Franklin County, North Carolina

Franklin County is a county in North Carolina, United States, about 30 miles northeast of
Raleigh. It had a population of 68,573 at the 2020 census, an estimated 74,386 by 2024, and
covers 491.80 square miles (1,273.8 km2) centred near 36°05′N 78°17′W.

Louisburg is the county seat; its postal code is 27549. The county holds 4 incorporated towns
and 4 unincorporated or census-designated communities across 10 townships, and it runs on
Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 37069.

Towns & Villages in Franklin County

Franklin County has 8 named places on record: 4 incorporated towns and 4 unincorporated or
census-designated communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census
designated place; Unincorp. covers crossroads and rural communities with no formal boundary.

Wake Forest is almost entirely a Wake County town — its population of 47,601 at the 2020
census is counted there, not in Franklin, and only a thin northern edge of its corporate limits
crosses into Youngsville Township. Centerville was an incorporated town until it dissolved on 22
July 2017 and is now a CDP with no post office of its own; mail there uses Louisburg’s ZIP.

ZIP Codes

• 27549 — Louisburg (also serves Centerville and Justice, both without a ZIP of their own)
• 27525 — Franklinton
• 27596 — Youngsville
• 27508 — Bunn

Lake Royale, the county’s largest CDP by population, has no dedicated ZIP and is served by
Bunn’s and Louisburg’s codes depending on the street. The small edge of Wake Forest inside
Franklin County uses Wake Forest’s own 27587 ZIP, administered from Wake County.

Geography

Franklin County sits in North Carolina’s upper Piedmont, a belt of rolling hills and
red-clay farmland between the mountains and the coastal plain. Of its 491.80 square miles, 489.03
are land and 2.77 are water, under 1 percent — the county has no large natural lake, and
Lake Royale, a man-made reservoir on Cypress Creek, accounts for most of its open water. The Tar
River crosses the county’s eastern half, and Cedar Creek and Cypress Creek both feed it from
the west.

Warren County lies to the north, Vance and Granville counties to the west, Wake County to the
south, and Johnston and Nash counties to the southeast and east. Warren County, Vance County, Granville County, Wake County and Nash County all border Franklin directly;
Johnston County borders it too but has no page live on this site yet.

Demographics

Franklin County had a population of 68,573 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 74,386 residents in 2024. Lake Royale and Louisburg are the two largest named
communities, though most residents live outside any incorporated town, in the unincorporated
land between them. Median household income runs $74,240, close to North Carolina’s statewide
figure of $70,804 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 140 people per square mile
of land, reflecting the county’s position on the outer edge of the Raleigh metro area rather
than inside its dense core.

Economy & Local Life

Construction employs the most workers in the county, about 4,533 people, followed by retail
trade at 4,102 and health care and social assistance at 3,974. Growth in neighboring Wake County
has pulled much of that construction and retail activity toward Youngsville and the Wake Forest
edge of the county, the fastest-growing part of Franklin. Louisburg College, a two-year school
founded in 1787 and the oldest coeducational junior college in the country still operating on its
original site, anchors the county seat’s economy along with county government offices. A
Vance-Granville Community College satellite campus also serves the county. The county’s
biggest annual event is the Bunn Boilerfest, a spring festival built around the town’s
volunteer fire department.

History

The North Carolina General Assembly formed Franklin County in 1779, carving it from the
southern half of Bute County. It was named for Benjamin Franklin, then serving as a diplomat for
the fledgling United States in Paris. Louisburg, laid out the same year on land bought for a new
courthouse, took its name from King Louis XVI of France, whose government was funding the
American war effort at the time.

Franklinton, incorporated in 1842, grew up around the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad depot and
later a cotton mill. In December 1919 a mob seized a Black man being held on an assault charge
there and killed him, one of the documented lynchings carried out in the county in the era; the
county does not soften that history in its own historical markers. Former heavyweight boxing
champion Jack Johnson died in a car crash on U.S. Highway 1 in Franklinton on 10 June 1946.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Franklin County. U.S. Route 1 runs the length of the county
through Franklinton and Youngsville, and US 401 crosses it through Louisburg; NC 96, NC 98 and NC
39 also serve the county.

• Raleigh — about 30 miles southwest
• Henderson — about 20 miles northwest
• Rocky Mount — about 30 miles southeast
• Wake Forest — about 10 miles south

Raleigh-Durham International Airport, roughly 35 miles southwest of Louisburg, is the nearest
major commercial airport. Amtrak’s Silver Star and Silver Meteor trains stop at the Raleigh
Union Station, the closest Amtrak service to the county.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Franklin County located?
It sits in North Carolina’s upper Piedmont, about 30 miles northeast of Raleigh, bordered by
Warren, Vance, Granville, Wake, Johnston and Nash counties.

What is the population of Franklin County?
68,573 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 74,386.

How big is Franklin County?
491.80 square miles (1,273.8 km2), of which 489.03 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Franklin County?
Louisburg is the county seat, laid out in 1779 and named for King Louis XVI of France.

How many towns are in Franklin County?
Four incorporated towns — Louisburg, Franklinton, Youngsville and Bunn — plus the
CDPs of Lake Royale and Centerville and a thin edge of Wake Forest.

What ZIP codes does Franklin County use?
27549 for Louisburg, 27525 for Franklinton, 27596 for Youngsville and 27508 for Bunn.

What is Franklin County known for?
Louisburg College, the oldest two-year coeducational college in the country, and its position on
the fast-growing northern edge of the Raleigh metro area.

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