The 10 Whitest Cities In North Carolina For 2022


We used science and data to determine which cities in North Carolina are whiter than wonder bread.

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You're at your local Whole Foods shopping for kale chips and asparagus water, trying to work out if you'll have time to stop at the Pottery Barn before you head to your yoga class taught by a girl named Sage. It hits you: you're leading the whitest life imaginable.

But does that mean the city you live in is one of the whitest places in North Carolina?

Don't worry, we've figured it out for you. Using actual census data combined with our favorite white people stereotypes (as confirmed by the internet), we can determine which cities are the whitest of the white in Tar Heel State.

After analyzing cities with populations greater than 5,000, we came up with this list as the whitest cities in North Carolina for 2022.

Here are the 10 whites places in North Carolina for 2022:

  1. Oak Island
  2. Carolina Beach
  3. Unionville
  4. Black Mountain
  5. Trinity
  6. King
  7. Pinehurst
  8. Boone
  9. Waynesville
  10. Cherryville

What is the whitest city in North Carolina for 2022? According to the most recent census data Oak Island ranks as the whitest. If you're wondering, Selma is the least white city of all those we measured.

Read on below to see where your hometown ranked and why. Or check out the whitest states in America and the most diverse states in America.

For more North Carolina reading, check out:

The 10 Whitest Cities In North Carolina For 2022

1. Oak Island

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 8,118
% White: 96.98%
More on Oak Island: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Oak Island, NC

2. Carolina Beach

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 6,324
% White: 96.08%
More on Carolina Beach: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Carolina Beach, NC

3. Unionville

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 7,089
% White: 95.2%
More on Unionville: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Unionville, NC

Source: Public domain

4. Black Mountain

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 8,177
% White: 94.68%
More on Black Mountain: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Black Mountain, NC

5. Trinity

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 6,619
% White: 93.62%
More on Trinity: Real Estate | Data

Trinity, NC

Source: Public domain

6. King

Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 6,980
% White: 92.91%
More on King: Real Estate | Data | Photos

King, NC

7. Pinehurst

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 16,382
% White: 90.1%
More on Pinehurst: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Pinehurst, NC

8. Boone

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 19,466
% White: 89.13%
More on Boone: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Boone, NC

9. Waynesville

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 10,145
% White: 89.08%
More on Waynesville: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Waynesville, NC

10. Cherryville

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,018
% White: 88.97%
More on Cherryville: Real Estate | Data | Photos

Cherryville, NC

Methodology: How we determined the whitest places in North Carolina for 2022

In order to rank the whitest places in North Carolina, we had to determine what measurable criteria defines whiteness.

Obviously we had to count how many white people living there, specifically the percentage of white people living in each city in North Carolina.

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*
* Not Hispanic or latino

Our particular column of interest here was the number of people who identified as White alone.

We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people. That left us with 126 cities.

We then calculated the percent of residents that are White. The percentages ranked from 97.0% to 16.9%.

Finally, we ranked each city based on the percent of White population with a higher score being more White than a lower score. Oak Island took the distinction of being the most White, while Selma was the least White city. You can download the data here.

Read on for more information on how the cities in North Carolina ranked by population of White residents or, for a more general take on diversity in America, head over to our ranking of the most diverse cities in America.

Summary: White Populations Across North Carolina

Measuring the locations with the highest percentage of white people, this list provides accurate information on the whitest places in North Carolina according to the most recent data.

If you're curious enough, here are the least White places in North Carolina:

  1. Selma
  2. Wadesboro
  3. Kinston

For more North Carolina reading, check out:

White Population By City In { state|title }}

Rank City % White Population
1 Oak Island 96.98% 8,118
2 Carolina Beach 96.08% 6,324
3 Unionville 95.2% 7,089
4 Black Mountain 94.68% 8,177
5 Trinity 93.62% 6,619
6 King 92.91% 6,980
7 Pinehurst 90.1% 16,382
8 Boone 89.13% 19,466
9 Waynesville 89.08% 10,145
10 Cherryville 88.97% 6,018
11 Sawmills 88.75% 5,201
12 Summerfield 87.79% 11,283
13 Mills River 86.8% 7,319
14 Fletcher 85.78% 8,287
15 Kill Devil Hills 85.35% 7,249
16 Wesley Chapel 82.89% 9,287
17 Davidson 82.69% 12,920
18 Weddington 82.48% 11,000
19 Brevard 82.41% 7,841
20 Elon 82.06% 11,941
21 Leland 81.4% 21,903
22 Cornelius 81.3% 29,836
23 Hendersonville 81.25% 14,020
24 Lewisville 80.71% 14,030
25 Mount Airy 80.5% 10,213
26 Archdale 79.89% 11,738
27 Belmont 79.07% 12,292
28 Aberdeen 78.86% 7,862
29 Bessemer City 78.61% 5,536
30 Clemmons 78.22% 20,574
31 Asheville 77.72% 92,328
32 Woodfin 77.49% 6,689
33 Morehead City 76.64% 9,495
34 Oak Ridge 76.07% 6,979
35 Indian Trail 75.32% 39,644
36 Mooresville 74.4% 38,498
37 Southern Pines 73.96% 14,347
38 Matthews 73.8% 32,682
39 Apex 73.74% 55,220
40 Holly Springs 73.65% 36,595
41 Mint Hill 73.37% 27,258
42 Huntersville 73.19% 57,288
43 Lenoir 72.8% 17,909
44 Stallings 71.85% 15,781
45 Wilmington 71.72% 122,162
46 Mount Holly 71.67% 15,947
47 Waxhaw 71.4% 16,165
48 Hillsborough 71.22% 7,162
49 Kings Mountain 70.62% 10,885
50 Wake Forest 70.44% 44,068
51 Conover 69.82% 8,488
52 Newton 69.71% 13,106
53 Kernersville 69.47% 24,876
54 Fuquay-Varina 68.1% 29,110
55 Hickory 66.27% 41,067
56 Chapel Hill 65.89% 61,912
57 Albemarle 65.86% 16,073
58 Carrboro 65.79% 21,254
59 Gibsonville 64.02% 7,232
60 Thomasville 63.77% 26,834
61 Lincolnton 62.18% 11,099
62 Morganton 61.62% 16,517
63 Mebane 61.19% 15,564
64 Cary 61.0% 169,177
65 Kannapolis 60.96% 49,788
66 Eden 60.79% 14,986
67 Forest City 60.45% 7,150
68 Harrisburg 60.31% 16,073
69 Winterville 58.57% 10,062
70 Marion 58.55% 7,853
71 Garner 58.39% 30,345
72 Rockingham 57.9% 8,771
73 Clayton 56.86% 23,179
74 Shelby 56.69% 20,046
75 Concord 56.38% 94,147
76 Havelock 56.27% 19,927
77 Gastonia 55.47% 76,635
78 Jacksonville 55.05% 74,313
79 Reidsville 54.85% 13,928
80 Asheboro 54.46% 25,877
81 Raleigh 53.04% 469,698
82 Graham 52.89% 15,168
83 New Bern 52.79% 29,985
84 Smithfield 52.26% 12,697
85 Roanoke Rapids 51.81% 14,562
86 Dunn 51.48% 9,738
87 Wendell 51.29% 7,962
88 Greenville 50.87% 92,826
89 Washington 50.53% 9,555
90 Hamlet 49.17% 6,366
91 Burlington 49.07% 54,534
92 Statesville 48.82% 27,114
93 Pineville 48.73% 8,923
94 Salisbury 48.46% 33,961
95 Winston-Salem 45.73% 245,787
96 Hope Mills 45.4% 15,972
97 Butner 45.15% 7,779
98 High Point 44.51% 112,434
99 Lexington 44.19% 18,970
100 Monroe 43.91% 35,339

How Is The Area In ?

Editor's Note: We updated this article for 2022. This is our ninth time ranking the whitest cities in North Carolina.

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.