County Maps US

Rowan County, North Carolina

A county in North Carolina, ranked 20 of 100 by population.

CountyFIPS 37159

Within North Carolina
Rowan County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Salisbury, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
155,096
+8,203 (+5.6%) since 2020
Land area
511.6
square miles. A further 2.4% of the total area is water
Population density
303
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Salisbury
Seat of county government.
Established
1753
272 years ago
Largest city
Salisbury city
Population 36,879.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Rowan County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Rowan County, North Carolina from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 626 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Rowan County ranks

Position among the 100 counties of North Carolina, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn North CarolinaNationally
Population155,09620th of 100456th of 3,144
Land area511.6 sq mi40th of 1002,035th of 3,144
Population density303 per sq mi20th of 100435th of 3,144
Median household income$65,72536th of 1001,568th of 3,143

Full data for Rowan County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population155,096Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020146,893Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?146,883Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area511.6 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area12.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area524 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?303 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$65,725American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$238,400American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age40.4American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households58,899American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units64,975American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-216
1,591 births, 1,807 deaths
Net migration
+1,601
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Rowan County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Davidson CountyNorth Carolina28 mi180,182
Cabarrus CountyNorth Carolina25 mi249,725
Iredell CountyNorth Carolina25 mi211,798
Davie CountyNorth Carolina25 mi45,855
Stanly CountyNorth Carolina6.4 mi68,830

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 100 counties of North Carolina

Open the interactive North Carolina county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.