{"id":6469,"date":"2023-07-29T09:26:20","date_gmt":"2023-07-29T09:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=6469"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:30:21","slug":"alamance-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/alamance-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Alamance County, North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alamance County is a county in North Carolina, United States, about 20 miles east of<br \/>\nGreensboro and 25 miles northwest of Durham. It had a population of 171,415 at the 2020 census,<br \/>\nan estimated 176,893 by 2024, and covers 423.45 square miles (1,096.7 km2) of land centred near<br \/>\n36\u00b002\u2032N 79\u00b024\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Graham is the county seat; its postal code is 27253. The county holds 3 cities, 6 incorporated<br \/>\ntowns, 1 village and a handful of census-designated and unincorporated communities, and it runs<br \/>\non Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 37001.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Alamance County<\/h2>\n<p>Alamance County has 14 named census places on record &mdash; 3 cities, 6 towns, 1 village and 4<br \/>\ncensus-designated places &mdash; plus 11 older unincorporated communities that the Census Bureau<br \/>\ndoes not report population for separately. CDP stands for census designated place; Unincorp.<br \/>\ncovers historic settlements and crossroads with no formal boundary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Burlington<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>57,303<\/td>\n<td>27215<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mebane<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>17,797<\/td>\n<td>27302<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Graham<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>17,157<\/td>\n<td>27253<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Elon<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>11,336<\/td>\n<td>27244<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gibsonville<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>8,920<\/td>\n<td>27249<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Green Level<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>3,152<\/td>\n<td>27217<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Glen Raven<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>3,239<\/td>\n<td>27215<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Swepsonville<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>2,445<\/td>\n<td>27359<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Haw River<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>2,252<\/td>\n<td>27258<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Saxapahaw<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>1,671<\/td>\n<td>27340<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Alamance<\/td>\n<td>Village<\/td>\n<td>988<\/td>\n<td>27201<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ossipee<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>536<\/td>\n<td>27244<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Altamahaw<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>334<\/td>\n<td>27244<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Woodlawn<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Snow Camp<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>27349<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Glencoe<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bellemont<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Carolina<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dogwood Acres<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eli Whitney<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hawfields<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kimesville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mandale<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mount Hermon<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pleasant Grove<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Two places on this list straddle county lines. Mebane sits mostly in Alamance County, but two<br \/>\nslivers on its eastern edge extend into Orange County, so its 17,797 residents are not all<br \/>\nAlamance County residents. Gibsonville runs the same way &mdash; most of the town lies across the<br \/>\nline in Guilford County, with only a smaller share of its 8,920 people inside Alamance.<br \/>\nKimesville, an older crossroads community west of Snow Camp, is likewise split between Alamance<br \/>\nand Guilford counties.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>27215 &mdash; Burlington and Glen Raven (Burlington&#8217;s main code)<\/li>\n<li>27216 &mdash; Burlington (a Burlington PO box ZIP)<\/li>\n<li>27217 &mdash; Burlington and Green Level<\/li>\n<li>27302 &mdash; Mebane<\/li>\n<li>27253 &mdash; Graham<\/li>\n<li>27244 &mdash; Elon, Ossipee and Altamahaw (Ossipee was part of the combined<br \/>\nAltamahaw-Ossipee census area before it incorporated on its own in 2002)<\/li>\n<li>27249 &mdash; Gibsonville<\/li>\n<li>27359 &mdash; Swepsonville<\/li>\n<li>27258 &mdash; Haw River<\/li>\n<li>27340 &mdash; Saxapahaw<\/li>\n<li>27201 &mdash; Alamance<\/li>\n<li>27349 &mdash; Snow Camp<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Woodlawn, Glencoe, Bellemont, Carolina, Dogwood Acres, Eli Whitney, Hawfields, Mandale, Mount<br \/>\nHermon and Pleasant Grove have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the<br \/>\nnearest incorporated town&#8217;s code.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Alamance County sits in North Carolina&#8217;s central Piedmont, a belt of rolling hills between<br \/>\nthe mountains and the coastal plain. Of its 434.24 square miles, 423.45 are land and 10.79 are<br \/>\nwater, about 2.5 percent &mdash; most of it along the Haw River, which crosses the county<br \/>\nsouth-to-north through Saxapahaw, Swepsonville and the town of Haw River before continuing toward<br \/>\nJordan Lake. Great Alamance Creek, the stream the county is named for, runs through the county<br \/>\nseat and joins the Haw south of Graham.<\/p>\n<p>Caswell County lies to the north, Orange County to the east, Chatham County to the south,<br \/>\nRandolph County to the southwest, Guilford County to the west, and Rockingham County to the<br \/>\nnorthwest. <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/caswell-county\/\">Caswell County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/orange-county-north-carolina\/\">Orange County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/chatham-county-north-carolina\/\">Chatham County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/randolph-county-north-carolina\/\">Randolph County<\/a>, <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/guilford-county\/\">Guilford County<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/rockingham-county-north-carolina\/\">Rockingham County<\/a> all<br \/>\nborder Alamance directly.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Alamance County had a population of 171,415 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts<br \/>\nthe county near 176,893 residents as of 2024. Burlington and Mebane are the two largest<br \/>\ncommunities, together holding well over 40 percent of the county&#8217;s population. Median<br \/>\nhousehold income runs $65,651 (2024), lower than North Carolina&#8217;s statewide figure of<br \/>\n$70,804 (2023 ACS). Population density works out to roughly 405 people per square mile of land,<br \/>\nreflecting the county&#8217;s position between the Piedmont Triad and the Research Triangle.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 14,204 people,<br \/>\nfollowed by manufacturing at 12,214 and retail trade at 10,358. Laboratory Corporation of America<br \/>\n(LabCorp), founded in Burlington, remains the county&#8217;s largest single employer, anchoring<br \/>\ndowntown Burlington alongside Alamance Regional Medical Center. Elon University, in the town of<br \/>\nElon, enrolls more than 7,100 students and is one of the county&#8217;s largest institutional<br \/>\nemployers alongside Alamance-Burlington School System. Glen Raven, Inc., a textile and technical<br \/>\nfabrics manufacturer founded in 1880, still operates from the CDP that carries its name; the<br \/>\ncompany made the fabric used in the flag planted on the moon in 1969. Honda operates a<br \/>\nmanufacturing plant in Swepsonville producing lawn mowers and small engines. The county&#8217;s<br \/>\nbest-known annual event is the Alamance County Fair, held each September at the fairgrounds in<br \/>\nBurlington.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>North Carolina&#8217;s General Assembly formed Alamance County in 1849, carving it out of the<br \/>\neastern part of Orange County. The name comes from Great Alamance Creek, itself from a word<br \/>\ndescribing the blue mud found at the bottom of the creek. Graham, laid out in 1849 and<br \/>\nincorporated in 1851, became the county seat and was named for William Alexander Graham, a US<br \/>\nsenator and North Carolina governor.<\/p>\n<p>The county was the site of the largest battle of the War of the Regulation, fought at Alamance<br \/>\non 16 May 1771, when royal governor William Tryon&#8217;s militia defeated a force of backcountry<br \/>\nRegulators protesting corrupt colonial officials. During the Revolutionary War, Banastre<br \/>\nTarleton&#8217;s dragoons killed a group of surrendered North Carolina militiamen near the same<br \/>\nground in an episode known as Pyle&#8217;s Massacre, on 25 February 1781. In the 19th century Edwin<br \/>\nM. Holt built the Alamance Cotton Mill in 1837 and later produced the first factory-dyed cotton<br \/>\ncloth made south of the Potomac, launching a textile industry that shaped Glencoe, Glen Raven and<br \/>\nBurlington &mdash; then called Company Shops, after the North Carolina Railroad repair yard built<br \/>\nthere in 1857 &mdash; for more than a century.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Interstates 40 and 85 run together across the county&#8217;s northern half, through Mebane,<br \/>\nGraham and Burlington, before splitting near Haw River. US 70 and US 62 also cross the county,<br \/>\nalong with NC 49, NC 54, NC 62, NC 87 and NC 119.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Greensboro &mdash; about 20 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Durham &mdash; about 25 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Chapel Hill &mdash; about 20 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Winston-Salem &mdash; about 40 miles west<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Piedmont Triad International Airport, roughly 20 miles west in Greensboro, is the nearest<br \/>\nmajor commercial airport. Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport, on the north side of Burlington,<br \/>\nhandles general aviation and charter flights. Amtrak&#8217;s Piedmont and Carolinian trains stop at<br \/>\nthe Burlington station downtown, connecting to Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Alamance County located?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt sits in North Carolina&#8217;s central Piedmont, about 20 miles east of Greensboro and 25 miles<br \/>\nnorthwest of Durham, bordered by Caswell, Orange, Chatham, Randolph, Guilford and Rockingham<br \/>\ncounties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Alamance County?<\/strong><br \/>\n171,415 at the 2020 census, with a 2024 estimate near 176,893.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Alamance County?<\/strong><br \/>\n434.24 square miles in total, of which 423.45 square miles are land and 10.79 are water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Alamance County?<\/strong><br \/>\nGraham, incorporated in 1851, is the county seat; Burlington, at 57,303 residents, is the<br \/>\ncounty&#8217;s largest city.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns and cities are in Alamance County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThree cities &mdash; Burlington, Mebane and Graham &mdash; six towns, one village, and four census-<br \/>\ndesignated places, plus older unincorporated communities such as Snow Camp and Glencoe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes does Alamance County use?<\/strong><br \/>\n27215, 27216 and 27217 for Burlington and Green Level; 27253 for Graham; 27302 for Mebane; 27244<br \/>\nfor Elon, Ossipee and Altamahaw; 27249 for Gibsonville; 27359 for Swepsonville; 27258 for Haw<br \/>\nRiver; 27340 for Saxapahaw; 27201 for Alamance; and 27349 for Snow Camp.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Alamance County known for?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe 1771 Battle of Alamance, its 19th-century textile mill villages such as Glencoe and Glen<br \/>\nRaven, and Elon University in the town of Elon.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/north-carolina\/\">Towns and villages in North Carolina<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alamance County is a county in North Carolina, United States, about 20 miles east of Greensboro and 25 miles northwest of Durham. It had a population of 171,415 at the 2020 census, an estimated 176,893 by 2024, and covers 423.45 square miles (1,096.7 km2) of land centred near 36\u00b002\u2032N 79\u00b024\u2032W. Graham is the county seat; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Alamance County, North Carolina","_seopress_titles_desc":"All 14 towns and communities in Alamance County, NC - type, population and ZIP for each, plus Elon University and Alamance Battleground history.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-6469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-north-carolina","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6469"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9487,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469\/revisions\/9487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}