Carteret County, North Carolina

Carteret County is a county in North Carolina, United States, on the Crystal Coast where the state’s Outer Banks curve south toward Cape Lookout. It had a population of 67,686 at the 2020 census and covers 507.6 square miles (1,315 km2) of land centred near 34°52′N 76°32′W, with roughly 823 square miles of sound and ocean water inside its borders — more water than land.

Beaufort is the county seat, and its postal code is 28516. The county contains 11 incorporated towns and cities, one small city (Morehead City), several census-designated places, and a scatter of unincorporated fishing villages down the Down East peninsula. Carteret County runs on Eastern time and organized as a precinct in 1722, reaching county status in 1739.

Towns & Villages in Carteret County

The table below covers the county’s 11 incorporated municipalities plus the Census Bureau’s designated places and better-known unincorporated communities, most of them along the Down East road (US 70) or the barrier islands. Incorporated places are marked City or Town; CDP marks a Census-designated place with no town government; Unincorp. marks a named community with neither.

Portsmouth, at the county’s remote northeastern tip on Portsmouth Island, was a thriving port town in the 1800s and is now an abandoned National Park Service village reachable only by boat — a handful of restored buildings, no year-round residents. Cape Lookout, at the southern end of the Core Banks, is a similarly boat-only lighthouse station rather than a settlement in its own right.

ZIP Codes

• 28516 — Beaufort
• 28557 — Morehead City
• 28570 — Newport
• 28594 — Emerald Isle
• 28512 — Atlantic Beach
• 28531 — Harkers Island
• 28524 — Davis
• 28511 — Atlantic
• 28528 — Gloucester
• 28553 — Marshallberg
• 28579 — Smyrna
• 28577 — Sealevel
• 28575 — Salter Path
• 28581 — Stacy
• 28520 — Cedar Island
• 28589 — Williston
• 28582 — Stella

Smaller towns such as Cape Carteret, Pine Knoll Shores, Cedar Point, Peletier, Indian Beach and Bogue are served by the Newport or Morehead City post offices rather than having their own ZIP code.

Geography

Carteret County sits where North Carolina’s coastline turns from a north-south barrier-island run into the east-west Down East peninsula, so it faces both the open Atlantic and the mouth of Pamlico Sound. Bogue Sound separates the mainland from the Bogue Banks barrier island (Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach, Salter Path, Emerald Isle); the Newport River and White Oak River drain the mainland side. More than 60 percent of the county’s total area is open water, which is why the fishing and boatbuilding trades still anchor the local economy.

The county borders Craven County to the north, Pamlico County to the northeast (mostly across Pamlico Sound), Hyde County across the sound to the east, Onslow County to the southwest, and Jones County to the northwest; its eastern and southern edges are the open Atlantic Ocean.

Demographics

Carteret County had 67,686 residents at the 2020 census. Morehead City, the largest municipality, had 9,556 people; Beaufort, the county seat, had 4,464. Density works out to roughly 133 people per square mile of land. The county’s median household income runs below the North Carolina median of $70,804 — a pattern typical of coastal counties where seasonal tourism and fishing wages pull the average down even as second-home values push property tax rolls up.

Economy & Local Life

Commercial fishing and seafood processing remain a visible part of the county’s identity — Beaufort and Morehead City both still run working waterfronts alongside their tourist docks. Tourism along the Crystal Coast’s beaches is the largest employer sector today, followed by the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point’s spillover workforce and Carteret Community College. The North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort and the NOAA/UNC marine sciences presence at Pivers Island give the county a research and education footprint beyond fishing and beach tourism. Beaufort’s waterfront hosts the North Carolina Seafood Festival each fall in Morehead City, one of the state’s largest annual food festivals.

History

The area was organized as Carteret Precinct in 1722 and became a full county in 1739, named for Sir George Carteret, one of the original Lords Proprietor of Carolina (some accounts credit his descendant John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, instead). Beaufort, founded in 1709 and one of North Carolina’s oldest towns, served as a colonial port and is where pirate Blackbeard’s flagship Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground on a nearby sandbar in 1718; the wreck was located offshore in 1996 and artifacts are displayed at the Maritime Museum. Portsmouth, once the county’s busiest shipping port, was abandoned by its last two residents in 1971 and is preserved today as a ghost village inside Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Getting There

US 70 is the county’s main highway, running from Newport through Morehead City to Beaufort and on to the Down East communities; NC 24 crosses Bogue Banks and links Cedar Point to Emerald Isle, and NC 12 continues onto the barrier island toward Atlantic Beach.

• New Bern — 35 miles northwest
• Jacksonville — 30 miles west
• Kinston — 60 miles northwest
• Wilmington — 90 miles southwest

The nearest commercial airport is Coastal Carolina Regional Airport (EWN) in New Bern; Michael J. Smith Field, a small general-aviation airport, sits in Beaufort itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Carteret County, North Carolina?
It sits on the state’s central coast, where the Outer Banks give way to the Down East peninsula and Cape Lookout, between Craven, Pamlico, Onslow and Jones counties and the Atlantic Ocean.

What is the population of Carteret County?
67,686 people at the 2020 census.

How big is Carteret County?
507.6 square miles (1,315 km2) of land, plus roughly 823 square miles of sound and ocean water — total area exceeds 1,300 square miles.

What is the county seat of Carteret County?
Beaufort.

How many towns are in Carteret County?
11 incorporated towns and cities, plus several census-designated places and unincorporated Down East communities.

What ZIP codes are in Carteret County?
17 ZIP codes, including 28516 (Beaufort), 28557 (Morehead City) and 28570 (Newport).

What is the Crystal Coast?
The tourism name for Carteret County’s Bogue Banks beach towns — Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Indian Beach, Salter Path and Emerald Isle — and the Beaufort/Morehead City waterfront.

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