Durham County, North Carolina

Durham County is a county in North Carolina, United States, about 23 miles northwest of
Raleigh at the northern point of the Research Triangle. It had a population of 324,833 at the
2020 census, an estimated 347,240 by 2025, and covers 298 square miles (771 km2) centred near
36°02′N 78°53′W.

Durham is the county seat and its only incorporated city; its postal code is 27701. The
county holds one incorporated city, two census-designated places and several unincorporated
crossroads communities — plus small edges of three neighbouring cities that spill across
the county line — and it runs on Eastern time. Its FIPS code is 37063.

Towns & Villages in Durham County

Durham County has only one incorporated municipality: the city of Durham itself, which holds
most of the county’s population. The rest of the county is unincorporated, organised around two
census-designated places (Gorman and Rougemont) and a handful of small rural communities. Three
neighbouring cities — Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Morrisville, each based mainly in an
adjoining county — also have small edges that extend into Durham County. Type legend:
City · seat, City (edge only, based in another county), CDP, Unincorp.

The county’s earlier settlement list mixed roughly sixty Durham city neighbourhoods —
subdivisions such as Hope Valley, Woodcroft, Parkwood and Forest Acres — in with the
county’s actual incorporated and census-recognised places, presenting them as if they were
separate towns. They aren’t: those are neighbourhoods inside Durham’s city limits, not distinct
municipalities, so this page lists the county’s real places instead. Raleigh and Chapel Hill
appear here only because a small sliver of each city’s limits, based mainly in Wake County and
Orange County respectively, crosses into Durham County; neither city’s downtown or bulk of its
population is here.

ZIP Codes

• 27701–27713, 27715, 27717, 27722 — Durham, covering the city and most of the
  county’s population
• 27572 — Rougemont
• 27503 — Bahama

Gorman, Braggtown, Genlee and the county’s other small rural communities have no ZIP of their
own; mail there is routed through the nearest Durham post office branch.

Geography

Durham County sits in the Piedmont, on the Eno and Neuse river drainages, with rolling
terrain and no single dominant lake — Falls Lake, a Neuse River reservoir, touches the
county’s southeastern corner near the Wake County line. About 286 square miles is land and 11
square miles, roughly 4% of the total, is water, mostly in creeks, ponds and reservoir arms
rather than one large body.

The county borders
Person County to the north,
Granville County to the northeast,
Wake County to the east and southeast,
Chatham County to the
south, and Orange County
to the west. Most of Research Triangle Park, an 11-square-mile research and office district
shared with Wake County, lies within Durham County’s southeastern edge.

Demographics

Durham County had a population of 324,833 at the 2020 census, the sixth-most populous county
in North Carolina, and an estimated 347,240 by 2025. Durham, the county seat, holds most of that
population at 283,506 residents (2020); Rougemont and Gorman, the county’s two census-designated
places, hold 1,001 and 1,104 respectively. Population density runs about 1,134 people per square
mile of land as of the 2020 count, rising toward 1,210 with the 2025 estimate. Median household
income was $82,316 in 2024, well above the North Carolina median of $72,388 the same year.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector at 31,431 workers,
followed by educational services at 28,096 and professional, scientific and technical services at
23,139, out of about 177,032 employed county residents in 2024. Duke University and Duke
University Health System together employ roughly 39,000 people, the county’s single largest
employer. Research Triangle Park, most of it inside the county, hosts tens of thousands more jobs
across technology, pharmaceutical and research firms. Durham’s downtown American Tobacco Historic
District, a converted 1900s tobacco-warehouse campus, anchors the city’s arts and startup scene.
The Bull Durham Blues Festival, held each September, is the county’s best-known annual event.

History

Durham County was established on April 17, 1881, from parts of Orange County and Wake County,
and named for its county seat. The city of Durham itself took its name from Dr. Bartlett S.
Durham, who donated land in 1849 for a railroad depot on the North Carolina Railroad line. Local
Brightleaf tobacco, sampled by soldiers passing through during the Civil War, drove rapid postwar
growth once demand for it spread; the Bull Durham Tobacco Factory and W. Duke & Sons Company
built the city’s tobacco economy through the early twentieth century. On April 26, 1865, Confederate
General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union General William T. Sherman at Bennett Place, near
present-day Durham — the largest single troop surrender of the Civil War. Trinity College,
relocated to Durham in 1892, became Duke University in 1924 after an endowment from tobacco and
electric-power magnate James B. Duke.

Getting There

Interstates 40 and 85 both cross Durham County, meeting at the Durham Freeway (NC 147)
interchange near downtown Durham; US 15/501 and US 70 also run through the county.

• Raleigh — 23 miles east
• Chapel Hill — 12 miles southwest
• Greensboro — 54 miles west
• Person County line (Roxboro) — 20 miles north

Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), which straddles the Durham–Wake county
line, is the nearest commercial airport. Amtrak’s Durham station, on Chapel Hill Street, serves
the Piedmont and Carolinian lines to Raleigh, Charlotte and points north.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Durham County, North Carolina?
It sits in the north-central
Piedmont, about 23 miles northwest of Raleigh, bordering Person, Granville, Wake, Chatham and
Orange counties.

What is the population of Durham County?
324,833 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 347,240 by 2025.

How big is Durham County?
298 square miles total — 286 square
miles of land and about 11 square miles of water.

What is the county seat of Durham County?
Durham, the county’s only
incorporated city, is the county seat.

How many towns are in Durham County?
Just one incorporated city
(Durham) plus two census-designated places, Rougemont and Gorman, and several unincorporated
rural communities.

What ZIP codes cover Durham County?
27701 through 27713 plus 27715,
27717 and 27722 for Durham itself, 27572 for Rougemont and 27503 for Bahama.

Is Research Triangle Park in Durham County?
Most of it is. The
11-square-mile research district sits mainly in Durham County’s southeastern edge, with a
smaller portion in Wake County.

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