Carolina (1897) & State Library of North Carolina | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Households: 1,049
Gay Households: 48 (70th highest)
% Gay Households: 4.58% (2nd highest)
More on Haw River: Crime | Movers

3. Surf City

Surf City, NC

Source: Wikipedia User . The original uploader was Mikehelms at English Wikipedia | CC BY 2.5
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Households: 1,784
Gay Households: 73 (48th highest)
% Gay Households: 4.09% (3rd highest)
More on Surf City: Data | Crime | Movers

4. Wallace

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Households: 1,697
Gay Households: 65 (56th highest)
% Gay Households: 3.83% (4th highest)
More on Wallace: Crime | Movers

5. Erwin

Erwin, NC

Source: Wikipedia User Dincher | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Households: 1,869
Gay Households: 70 (50th highest)
% Gay Households: 3.75% (5th highest)
More on Erwin: Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

6. Red Oak

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Households: 1,424
Gay Households: 51 (66th highest)
% Gay Households: 3.58% (6th highest)
More on Red Oak: Data | Movers

7. Carthage

Carthage, NC

Source: Wikipedia User Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Households: 1,146
Gay Households: 38 (90th highest)
% Gay Households: 3.32% (7th highest)
More on Carthage: Crime | Movers

8. Weaverville

Weaverville, NC

Source: Wikipedia User -ted | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Households: 2,003
Gay Households: 65 (56th highest)
% Gay Households: 3.25% (8th highest)
More on Weaverville: Data | Crime | Movers

9. Aberdeen

Aberdeen Location In North Carolina

Aberdeen, NC

Source: Wikipedia User Bigbird78 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Households: 3,996
Gay Households: 125 (28th highest)
% Gay Households: 3.13% (9th highest)
More on Aberdeen: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

10. Troy

Troy, NC

Source: Wikipedia User Wasrts | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Households: 1,152
Gay Households: 36 (92nd highest)
% Gay Households: 3.12% (10th highest)
More on Troy: Crime | Movers

How do you determine the best cities for same-sex households in North Carolina for 2026

In order to rank the gayest cities in North Carolina, we used Saturday Night Science and the 2020-2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the U.S. Census. We looked at:

  • Percentage of all households that are unmarried, same sex partners

We limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 1,000 households.

We ranked each place from 1 to 240 with the city containing the highest percentage of unmarried, same sex partners households being the most gay.

In the end, ended up being the the most gay place with 6.09% gay households.

Skip to the end to see the list of all the places in the state from gayest to straighest.

We updated this report for 2026. This report is our eleventh time ranking the gayest places in North Carolina.

Most Expensive Places To Live In North Carolina

There You Have It – The Most LGBT Friendly Cities In North Carolina For 2026

If you’re looking at the number of gay households in North Carolina, this is an accurate list.

The gayest cities in North Carolina are .

If you’re curious enough, here are the least gay places in North Carolina:

  • Cape Carteret
  • Tabor City
  • Jonesville

For more North Carolina reading, check out:

Table: Gayest Places To Live In North Carolina

RankCityHouseholds% Gay Households
1Plymouth1,3146.09%
2Haw River1,0494.58%
3Surf City1,7844.09%
4Wallace1,6973.83%
5Erwin1,8693.75%
6Red Oak1,4243.58%
7Carthage1,1463.32%
8Weaverville2,0033.25%
9Aberdeen3,9963.13%
10Troy1,1523.12%
11Wadesboro1,9962.51%
12Waynesville5,0352.48%
13Williamston2,3642.37%
14Oak Island4,6022.35%
15Mineral Springs1,1702.31%
16Kure Beach1,0732.24%
17Beaufort2,5532.23%
18Mills River2,7272.16%
19Mocksville2,3242.15%
20Fletcher3,3721.96%
21Woodfin2,9771.95%
22Asheville37,3941.93%
23Elkin1,6601.93%
24Laurel Park1,0541.9%
25Red Springs1,2401.85%
26Clayton11,2421.83%
27Ranlo1,6921.83%
28Gibsonville3,7341.82%
29Gamewell1,4391.81%
30Morganton6,8881.76%
31Wilmington56,6121.75%
32Kitty Hawk1,6191.73%
33Hillsborough4,1461.66%
34Locust2,1931.55%
35Forest City2,6811.49%
36Lowell1,7801.46%
37Goldsboro15,1451.41%
38Carrboro9,4741.4%
39Albemarle6,7691.4%
40Archer Lodge1,9251.4%
41Durham126,5501.37%
42Kannapolis22,5091.36%
43Wallburg1,1151.35%
44Green Level1,0471.34%
45Liberty1,0471.34%
46Morrisville12,3001.33%
47Mount Holly7,3071.31%
48Conover3,2751.31%
49Black Mountain3,6011.31%
50Chapel Hill21,1891.3%
51Rolesville3,5241.28%
52Weddington4,4171.27%
53Greensboro123,9841.26%
54Pinehurst8,4801.23%
55High Point45,8721.21%
56Zebulon3,2521.2%
57Farmville2,0041.2%
58Kill Devil Hills3,3841.18%
59Dallas2,4011.17%
60Cherryville2,3161.17%
61Hickory18,0421.16%
62Siler City3,0271.16%
63Spring Lake4,5191.13%
64Southport1,8781.12%
65Leland13,2191.11%
66Charlotte368,7881.11%
67Greenville40,7831.1%
68Lake Park1,3631.1%
69Ahoskie1,9201.09%
70Wendell4,9571.09%
71Roxboro3,5481.07%
72Raleigh203,4431.06%
73Boiling Spring Lakes2,9370.99%
74Roanoke Rapids6,1940.98%
75Sylva1,0280.97%
76Salisbury14,0430.97%
77Long View2,2000.95%
78Rockwell1,0870.92%
79Statesville12,2860.92%
80Winston-Salem103,0580.91%
81Elizabeth City7,5760.91%
82Concord38,6690.91%
83Wake Forest18,4030.9%
84Havelock6,0000.9%
85Huntersville25,0550.9%
86Hendersonville8,1430.88%
87Mint Hill10,2620.87%
88Monroe12,6200.85%
89Wilson20,4030.83%
90Maiden1,3360.82%
91Lincolnton5,0230.82%
92Rocky Mount23,3640.81%
93Brevard3,7520.8%
94Cary69,7100.77%
95Garner13,8990.76%
96Thomasville11,2520.76%
97Belmont6,3870.75%
98Davidson5,5890.75%
99Wesley Chapel3,0630.75%
100New Bern14,6730.73%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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