#1Wendell
Wake County9,841 in 2020·19,687 in 2025·+9,846 people
Wendell, #1 on this list · Sunnyside · Photo: Nicholas Oren Rawlings · CC BY-SA 3.0North Carolina rankings · Growth
Fastest-growing towns in North Carolina
Wendell has grown fastest of North Carolina’s 227 towns of 2,500+: up 100.1% from 9,841 residents in April 2020 to an estimated 19,687 in July 2025 (Census Bureau estimates). The typical town here changed +5.4%; 25 of the 227 lost residents.
Census Bureau population estimates, Vintage 2025: July 1, 2025 against the April 2020 base, both on January 2025 town lines (people a town annexed are in its base, not its growth). Estimates, not counts. Unincorporated communities (census-designated places) get no estimate, so they aren’t listed. A described list: no letters. How grades work
#1+100.1%
#2Angier
Harnett County5,366 in 2020·9,410 in 2025·+4,044 people
#3Zebulon
Wake County6,915 in 2020·11,933 in 2025·+5,018 people
All 227 towns
Growth since 2020, highest first.
227 towns ranked. Not here? See why a town may be missing.
#TownGrowth since 2020People addedResidents
Quick answers
Questions people ask
What is the fastest-growing town in North Carolina?
Wendell (Wake County): it grew 100.1%, from 9,841 residents in April 2020 to an estimated 19,687 in July 2025. Angier (+75.4%) and Zebulon (+72.6%) follow.
How are these towns ranked?
By the percent change in residents from the Census Bureau’s April 2020 estimates base to its latest July 1 estimate, highest first, on the exact change: two towns shown with the same tenth of a percent keep the order of their unrounded figures, and only an identical change shares a rank (T). The base is the 2020 Census count redrawn on today’s town lines, so a town that annexed land since 2020 changes only by births, deaths and moves, not by the people it took in. How grades work.
Why isn’t my town on this list?
The list covers the towns TownRatings grades that had 2,500+ residents in the 2020 estimates base (227 in North Carolina). Census-designated places (unincorporated communities) have no Census Bureau estimates, so they never appear; a town incorporated since 2020, or one TownRatings merges with its twin township, isn’t listed either. Every town is on the North Carolina page.
Go deeper
All North Carolina rankings →More North Carolina lists
Every list ranks the same 2,500+ towns, so a town’s rank means the same thing on each.
Best places to live286 towns · #1 RolesvilleBest small towns188 towns · #1 WingateMost affordable towns290 towns · #1 EmmaSafest towns163 towns · #1 Whispering PinesTowns with the best schools290 towns · #1 Carrboro and Chapel HillHealthiest towns289 towns · #1 MorrisvilleBest towns for jobs & income290 towns · #1 WeddingtonMost walkable towns290 towns · #1 Chapel HillTowns with the lowest natural-hazard risk290 towns · #1 NewtonBest towns for the outdoors290 towns · #1 Nags HeadMost historic towns290 towns · #1 EdentonTowns with the most civic life234 towns · #1 AshevilleTowns with the least snow215 towns · #1 Anderson CreekDescribed, no lettersSnowiest towns215 towns · #1 BooneDescribed, no lettersTowns with the mildest winters287 towns · #1 SouthportDescribed, no lettersTowns with the hottest summers287 towns · #1 LaurinburgDescribed, no lettersTowns with the coolest summers287 towns · #1 BooneDescribed, no lettersTowns with the highest incomes290 towns · #1 MarvinDescribed, no lettersTowns with the lowest property taxes290 towns · #1 EmmaDescribed, no letters
Other states