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Wendell Mayor Virginia Gray spoke at an event at the Siemens factory in her town earlier this week and described it as “one of the fastest-growing communities in North Carolina.”
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Gray needn’t have waffled on that. Wendell is THE fastest-growing community in North Carolina and has been over the last five years, according to population numbers released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Wendell’s population has doubled since 2020, to an estimated 19,687 last summer, according to the census. The town’s growth rate of 17.3% in the year ending last June 30 was tops in the state.
Wendell has been riding a wave of newcomers that have turned eastern Wake County into the Triangle’s fastest-growing suburb. Neighboring Zebulon had the second-highest growth rate in the state last year, at 13.9%, and nearby Rolesville and Knightdale were in the top 10.
The town has grown through a series of satellite annexations, led by one of the biggest developments in the Triangle, Wendell Falls. More than 2,300 homes have been sold in the 1,100-acre community, with more coming on the market.
Along with more residents, Wendell has begun to feel like a more mature town. Wake Technical Community College’s newest campus is taking shape just off the Wendell Boulevard exit from Interstate 87, across from the Wendell Commerce Center, a 257-acre mixed-use development.
▪ Nine of the 15 fastest-growing towns in North Carolina last year were in the Triangle. Seven were in Wake County; the two others were Angier in Harnett County and Four Oaks in Johnston.
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▪ After growing by more than 2,500 residents since 2020, Morrisville’s population declined by several dozen last year, making it the only community in the Triangle to lose population, though Carrboro’s was essentially unchanged.
▪ Raleigh’s population now exceeds half a million, at 506,306. The city is now the 39th largest in the country, just behind Mesa City, Arizona, and ahead of Colorado Springs.
▪ Charlotte, the state’s largest city, gained 20,731 residents in the year ending last June 30, more than any other city in the country. It remains the country’s 14th largest city, with an estimated population of 964,784.
▪ Durham added about 4,700 residents last year. At 305,561, the city remains the fourth largest in North Carolina, gaining on but still trailing Greensboro, with 308,667.
▪ The number of North Carolina communities that lost population grew last year, in part a result of the remnants of Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024. Statewide, 116 cities and towns had fewer residents last June 30 than a year earlier, including mountain towns such as Black Mountain, Montreat and Marshall that had been growing before the storm. Asheville had 1,626 fewer residents, the biggest numerical decline of any city or town in the state.
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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 5:15 AM.