Cabarrus County, North Carolina

Cabarrus County is a county in North Carolina, United States, about 20 miles northeast of
Charlotte. It had a population of 225,804 at the 2020 census, an estimated 249,725 by 2025, and
covers 361.23 square miles (935.6 km2) centred near 35°23′N 80°33′W.

Concord is the county seat and the county’s largest city; its postal code is 28025. The county
holds 3 cities, 3 incorporated towns and 5 unincorporated communities across the county, and it
runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 37025.

Towns & Villages in Cabarrus County

Cabarrus County has 11 named places on record: 6 incorporated cities and towns and 5
unincorporated communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census
designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Two places on this list straddle county lines. Kannapolis’s population figure above is
citywide — most of the city sits in Cabarrus, but a portion extends north into Rowan
County. Locust runs the opposite way: its city limits are mostly in Stanly County, with only a
western edge of annexed land reaching into Cabarrus, so its 4,537 residents are overwhelmingly
Stanly County residents, not Cabarrus ones.

ZIP Codes

• 28025 — Concord (also serves 28026, a Concord PO box ZIP)
• 28027 — Concord (the county’s most populous ZIP)
• 28081 — Kannapolis (also serves 28082, a Kannapolis PO box ZIP)
• 28083 — Kannapolis
• 28075 — Harrisburg
• 28107 — Midland
• 28124 — Mount Pleasant

Georgeville, Odell School, Rimertown, Fisher Town and Rocky River have no ZIP code of their
own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated town’s code. Locust’s residential
ZIP, 28097, is administered from Stanly County and is not counted among Cabarrus County’s own
codes.

Geography

Cabarrus County sits in North Carolina’s south-central Piedmont, a belt of low rolling hills
between the mountains and the coastal plain. Of its 361.23 square miles, 358.53 are land and 2.70
are water, roughly 0.7 percent — low for the region, since the county has no large natural
lake and only the Rocky River and Coddle Creek Reservoir account for most of its surface water.
The Rocky River forms part of the county’s eastern edge, and Coddle Creek Reservoir, on the
Rowan County line, supplies Kannapolis and Concord with drinking water.

Rowan County and Iredell County lie to the north, Stanly County to the east, Union County to
the south, and Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte, to the west. Rowan County, Iredell County, Stanly County, Union County and Mecklenburg County all border
Cabarrus directly.

Demographics

Cabarrus County had a population of 225,804 at the 2020 census, up from earlier decades’
counts, and the latest estimate puts the county near 249,725 residents. Concord and Kannapolis
are by far the two largest communities, together holding well over half the county’s population.
Median household income runs $89,005, notably higher than North Carolina’s statewide figure of
$72,388. Population density works out to roughly 625 people per square mile of land, dense for
North Carolina outside its major metro cores, reflecting the county’s position inside the
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metropolitan area.

Economy & Local Life

Retail trade employs the most workers in the county, about 15,614 people, followed by health
care and social assistance at 14,253 and manufacturing at 11,316. Concord Mills, one of North
Carolina’s largest shopping and entertainment centers, anchors much of that retail employment on
Concord’s north side. Kannapolis is home to the North Carolina Research Campus, a biotechnology
and life-sciences research park built on the site of the former Cannon Mills textile plant, and
to Atrium Health’s Cabarrus hospital campus, a major regional health care employer. Concord also
hosts Charlotte Motor Speedway and a cluster of NASCAR race shops, giving the county a
motorsports industry disproportionate to its size. The county’s biggest annual event is the
NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 weekend at the Speedway each May, which draws crowds well beyond
the county’s own population for race weekend.

History

North Carolina’s General Assembly formed Cabarrus County on 29 December 1792, carving it out
of Mecklenburg County. It was named for Stephen Cabarrus, a French-born speaker of the North
Carolina House of Commons. Concord was incorporated as the county seat in 1803.

In 1799, a boy named Conrad Reed found a 17-pound gold nugget in Little Meadow Creek on his
family’s farm — the first documented gold find in the United States. The family used it as
a doorstop for three years before a Fayetteville jeweler identified it in 1802 and it sold for a
fraction of its worth. The discovery triggered the country’s first gold rush, and the Reed family
mine ran, on and off, from 1803 until underground operations ceased in 1912. The site is now the
Reed Gold Mine State Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark since 1966.

Getting There

Interstate 85 crosses the county’s northern half through Concord and Kannapolis. US 29, US 52
and US 601 run through the county, along with NC 3, NC 24, NC 27, NC 49, NC 73 and NC 200.

• Charlotte — about 20 miles southwest
• Salisbury — about 15 miles north
• Albemarle — about 20 miles southeast
• Monroe — about 25 miles south

Charlotte Douglas International Airport, roughly 25 miles southwest of Concord, is the
nearest major commercial airport. Concord-Padgett Regional Airport, seven miles west of downtown
Concord, handles general aviation and charter flights. Amtrak’s Piedmont and Carolinian trains
stop at the Kannapolis station on South Main Street, connecting to Charlotte and Raleigh.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Cabarrus County located?
It sits in North Carolina’s south-central Piedmont, about 20 miles northeast of Charlotte,
bordered by Rowan, Iredell, Stanly, Union and Mecklenburg counties.

What is the population of Cabarrus County?
225,804 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 249,725.

How big is Cabarrus County?
361.23 square miles (935.6 km2), of which 358.53 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Cabarrus County?
Concord, incorporated in 1803, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Cabarrus County?
Six incorporated places — Concord, Kannapolis, Locust (partly), Harrisburg, Midland and
Mount Pleasant — plus five unincorporated communities: Georgeville, Odell School,
Rimertown, Fisher Town and Rocky River.

What ZIP codes does Cabarrus County use?
28025, 28026, 28027 and 28075 for Concord and Harrisburg; 28081, 28082 and 28083 for Kannapolis;
28107 for Midland; and 28124 for Mount Pleasant.

What is Cabarrus County known for?
The Reed Gold Mine, site of the first documented US gold discovery in 1799, and Charlotte Motor
Speedway, home of NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in North Carolina.