North Carolina counties quiz

The 100 counties in the quiz

They’re the 100 counties of North Carolina, as counted by the US Census Bureau. The state capital, Raleigh, is in Wake County.

How to play

In Point mode we name a county and you tap it on the map; in Type mode one lights up and you type its name (accents don’t matter); and in Time trial you get 6 seconds per question. If you miss, we show you where it was, which way it lies and a hint drawn from the data: its size rank and its neighbors.

Each game has 10, 20 or all the questions, and at the end you can practice just the ones you missed. Your best score for each mode is saved in this browser only: neither we nor anyone else can see it, and there’s no sign-up.

The hardest ones

The smallest counties are the hardest, since they barely show on the map: Chowan (173 sq mi), New Hanover (192 sq mi), and Clay (215 sq mi). Zoom in with the buttons or two fingers to tap them.

Tips to learn them

• Iredell has the most neighbors: it borders 9 counties. Once you place it, you have a landmark for many more.
• Wake is the most populous (1,257,235 people in 2025) and, together with Mecklenburg and Guilford, is home to 27% of North Carolina’s people.

Playing in class

If you teach in North Carolina, start with your school’s county and its neighbors and add a few each day. Otherwise, it’s a good way to get to know the state before studying it.

With the Challenge your class link, everyone gets the same questions in the same order, with no accounts or passwords, and each student sees their own score, time and streak. To practice on paper, there’s a printable worksheet of the same map with an answer key.

List of all 100 counties

1. Alamance pop. 186,177
2. Alexander pop. 36,958
3. Alleghany pop. 11,479
4. Anson pop. 21,758
5. Ashe pop. 27,514
6. Avery pop. 18,110
7. Beaufort pop. 44,670
8. Bertie pop. 17,086
9. Bladen pop. 30,007
10. Brunswick pop. 174,702
11. Buncombe pop. 277,417
12. Burke pop. 88,655
13. Cabarrus pop. 249,725
14. Caldwell pop. 81,105
15. Camden pop. 11,315
16. Carteret pop. 70,469
17. Caswell pop. 22,563
18. Catawba pop. 170,172
19. Chatham pop. 85,111
20. Cherokee pop. 30,830
21. Chowan pop. 14,082
22. Clay pop. 12,239
23. Cleveland pop. 103,325
24. Columbus pop. 50,487
25. Craven pop. 105,025
26. Cumberland pop. 338,473
27. Currituck pop. 33,158
28. Dare pop. 38,245
29. Davidson pop. 180,182
30. Davie pop. 45,855
31. Duplin pop. 51,571
32. Durham pop. 347,240
33. Edgecombe pop. 49,121
34. Forsyth pop. 401,718
35. Franklin pop. 82,037
36. Gaston pop. 246,558
37. Gates pop. 10,234
38. Graham pop. 8,190
39. Granville pop. 61,421
40. Greene pop. 20,700
41. Guilford pop. 562,234
42. Halifax pop. 46,534
43. Harnett pop. 150,137
44. Haywood pop. 63,369
45. Henderson pop. 122,375
46. Hertford pop. 19,015
47. Hoke pop. 56,939
48. Hyde pop. 4,554
49. Iredell pop. 211,798
50. Jackson pop. 45,039
51. Johnston pop. 256,448
52. Jones pop. 9,575
53. Lee pop. 70,258
54. Lenoir pop. 55,837
55. Lincoln pop. 98,654
56. Macon pop. 39,232
57. Madison pop. 22,553
58. Martin pop. 21,601
59. McDowell pop. 45,198
60. Mecklenburg pop. 1,233,383
61. Mitchell pop. 15,062
62. Montgomery pop. 26,403
63. Moore pop. 110,619
64. Nash pop. 99,365
65. New Hanover pop. 245,959
66. Northampton pop. 16,491
67. Onslow pop. 217,175
68. Orange pop. 152,498
69. Pamlico pop. 12,758
70. Pasquotank pop. 42,201
71. Pender pop. 72,111
72. Perquimans pop. 13,490
73. Person pop. 40,636
74. Pitt pop. 182,936
75. Polk pop. 20,533
76. Randolph pop. 149,516
77. Richmond pop. 42,041
78. Robeson pop. 119,941
79. Rockingham pop. 94,195
80. Rowan pop. 155,096
81. Rutherford pop. 65,745
82. Sampson pop. 61,504
83. Scotland pop. 33,322
84. Stanly pop. 68,830
85. Stokes pop. 46,126
86. Surry pop. 72,287
87. Swain pop. 14,024
88. Transylvania pop. 34,211
89. Tyrrell pop. 3,537
90. Union pop. 267,674
91. Vance pop. 42,638
92. Wake pop. 1,257,235
93. Warren pop. 18,898
94. Washington pop. 10,638
95. Watauga pop. 54,786
96. Wayne pop. 122,278
97. Wilkes pop. 66,233
98. Wilson pop. 81,150
99. Yadkin pop. 38,325
100. Yancey pop. 19,084