How big is North Carolina?

North Carolina covers 53,819 square miles (139,391 km²), 48,618 of them land. About a tenth of it is water. It is the 28th-biggest state.

square miles: 53,819
km²: 139,391
acres: 34.4 million
football fields: 26 million

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<p style="font:13px/1.4 sans-serif;margin:6px 0 0">Map: <a href="https://how-big-is.com/north-carolina/">How big is North Carolina?</a> by how-big-is.com. Outline: US Census Bureau.</p>

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CreditMap: how-big-is.com. Outline: US Census Bureau.

Long and narrow

It is about 503 miles long but only 191 miles wide, running from the Atlantic coast to Tennessee.

How it compares

34.8×the size of Rhode Island, the smallest state
≈ 1×about the same size as Arkansas
≈ 1×about the same size as New York State
8.1%of the area of Alaska, the largest state
199×the size of the Little Giant Fire
34.4 millionacres
26 millionAmerican football fields
19.5 millionsoccer pitches
40,859×the size of Central Park
283,533×the size of Vatican City
15.5×the size of Yellowstone National Park
282×the size of Lake Tahoe
6.4%of the area of Greenland
196×the size of Anglesey
244×the size of the Isle of Man

Questions people ask

How many square miles is North Carolina?

53,819 square miles (139,391 km²), 48,618 of them land.

Is North Carolina bigger than South Carolina?

Yes. It is about 1.7 times the size of South Carolina.

Where does North Carolina rank by size?

28th of the 50 states by total area, and 29th by land area.

How long is North Carolina?

About 503 miles (810 km) long and 191 miles (307 km) wide.

How big is North Carolina compared to Texas?

About 20% of the size of Texas.

Where the numbers come from

Official figure: 53,819 square miles in all, 48,618 of them land, per the US Census Bureau. Outline: US Census Bureau (source), licence: Public domain.