Pender County is a county in North Carolina, United States, on the Atlantic coast between Wilmington and Jacksonville. It had a population of 60,203 at the 2020 census and covers 934 square miles (2,420 km2) centred near 34°31′N 77°53′W.
Burgaw is the county seat, and its postal code is 28425. The county has 6 incorporated towns, several census-designated places, and dozens of unincorporated communities, and sits in the Eastern time zone (FIPS code 37141).
Towns & Villages in Pender County
Pender County spans a large, mostly rural land area — North Carolina’s fifth-largest county by land — so its population is spread across a mix of incorporated towns, a handful of census-designated places (CDPs) that have no town government, and many unincorporated crossroads communities. The table below carries over the county’s traditional place names; a few duplicate and mobile-home-park listings from older records were dropped (see notes).
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burgaw | Town · seat | — | 28425 |
| Atkinson | Town | — | 28421 |
| Surf City | Town | — | — |
| Topsail Beach | Town | — | — |
| Wallace | Town | — | — |
| Watha | Town | — | — |
| Hampstead | CDP | — | 28443 |
| Rocky Point | CDP | — | 28457 |
| Scotts Hill | CDP | — | — |
| Ashton | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Barlowes | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bells Crossroads | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Brown Town | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Clarks Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Costin | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Currie | Unincorp. | — | 28435 |
| Highsmith | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Kings Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Little Kelly | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Long Bluff Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Long Creek | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Malpass Corner | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Maple Hill | Unincorp. | — | 28454 |
| Marlboro | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Montague | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Mooretown | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Murray Town | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Penderlea | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Piney Wood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Plear | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Point Caswell | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rhyne Crossroad | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rooks | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Saint Helena | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Shaken | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Shelter Neck | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Six Forks | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sloop Point | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Stag Park | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Still Bluff | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Sunnyside | Unincorp. | — | — |
| The Borough | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Twin Oak | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Van Eden | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Walkers Store | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Wards Corner | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Watts Landing | Unincorp. | — | — |
| White Stocking | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Willard | Unincorp. | — | 28478 |
| Woodside | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Yamacraw | Unincorp. | — | — |
Two towns straddle a county line: Surf City sits partly in neighboring Onslow County, and Wallace sits partly in neighboring Duplin County. Both are counted here for their Pender County portion only.
ZIP Codes
- 28425 — Burgaw
- 28443 — Hampstead
- 28457 — Rocky Point
- 28478 — Willard
- 28454 — Maple Hill
- 28421 — Atkinson
- 28435 — Currie
Places without their own ZIP, including Surf City, Topsail Beach, Wallace, Watha, and most unincorporated communities, use the ZIP of the nearest post-office town listed above.
Geography
Pender County is coastal-plain terrain: flat, low-lying land cut by blackwater creeks and pocosin wetlands, rising to sandy barrier-island beach along its Atlantic shoreline at Topsail Beach and Surf City. The Northeast Cape Fear River runs through the county’s western half, and Holly Shelter Game Land covers a large tract of pocosin swamp in the east. Of the county’s 934 square miles, about 63 square miles is water.
Pender County borders Duplin County to the north, Onslow County to the northeast, New Hanover County and Brunswick County to the south, Columbus County to the southwest, Bladen County to the west, and Sampson County to the northwest, with the Atlantic Ocean along its eastern edge.
Demographics
Pender County’s population was 60,203 at the 2020 census, up from 28,855 in 1990. Hampstead, the county’s largest community, is an unincorporated CDP near the New Hanover County line; Burgaw, the county seat, is the largest incorporated town. Median household income in the county trails the North Carolina median of $70,804, reflecting its mostly rural tax base outside the fast-growing Hampstead corridor. With 871 square miles of land, the county’s overall density is about 69 people per square mile, though most residents live in the coastal southeastern townships rather than the sparsely settled interior.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture and forestry remain central to the county’s interior economy — row crops, hog and poultry operations, and timber on land once drained for turpentine and naval-stores production. The coastal and Hampstead-corridor areas have shifted toward residential growth, retail, and tourism tied to Topsail Island’s beaches. Pender Memorial Hospital and the county school system are among the larger local employers, and Burgaw hosts the annual Pender County Blueberry Festival, marking the county’s blueberry-growing heritage.
History
Pender County was formed in 1875 from New Hanover County, one of several new counties carved out of eastern North Carolina in the years after the Civil War. It was named for William Dorsey Pender, a Confederate general from Edgecombe County who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Penderlea, in the county’s interior, was later the site of a 1930s New Deal resettlement community built under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, one of several planned farm colonies established nationwide during that era.
Getting There
Interstate 40 crosses the county’s southern end en route between Wilmington and Raleigh, and US Routes 17, 117, and 421 run through the county along with NC Routes 11, 50, 53, 133, and 210.
- Wilmington — 20 miles south
- Jacksonville — 25 miles northeast
- Kenansville — 25 miles north
- Whiteville — 45 miles southwest
Wilmington International Airport, just south of the county line, is the nearest commercial airport.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Pender County?
It is in southeastern North Carolina, on the Atlantic coast between Wilmington and Jacksonville.
What is the population of Pender County?
60,203 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Pender County?
934 square miles (2,420 km2), of which about 871 square miles is land.
What is the Pender County seat?
Burgaw is the county seat.
How many towns are in Pender County?
Six incorporated towns — Atkinson, Burgaw, Surf City, Topsail Beach, Wallace, and Watha — plus CDPs like Hampstead, Rocky Point, and Scotts Hill, and dozens of unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Pender County?
28425 (Burgaw), 28443 (Hampstead), 28457 (Rocky Point), 28478 (Willard), 28454 (Maple Hill), 28421 (Atkinson), and 28435 (Currie).
Is Topsail Beach in Pender County?
Yes — Topsail Beach is one of Pender County’s six incorporated towns, on the barrier island of Topsail Island.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in North Carolina.