United States › North Carolina › Wake County
Wake County, North Carolina
208,493 Black residents · 18.5% of the county · ranked 2 of 100 in North Carolina by Black population
In Wake County, North Carolina, the 2020 Census counted 1.1 million people, 208,493 of them Black alone. At 18.5%, Wake County's Black share stands against the state's 20.5% — the comparison this entry is built around.
Civic Snapshot
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total population, 2020 | 1,129,410 |
| Black residents (alone), 2020 | 208,493 |
| Black share of the county, 2020 | 18.5% |
| Rank by Black population among North Carolina counties | 2 of 100 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Redistricting File (Public Law 94-171), Table P1 (race). Trend: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Redistricting File (Public Law 94-171), Table P1.
Population Trend
In 2010 Wake County counted 186,510 Black residents; in 2020 it counted 208,493. The population grew by 11.8% across the decade, and the Black share in Wake County moved from 20.7% to 18.5%.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Redistricting File (Public Law 94-171), Table P1 (race). Trend: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Redistricting File (Public Law 94-171), Table P1.
The Record
Wake County is one of 100 counties and county equivalents the Census Bureau counts in North Carolina. Together they hold the state's 2.1 million Black residents, and Wake County's 208,493 of them give it rank 2 of 100 in that order. The county is the gazetteer's middle geography — larger than the places inside it, smaller than the state frame — and the figures printed here for Wake County are the published redistricting counts, reproduced as released.
Institutions
For the institutions of Black Wake County — its congregations, schools, and civic life — this gazetteer points to the place entries inside the county's borders, where each town and community is entered on its own count. The Wake County page is their frame: 1.1 million residents, 208,493 of them Black, and the movement of the last two censuses.