NC · Mecklenburg County · 874,579 (2020) · 16th-largest US city · Eastern time
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte lies in the Piedmont of southern North Carolina, a few miles north of the South Carolina line. It is the largest city in the Carolinas and the sixteenth-largest in the United States.
- State
- North Carolina
- County
- Mecklenburg County
- Population (2020)
- 874,579
- Rank
- 16th in the US
- Coordinates
- 35.23°N, 80.84°W
- Time zone
- Eastern
- Metro area
- about 2.7 million
- State capital
- No – Raleigh
Where Charlotte is
Charlotte is at 35.23°N, 80.84°W in Mecklenburg County, of which it is the county seat. The city covers about 310 square miles of rolling Piedmont at roughly 750 feet above sea level, with no major river through the centre — the Catawba River forms the county's western boundary about 12 miles from Uptown. The South Carolina line is 10 miles south, and suburbs such as Fort Mill and Rock Hill are across it. Raleigh, the state capital, is 165 miles northeast; the Blue Ridge front is about 75 miles northwest and the Atlantic 180 miles southeast.
Population and rank
The 2020 Census counted 874,579 residents, ranking Charlotte 16th in the US, just behind Indianapolis and ahead of San Francisco. It has more than doubled since 1990, partly by annexation and partly through growth as a banking centre. The Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia metropolitan area, spread over ten counties in North and South Carolina, has about 2.7 million people, the largest metro in the Carolinas and the 22nd in the country. Mecklenburg County, with about 1.1 million, is the most populous county in North Carolina.
Geography
- Catawba River — dammed into Lake Norman (the largest lake in North Carolina), Mountain Island Lake and Lake Wylie along the west side of the county; the river flows south into South Carolina.
- Piedmont — gently rolling terrain of red clay and hardwood forest between the Appalachian Mountains and the Coastal Plain.
- Creeks — Sugar, Little Sugar, Irwin and McAlpine creeks drain the city south to the Catawba.
- Crowders Mountain — a 1,625-foot monadnock 25 miles west, the nearest notable peak; the Blue Ridge Escarpment lies beyond.
Nearest large cities
Charlotte is roughly halfway between Atlanta and Washington on Interstates 85 and 77. Distances are approximate road miles from Uptown.
| City | State | Road distance (mi) | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | NC | 165 | NE |
| Atlanta | GA | 245 | SW |
| Nashville | TN | 410 | W |
| Washington | DC | 400 | NE |
| Jacksonville | FL | 380 | S |
Is Charlotte the state capital?
No. North Carolina's capital is Raleigh, 165 miles northeast, founded in 1792 as a planned capital near the centre of the state. Charlotte was never the capital, although the Mecklenburg Declaration of 1775 gives it a claim in early independence history. It is the seat of Mecklenburg County and the largest city in the state, nearly twice the size of Raleigh.
Related maps
- North Carolina map — the state with its 100 counties.
- Raleigh — the state capital.
- US cities map.
- Appalachian Mountains map.
- Nearby: Raleigh, Atlanta, South Carolina.
- South Atlantic division · Eastern Time Zone.