County Maps US

Rutherford County, North Carolina

A county in North Carolina, ranked 44 of 100 by population.

CountyFIPS 37161

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

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Population
65,745
+1,375 (+2.1%) since 2020
Land area
565.4
square miles. A further 0.3% of the total area is water
Population density
116
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Rutherfordton
Seat of county government.
Established
1779
246 years ago
Largest city
Forest City town
Population 7,410.

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 Rutherford 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 Rutherford 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 731 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 Rutherford 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
Population65,74544th of 100839th of 3,144
Land area565.4 sq mi28th of 1001,814th of 3,144
Population density116 per sq mi50th of 100819th of 3,144
Median household income$51,41081st of 1002,697th of 3,143

Full data for Rutherford County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population65,745Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202064,370Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?64,453Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area565.4 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area1.8 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area567.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?116 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$51,410American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$201,800American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age45.3American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households26,642American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units32,775American 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
-366
650 births, 1,016 deaths
Net migration
+534
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 8 areas bordering Rutherford 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
Polk CountyNorth Carolina31 mi20,533
Cleveland CountyNorth Carolina28 mi103,325
McDowell CountyNorth Carolina24 mi45,198
Burke CountyNorth Carolina13 mi88,655
Buncombe CountyNorth Carolina9.4 mi277,417
Cherokee CountySouth Carolina6.0 mi58,275
Henderson CountyNorth Carolina6.0 mi122,375
Spartanburg CountySouth Carolina5.4 mi380,857

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.