Sure, a Saturday morning right after a foot of fluffy snow is the best thing ever. But that same amount of snow on Tuesday in North Carolina can make a commute last forever. Imagine it’s the dead of winter and the time of year when the ground is frozen, the air is bone-chilling, and there are piles of dirty, nasty, ice-encrusted snow all over the place.
This is about the time of year when you’re just about ready for spring — especially in Boone, the snowiest place in North Carolina.
So, put on your parkas, snow boots, and gloves, and let’s go outside to see which North Carolina cities get dumped on the most every year. After analyzing all the cities in North Carolina with Saturday Night Science, we came up with this list as the 10 snowiest cities in Tar Heel State.
37.1 inches of snow per year
Located in
Watauga County, North CarolinaData | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
26.5 inches of snow per year
Located in
Buncombe County, North CarolinaBlack Mountain is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,848 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is named for the old train stop at the Black Mountain Depot and is located at the southern end of the Black Mountain range of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Southern Appalachians.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
18.5 inches of snow per year
17.6 inches of snow per year
Located in
Buncombe County, North CarolinaWoodfin is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,123 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is named for Nicholas Washington Woodfin, a renowned lawyer and statesman of early North Carolina, under whom Governor Zebulon Vance clerked as an attorney. Woodfin is the only municipality bearing the name Woodfin in the United States. The town was incorporated in 1971, although the community itself dates back to at least the mid-19th century.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.0 inches of snow per year
Located in
Buncombe County, North CarolinaAsheville is a city and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 12th-most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city’s population was 89,121 according to the 2016 estimates. It is the principal city in the four-county Asheville metropolitan area, with a population of 424,858 in 2010. Asheville is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center, the world’s largest active archive of weather data.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
11.2 inches of snow per year
Located in
Haywood County, North CarolinaWaynesville is a town in and the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest town in Haywood County and the largest in western North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about 30 miles southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
9.9 inches of snow per year
Located in
Surry County, North CarolinaMount Airy is a city in Surry County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,388. The town is widely known as the home of actor Andy Griffith and the inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry on his eponymous show.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9.7 inches of snow per year
Located in
McDowell County, North CarolinaMarion is a city in McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of McDowell County. Founded in 1844, the city was named in honor of Brigadier General Francis Marion, the American Revolutionary War Hero whose talent in guerrilla warfare earned him the name -Swamp Fox-. Marion’s Main Street Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The population was 7,838 at the 2010 Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9.4 inches of snow per year
Located in
Henderson County, North CarolinaMills River is a town in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,802 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 7,168 in 2016. The town took its name from the nearby confluence of the Mills River and French Broad River. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was incorporated into a town in June 2003. Sierra Nevada opened a brewery in Mills River in 2014.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
9.3 inches of snow per year
Located in
Stokes County, North CarolinaKing is a city in Stokes and Forsyth counties, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,904 at the 2010 census.
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 snowiest cities are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Cities In North Carolina With The Most Snow
In order to rank the snowiest cities in North Carolina, we used Saturday Night Science and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) database, to see which cities in the Tar Heel State get the most annual snowfall.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our second time ranking the snowiest cities in North Carolina.
Before we get too far, here are the annual snowfall rates for major cities: Charlotte (2.5 inches), Raleigh (3.7 inches), and Greensboro (5.7 inches).
The snowiest cities in North Carolina are Boone, Black Mountain, Royal Pines, Woodfin, Asheville, Waynesville, Mount Airy, Marion, Mills River, and King.
There’s a complete chart at the bottom.
The full plate
Detailed List Of The Snowiest Places In North Carolina
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Snow (Inches) | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boone | 37.1 | 17,966 |
| 2 | Black Mountain | 26.5 | 8,079 |
| 3 | Royal Pines | 18.5 | 5,084 |
| 4 | Woodfin | 17.6 | 6,204 |
| 5 | Asheville | 12.0 | 86,789 |
| 6 | Waynesville | 11.2 | 9,748 |
| 7 | Mount Airy | 9.9 | 10,391 |
| 8 | Marion | 9.7 | 7,914 |
| 9 | Mills River | 9.4 | 6,964 |
| 10 | King | 9.3 | 6,697 |
| 11 | Fletcher | 9.2 | 7,394 |
| 12 | Etowah | 8.6 | 6,797 |
| 13 | Hendersonville | 8.1 | 13,457 |
| 14 | Brevard | 7.7 | 7,656 |
| 15 | Stokesdale | 6.9 | 5,221 |
| 16 | Reidsville | 6.8 | 14,191 |
| 17 | Oak Ridge | 6.6 | 6,513 |
| 18 | Sawmills | 6.6 | 5,130 |
| 19 | Summerfield | 6.4 | 10,622 |
| 20 | Lewisville | 6.3 | 13,212 |
| 21 | Cullowhee | 6.3 | 5,534 |
| 22 | Winston-Salem | 6.2 | 236,642 |
| 23 | Roxboro | 5.9 | 8,316 |
| 24 | Greensboro | 5.7 | 279,427 |
| 25 | Clemmons | 5.6 | 19,340 |
| 26 | Cherryville | 5.0 | 5,868 |
| 27 | Hickory | 4.9 | 40,172 |
| 28 | Kernersville | 4.9 | 23,617 |
| 29 | Mocksville | 4.9 | 5,090 |
| 30 | Lenoir | 4.8 | 17,978 |
| 31 | Morrisville | 4.7 | 21,726 |
| 32 | Tarboro | 4.6 | 11,292 |
| 33 | Newton | 4.5 | 12,980 |
| 34 | Statesville | 4.4 | 25,443 |
| 35 | Cary | 4.1 | 151,186 |
| 36 | Thomasville | 4.1 | 27,084 |
| 37 | Asheboro | 4.1 | 25,897 |
| 38 | Lexington | 4.1 | 19,129 |
| 39 | Morganton | 4.1 | 16,748 |
| 40 | Eden | 4.0 | 15,483 |
| 41 | Conover | 4.0 | 8,221 |
| 42 | High Point | 3.9 | 108,031 |
| 43 | Kannapolis | 3.8 | 44,520 |
| 44 | Apex | 3.8 | 42,220 |
| 45 | St. Stephens | 3.8 | 8,954 |
| 46 | Long View | 3.8 | 5,050 |
| 47 | Raleigh | 3.7 | 432,520 |
| 48 | Concord | 3.7 | 83,903 |
| 49 | Goldsboro | 3.7 | 35,952 |
| 50 | Salisbury | 3.7 | 33,653 |
| 51 | Carrboro | 3.7 | 20,639 |
| 52 | Kings Mountain | 3.7 | 10,792 |
| 53 | Gibsonville | 3.7 | 6,634 |
| 54 | Chapel Hill | 3.6 | 58,766 |
| 55 | Archdale | 3.6 | 11,396 |
| 56 | Lincolnton | 3.6 | 10,696 |
| 57 | Forest City | 3.6 | 7,359 |
| 58 | Durham | 3.5 | 246,084 |
| 59 | Shelby | 3.5 | 20,245 |
| 60 | Oxford | 3.5 | 8,650 |
| 61 | Trinity | 3.5 | 6,652 |
| 62 | Bessemer City | 3.5 | 5,455 |
| 63 | Mooresville | 3.4 | 34,930 |
| 64 | Roanoke Rapids | 3.4 | 15,557 |
| 65 | Stallings | 3.3 | 14,495 |
| 66 | Indian Trail | 3.2 | 35,602 |
| 67 | Elon | 3.2 | 9,698 |
| 68 | Hillsborough | 3.2 | 6,316 |
| 69 | Wake Forest | 3.1 | 34,786 |
| 70 | Harrisburg | 3.1 | 13,883 |
| 71 | Butner | 3.1 | 7,672 |
| 72 | Greenville | 3.0 | 88,598 |
| 73 | Holly Springs | 3.0 | 28,640 |
| 74 | Fuquay-Varina | 3.0 | 21,399 |
| 75 | Rolesville | 3.0 | 5,006 |
| 76 | Garner | 2.9 | 27,160 |
| 77 | Wadesboro | 2.9 | 5,664 |
| 78 | Knightdale | 2.8 | 13,243 |
| 79 | Mebane | 2.7 | 13,309 |
| 80 | Graham | 2.6 | 14,468 |
| 81 | Davidson | 2.6 | 11,765 |
| 82 | Lake Norman of Catawba | 2.6 | 7,274 |
| 83 | Aberdeen | 2.6 | 6,914 |
| 84 | Wendell | 2.6 | 6,169 |
| 85 | Charlotte | 2.5 | 792,137 |
| 86 | Burlington | 2.5 | 52,241 |
| 87 | Mint Hill | 2.5 | 24,545 |
| 88 | Albemarle | 2.5 | 15,969 |
| 89 | Pinehurst | 2.5 | 15,313 |
| 90 | Henderson | 2.5 | 15,311 |
| 91 | Southern Pines | 2.5 | 13,018 |
| 92 | Weddington | 2.5 | 10,091 |
| 93 | Pineville | 2.5 | 8,066 |
| 94 | Wesley Chapel | 2.5 | 8,010 |
| 95 | Unionville | 2.5 | 6,295 |
| 96 | Marvin | 2.5 | 5,938 |
| 97 | Matthews | 2.4 | 29,352 |
| 98 | Clayton | 2.4 | 17,869 |
| 99 | Huntersville | 2.3 | 50,433 |
| 100 | Monroe | 2.3 | 33,951 |
Source: NOAA snowfall data via Saturday Night Science. 148 North Carolina cities ranked.
Summary
Summary: The Snowiest Cities In North Carolina For 2026
If you’re looking for the North Carolina cities that get buried in snow each winter, this is an accurate list.
The snowiest cities in North Carolina are Boone, Black Mountain, Royal Pines, Woodfin, Asheville, Waynesville, Mount Airy, Marion, Mills River, and King. Not sold on North Carolina? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Snowiest Cities In North Carolina FAQs
What is the snowiest city in North Carolina?
Boone is the snowiest city in North Carolina for 2026, with 37.1 inches of snow in an average year, per NOAA data. Black Mountain and Royal Pines are next.
What are the snowiest cities in North Carolina?
The snowiest cities in North Carolina are Boone, Black Mountain, Royal Pines, Woodfin, Asheville, Waynesville, Mount Airy, Marion, Mills River, and King. We ranked all 148 North Carolina cities with measurable snowfall.
How much snow do North Carolina’s biggest cities get?
Charlotte averages 2.5 inches of snow a year, Raleigh gets 3.7, and Greensboro gets 5.7. Wherever you land in North Carolina, the shovel situation varies a lot.
Which city on the list gets the least snow?
Lumberton gets the least snow of the 148 North Carolina cities with measurable snowfall. It still made the list, which is more than most of the Sun Belt can say.
Where does the snowfall data come from?
Average annual snowfall comes from NOAA weather station records. Cities are ranked purely on that average — no bonus points for dramatic blizzard stories.
