Most Asian cities in North Carolina research summary. We analyzed North Carolina’s most recent Census data to determine the most Asian cities in North Carolina based on the percentage of Asian residents.
41.0% Asian · #1 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Wake County, North CarolinaMorrisville is a town located in both Wake and Durham counties of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 18,576 at the 2010 census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the town’s population to be 21,932 as of July 1, 2013. Morrisville is part of the Research Triangle metropolitan region. The regional name originated after the 1959 creation of the Research Triangle Park, located midway between the cities of Raleigh and Durham. The Research Triangle region encompasses the U.S. Census Bureau’s Combined Statistical Area of Raleigh-Durham-Cary. The estimated population of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary CSA was 1,565,223 as of July 1, 2006, with the Raleigh-Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area portion estimated at 994,551 residents. The U.S. headquarters of Chinese multinational Lenovo are located in the municipal limits.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
20.3% Asian · #2 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Wake County, North CarolinaCary is the seventh-largest municipality in North Carolina. Cary is predominantly in Wake, with a small area in Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the county’s second-largest municipality and the third-largest municipality in The Triangle after Raleigh and Durham. The town’s population was 135,234 as of the 2010 census, making it the largest town and seventh-largest municipality statewide. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the town’s population to be 159,769 as of July 1, 2015. Cary is the second most populous incorporated town in the United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
19.5% Asian · #3 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Wake County, North CarolinaApex is a town in Wake County, North Carolina and a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the town’s population to be 43,907 as of July 1, 2014.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.7% Asian · #4 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Cabarrus County, North CarolinaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.4% Asian · #5 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Orange County, North CarolinaChapel Hill is a town in Orange and Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 57,233 in the 2010 census, making Chapel Hill the 15th-largest city in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state capital, Raleigh, make up the corners of the Research Triangle, with a total population of 1,998,808.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
10.8% Asian · #6 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Guilford County, North CarolinaOak Ridge is a town in northwestern Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,185 at the 2010 census, up from 3,988 at the 2000 census. As of 2015 the population had risen to an estimated 6,671. Oak Ridge is 15 miles northwest of the center of Greensboro, North Carolina’s third-largest city, and it is a part of the Piedmont Triad urban area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9.4% Asian · #7 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Randolph County, North CarolinaArchdale is a city in Guilford and Randolph counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 11,415 at the 2010 census, up from 9,014 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9.2% Asian · #8 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Catawba County, North CarolinaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.8% Asian · #9 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Union County, North CarolinaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
8.7% Asian · #10 most Asian in North Carolina
Located in
Wake County, North CarolinaHolly Springs is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 24,661, over 2 times its population in 2000.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is North Carolina’s statewide median.
On the map
Where North Carolina’s Asian communities live
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In North Carolina With The Largest Asian Population For 2026
We used Saturday Night Science to compare Census data on race across every place in North Carolina.
The Census’s most recently available data comes from the 2020-2024 American Community Survey.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- Hispanic or Latino
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
Our particular column of interest here was the number of people who identified as Asian alone.
We limited our analysis to cities with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 124 cities.
We then calculated the percentage of residents that are Asian. The percentages ranked from 41.0% to 0.0%.
Finally, we ranked each city based on the percentage of Asian population, with a higher percentage being more Asian. Morrisville took the distinction of being the most Asian, while Hamlet was the least Asian city.
We updated this article for 2026. This report reflects our eleventh time ranking the cities in North Carolina with the largest Asian population.
The full plate
Cities In North Carolina By Asian Population
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Asian Population | % Asian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morrisville | 31,422 | 12,888 | 41.0% |
| 2 | Cary | 179,306 | 36,439 | 20.3% |
| 3 | Apex | 70,630 | 13,770 | 19.5% |
| 4 | Harrisburg | 19,633 | 2,894 | 14.7% |
| 5 | Chapel Hill | 61,607 | 8,232 | 13.4% |
| 6 | Oak Ridge | 7,744 | 835 | 10.8% |
| 7 | Archdale | 12,087 | 1,139 | 9.4% |
| 8 | Newton | 13,333 | 1,228 | 9.2% |
| 9 | Weddington | 13,805 | 1,217 | 8.8% |
| 10 | Holly Springs | 45,248 | 3,929 | 8.7% |
| 11 | High Point | 116,245 | 9,534 | 8.2% |
| 12 | Concord | 108,719 | 8,381 | 7.7% |
| 13 | Waxhaw | 22,275 | 1,644 | 7.4% |
| 14 | Summerfield | 11,116 | 811 | 7.3% |
| 15 | Carrboro | 21,204 | 1,529 | 7.2% |
| 16 | Stallings | 16,886 | 1,184 | 7.0% |
| 17 | Charlotte | 903,844 | 58,555 | 6.5% |
| 18 | Matthews | 30,577 | 1,968 | 6.4% |
| 19 | Huntersville | 63,969 | 4,116 | 6.4% |
| 20 | Clemmons | 21,871 | 1,399 | 6.4% |
| 21 | New Bern | 32,734 | 1,934 | 5.9% |
| 22 | Durham | 291,467 | 16,949 | 5.8% |
| 23 | Woodfin | 8,048 | 445 | 5.5% |
| 24 | Greensboro | 301,198 | 15,785 | 5.2% |
| 25 | Mint Hill | 27,556 | 1,440 | 5.2% |
| 26 | Raleigh | 481,031 | 24,783 | 5.2% |
| 27 | Knightdale | 20,214 | 1,019 | 5.0% |
| 28 | Hickory | 44,258 | 2,106 | 4.8% |
| 29 | Marion | 7,579 | 350 | 4.6% |
| 30 | Mebane | 19,538 | 884 | 4.5% |
| 31 | Wesley Chapel | 9,090 | 407 | 4.5% |
| 32 | Pineville | 11,055 | 494 | 4.5% |
| 33 | Mills River | 7,281 | 325 | 4.5% |
| 34 | Mooresville | 52,381 | 2,288 | 4.4% |
| 35 | Elon | 11,032 | 465 | 4.2% |
| 36 | Havelock | 17,691 | 728 | 4.1% |
| 37 | Fletcher | 8,098 | 314 | 3.9% |
| 38 | Lexington | 19,690 | 727 | 3.7% |
| 39 | Indian Trail | 42,036 | 1,487 | 3.5% |
| 40 | Albemarle | 16,762 | 588 | 3.5% |
| 41 | Belmont | 15,546 | 544 | 3.5% |
| 42 | Mount Holly | 18,208 | 620 | 3.4% |
| 43 | Garner | 34,473 | 1,118 | 3.2% |
| 44 | Aberdeen | 9,228 | 297 | 3.2% |
| 45 | Kannapolis | 57,890 | 1,825 | 3.2% |
| 46 | Cornelius | 32,783 | 1,029 | 3.1% |
| 47 | Fayetteville | 210,815 | 6,298 | 3.0% |
| 48 | Davidson | 15,660 | 467 | 3.0% |
| 49 | Wake Forest | 52,844 | 1,554 | 2.9% |
| 50 | Fuquay-Varina | 40,485 | 1,177 | 2.9% |
| 51 | Burlington | 59,610 | 1,685 | 2.8% |
| 52 | Hillsborough | 9,724 | 272 | 2.8% |
| 53 | Greenville | 92,857 | 2,545 | 2.7% |
| 54 | Kings Mountain | 12,039 | 317 | 2.6% |
| 55 | Jacksonville | 71,279 | 1,792 | 2.5% |
| 56 | Winston-Salem | 252,037 | 5,756 | 2.3% |
| 57 | Mount Airy | 10,633 | 239 | 2.2% |
| 58 | Spring Lake | 11,573 | 255 | 2.2% |
| 59 | Williamston | 5,112 | 111 | 2.2% |
| 60 | Trinity | 7,111 | 149 | 2.1% |
| 61 | Kernersville | 27,830 | 561 | 2.0% |
| 62 | Smithfield | 12,116 | 227 | 1.9% |
| 63 | Hope Mills | 17,939 | 335 | 1.9% |
| 64 | Statesville | 29,894 | 552 | 1.8% |
| 65 | Pinehurst | 18,256 | 332 | 1.8% |
| 66 | Boone | 20,032 | 364 | 1.8% |
| 67 | Wilson | 48,370 | 831 | 1.7% |
| 68 | Laurinburg | 15,087 | 251 | 1.7% |
| 69 | Goldsboro | 34,383 | 558 | 1.6% |
| 70 | Clinton | 8,304 | 133 | 1.6% |
| 71 | Forest City | 7,363 | 116 | 1.6% |
| 72 | Lumberton | 18,859 | 290 | 1.5% |
| 73 | Rocky Mount | 54,297 | 800 | 1.5% |
| 74 | Kinston | 19,505 | 286 | 1.5% |
| 75 | Southern Pines | 16,420 | 237 | 1.4% |
| 76 | Henderson | 14,885 | 201 | 1.4% |
| 77 | Morganton | 17,646 | 238 | 1.3% |
| 78 | Wilmington | 120,805 | 1,561 | 1.3% |
| 79 | Gastonia | 82,884 | 1,056 | 1.3% |
| 80 | Kill Devil Hills | 7,761 | 98 | 1.3% |
| 81 | Carolina Beach | 6,745 | 78 | 1.2% |
| 82 | Roanoke Rapids | 14,856 | 169 | 1.1% |
| 83 | Asheville | 94,535 | 1,021 | 1.1% |
| 84 | Asheboro | 27,580 | 294 | 1.1% |
| 85 | Morehead City | 9,806 | 103 | 1.1% |
| 86 | Elizabeth City | 18,871 | 198 | 1.0% |
| 87 | Wendell | 13,064 | 137 | 1.0% |
| 88 | Salisbury | 35,825 | 372 | 1.0% |
| 89 | Monroe | 36,759 | 363 | 1.0% |
| 90 | Sanford | 31,478 | 297 | 0.9% |
| 91 | Lenoir | 18,299 | 172 | 0.9% |
| 92 | Winterville | 10,725 | 96 | 0.9% |
| 93 | Shelby | 22,100 | 196 | 0.9% |
| 94 | Rockingham | 8,967 | 79 | 0.9% |
| 95 | Thomasville | 27,321 | 218 | 0.8% |
| 96 | Hendersonville | 15,408 | 118 | 0.8% |
| 97 | Gibsonville | 9,467 | 68 | 0.7% |
| 98 | Graham | 18,048 | 126 | 0.7% |
| 99 | Oak Island | 9,030 | 61 | 0.7% |
| 100 | Leland | 29,607 | 198 | 0.7% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 124 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Asian Populations Across North Carolina
If you’re looking for a breakdown of Asian populations across North Carolina according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.
The most Asian cities in North Carolina are Morrisville, Cary, Apex, Harrisburg, Chapel Hill, Oak Ridge, Archdale, Newton, Weddington, and Holly Springs. Not sold on North Carolina? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Most Asian Cities In North Carolina FAQs
What is the most Asian city in North Carolina?
Morrisville is the most Asian city in North Carolina for 2026, at 41.0% of residents. Cary and Apex are next.
What cities in North Carolina have the largest Asian population?
The North Carolina cities with the largest Asian population shares are Morrisville, Cary, Apex, Harrisburg, Chapel Hill, Oak Ridge, Archdale, Newton, Weddington, and Holly Springs. We ranked all 124 places with more than 5,000 residents.
What percent of Morrisville is Asian?
Asian residents make up 41.0% of Morrisville, the highest share of the 124 North Carolina places we measured. The numbers come from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
What is the least Asian city in North Carolina?
Hamlet is the least Asian city in North Carolina, at 0.0%. It sits at the opposite end of the same ranking.
Where does this data come from?
Every share is calculated from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2020-2024), based on residents identifying as Asian alone. We rank each North Carolina place with more than 5,000 residents.
