County Maps US

Pender County, North Carolina

A county in North Carolina, ranked 39 of 100 by population.

CountyFIPS 37141

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

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Population
72,111
+11,497 (+19.0%) since 2020
Land area
871.3
square miles. A further 6.7% of the total area is water
Population density
82.8
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Burgaw
Seat of county government.
Established
1875
150 years ago
Largest city
Surf City town
Population 4,712 for the whole place, which extends beyond this county.

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 Pender 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 Pender 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 592 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 Pender 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
Population72,11139th of 100771st of 3,144
Land area871.3 sq mi5th of 100935th of 3,144
Population density82.8 per sq mi65th of 1001,048th of 3,144
Median household income$80,39614th of 100570th of 3,143

Full data for Pender County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population72,111Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202060,614Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?60,203Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area871.3 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area62.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area934.2 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?82.8 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$80,396American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$299,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age41.6American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households25,291American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units31,844American 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
+30
740 births, 710 deaths
Net migration
+1,950
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 7 areas bordering Pender 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
New Hanover CountyNorth Carolina37 mi245,959
Duplin CountyNorth Carolina31 mi51,571
Onslow CountyNorth Carolina27 mi217,175
Bladen CountyNorth Carolina20 mi30,007
Sampson CountyNorth Carolina14 mi61,504
Brunswick CountyNorth Carolina12 mi174,702
Columbus CountyNorth Carolina8.7 mi50,487

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.