Charlotte ( ) is the
most populous city in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the
2020 census,
making Charlotte the
14th-most populous city in the United States, the seventh-most populous city in
the South, and the second-most populous city in the
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
behind
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. Charlotte is the cultural, economic, and transportation center of the
Charlotte metropolitan area, whose estimated 2023 population of 2,805,115 ranked
22nd in the United States.
The
Charlotte metropolitan area is part of an 18-county market region and
combined statistical area with an estimated population of 3,387,115 as of 2023.
Between 2004 and 2014, Charlotte was among the country's fastest-growing metropolitan areas, with 888,000 new residents. Based on U.S. census data from 2005 to 2015, Charlotte tops the U.S. in millennial population growth. Throughout the 2020s, it has remained one of the fastest-growing major cities in the United States. Residents of Charlotte are referred to as "
Charlotteans".
Charlotte is home to the corporate headquarters of
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
,
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...
,
Truist Financial, and the
East Coast headquarters of
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
, which, when combined with other Charlotte-based financial institutions, makes the city the second-largest banking center in the nation.
Charlotte's notable attractions include three professional sports teams, the
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
of the
NFL, the
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...
of the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
, and
Charlotte FC of
MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...
. The city is also home to the
NASCAR Hall of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame and Museum located in Charlotte, North Carolina that honors NASCAR and its history. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs ...
,
Opera Carolina,
Charlotte Symphony,
Charlotte Ballet, Children's Theatre of Charlotte,
Mint Museum
The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collecti ...
,
Harvey B. Gantt Center,
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the
Billy Graham Library,
Levine Museum of the New South,
Charlotte Museum of History,
Carowinds amusement park, and
U.S. National Whitewater Center.
Charlotte has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
. It is located several miles east of the
Catawba River and southeast of
Lake Norman
Lake Norman is an man-made lake, artificial fresh water lake in southwest North Carolina. The largest lake in the state, it was created between 1959 and 1964 as part of the construction of the Cowans Ford Hydroelectric Station, Cowans Ford Dam by ...
, the largest human-made lake in North Carolina.
Lake Wylie and
Mountain Island Lake are two smaller human-made lakes located near the city. As of 2024, 66% of the city's area is occupied by green spaces. The city ranks 1st in the United States and 29th in the world in the ranking of the greenest cities on the planet.
History
Early history

The
Catawba Indians were the first known historic tribe to settle Mecklenburg County in the Charlotte area and were first recorded around 1567, according to Spanish records.
18th century
By 1759, half the Catawba tribe had died from
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
, an endemic disease among European colonists, which the Catawba had no natural
immunity against. At the time of their largest population, the Catawba population was 10,000. But by 1826, the Catawba population dropped to 110.
The city of Charlotte was developed first by a wave of migration of
Scots-Irish Presbyterians
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
, or
Ulster-Scot settlers from
Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
, who dominated the culture of the Southern Piedmont Region and made up the principal founding population in the backcountry.
German immigrants also settled in the area before the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, but in smaller numbers. They still contributed greatly to the early foundations of the region.
Mecklenburg County was initially part of
Bath County (1696 to 1729) of the New Hanover Precinct, which became
New Hanover County in 1729. The western portion of New Hanover split into
Bladen County in 1734, and its western portion split into
Anson County in 1750. Mecklenburg County was formed from Anson County in 1762. Further apportionment was made in 1792, after the American Revolutionary War, with
Cabarrus County formed from Mecklenburg.
19th century
In 1842,
Union County formed from Mecklenburg's southeastern portion and a western portion of Anson County. These areas were all part of one of the original six judicial/military districts of North Carolina known as the
Salisbury District.
The area that is now Charlotte was first settled by European colonists around 1755 when Thomas Spratt and his family settled near what is now the Elizabeth neighborhood.
Thomas Polk (great-uncle of
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
James K. Polk), who later married Thomas Spratt's daughter, built his house by the intersection of two
Native American trading paths between the
Yadkin and
Catawba rivers.
One path ran north–south and was part of the
Great Wagon Road; the second path ran east–west along what is now Trade Street.
Nicknamed the "Queen City",
like its county a few years earlier, Charlotte was named in honor of
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her ...
, who had become the
queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland in 1761, seven years before the town's incorporation. A second nickname derives from the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
, when British commander General
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis occupied the city but was driven out by hostile residents. He wrote that Charlotte was "a
hornet
Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the Eusociality, eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to yellowjackets, their close relatives. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other Vespi ...
's nest of rebellion", leading to the nickname "The Hornet's Nest".
Within decades of Polk's settling, the area grew to become the Town of Charlotte,
incorporated in 1768.
Though chartered as Charlotte, the name appears as a form of "Charlottesburgh" on many maps until around 1800.
A form of "Charlottetown" also appears on maps of British origin depicting General Cornwallis' route of invasion.
The crossroads in Piedmont became the heart of
Uptown Charlotte. In 1770, surveyors marked the streets in a
grid pattern for future development. The east–west trading path became Trade Street, and the Great Wagon Road became Tryon Street, in honor of
William Tryon
Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...
, a royal governor of colonial North Carolina.
The
intersection of Trade and Tryon is commonly known today as "Trade and Tryon", or simply "The Square",
and formally as "Independence Square".
While surveying the boundary between the Carolinas in 1772,
William Moultrie stopped in Charlotte, whose five or six houses were "very ordinary built of logs".
Local leaders came together in 1775 and signed the
Mecklenburg Resolves, more popularly known as the
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence
The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is a text published in 1819 with the now disputed claim that it was the first declaration of independence made in the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution. It was supposedly signed on May 20 ...
. While not a true declaration of independence from
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
rule, it is among the first such declarations that eventually led to the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. May 20, the traditional date of the signing of the declaration, is celebrated annually in Charlotte as "MecDec", with musket and cannon fire by reenactors in Independence Square. North Carolina's
state flag and
state seal also bear the date.
Charlotte is traditionally considered the home of Southern
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
, but in the 19th century, numerous churches, including Presbyterian,
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
,
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
,
Episcopal,
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
, and
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
formed, eventually giving Charlotte the nickname, "
The City of Churches".
In 1799, in nearby Cabarrus County, 12-year-old
Conrad Reed found a 17- pound rock, which his family used as a doorstop. Three years later, a jeweler determined it was nearly solid gold, paying the family a paltry $3.50. The first documented gold find in the United States of any consequence set off the nation's first
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...
. Many veins of gold were found in the area throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to the 1837 founding of the
Charlotte Mint
The Charlotte Mint was the first United States branch mint. It was located in Charlotte, North Carolina and specialized in gold coinage.
History
Following the first documented discovery of gold in the United States, the country's first gold min ...
. North Carolina was the chief producer of gold in the United States, until the Sierra Nevada found in 1848, although the volume mined in the Charlotte area was dwarfed by subsequent rushes.
20th century
Some groups still
pan for gold occasionally in local streams and creeks. The
Reed Gold Mine operated until 1912. The Charlotte Mint was active until 1861 when
Confederate forces seized it at the outbreak of the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. The mint was not reopened at the war's end, but the building, albeit in a different location, now houses the
Mint Museum of Art.
The city's first boom came after the Civil War, as Charlotte became a cotton processing center and railroad hub. By the 1880s, Charlotte sat astride the Southern Railway mainline from
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
to
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
Farmers from miles around would bring cotton to the railroad platform in Uptown. Local promotors began building textile factories, starting with the 1881 Charlotte Cotton Mill that still stands at Graham and 5th streets.
Charlotte's city population at the
1890 census grew to 11,557.
In 1910, Charlotte surpassed
Wilmington to become North Carolina's largest city with 34,014 residents.
The population grew again during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, when the U.S. government established
Camp Greene
Camp Greene was a United States Army facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, during the early 20th century. In 1917, both the 3rd Infantry Division (United States), 3rd Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Division (United States) ...
, north of present-day Wilkinson Boulevard. The camp supported 40,000 soldiers, with many troops and suppliers staying after the war, launching urbanization that eventually overtook older cities along the
Piedmont Crescent. In the
1920 census, Charlotte fell to being the state's second largest city,
Winston-Salem with 48,395 people, had two thousand more people than Charlotte. Charlotte would pass Winston-Salem in population by the
1930 census, and has remained North Carolina's largest city since.
Until 1958, the
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...
operated a daily passenger train from its
own station (which had opened in 1896) to
Wilmington.
The city's modern-day banking industry achieved prominence in the 1970s and 1980s, largely under the leadership of
financier
An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...
Hugh McColl. McColl transformed
North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) into a formidable national bank that through aggressive acquisitions eventually merged with BankAmerica to become
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
.
First Union, later
Wachovia in 2001, experienced similar growth before it was acquired by
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
–based
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
in 2008. Measured by control of assets, Charlotte became the second largest banking headquarters in the United States after
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
On September 22, 1989, the city was hit by
Hurricane Hugo. With sustained winds of and gusts of , Hugo caused massive property damage, destroyed 80,000 trees, and knocked out electrical power to most of the population. Residents were without power for weeks, schools were closed for a week or more, and the cleanup took months. The city was caught unprepared; Charlotte is inland, and residents from coastal areas in both Carolinas often wait out hurricanes in Charlotte.
21st century
In December 2002, Charlotte and much of central North Carolina were hit by an
ice storm
An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm, is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The National Weather Service, U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulatio ...
that resulted in more than 1.3 million people losing power. During an abnormally cold December, many were without power for weeks. Many of the city's
Bradford pear trees split apart under the weight of the ice.
In August 2015 and September 2016, the city experienced several days of protests related to the
police shootings of
Jonathan Ferrell and
Keith Scott.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.63%) is water.
Charlotte is the
twenty-sixth-most expansive city in the United States and lies at an elevation of . Charlotte constitutes most of
Mecklenburg County in the Carolina
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
.
Uptown Charlotte sits atop a long rise between two creeks, Sugar Creek and Irwin Creek, and was built on the
gunnies of the St. Catherine's and Rudisill
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
mines. Charlotte is southwest of
Concord; northeast of
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...
; southwest of
Greensboro; west of
Fayetteville; and southwest of
Raleigh
Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
, the
state capital
Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities.
National capitals
*List of national capitals
*List of national capitals by latitude
*List of national capitals by population
*List of national capitals by area
*List of ...
.
Though the Catawba River and its lakes lie several miles west, there are no significant bodies of water or other geological features near the city center. Consequently, development has neither been constrained nor helped by waterways or ports that have contributed to many cities of similar size. The lack of these obstructions has contributed to Charlotte's growth as a highway, rail, and air transportation hub.
Neighborhoods

Charlotte has 199 neighborhoods radiating in all directions from
Uptown.
Biddleville, the primary historic center of Charlotte's
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
community, is west of Uptown, starting at the
Johnson C. Smith University campus and extending to the airport.
East of The Plaza and north of Central Avenue,
Plaza-Midwood is known for its international population, including Eastern Europeans,
Greeks
Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
,
Middle-Easterners, and
Hispanics
The term Hispanic () are people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an ethnic or meta-ethnic term.
The term commonly appli ...
. North Tryon and the Sugar Creek area include several
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants).
Although this term had historically been used fo ...
communities.
NoDa (North Davidson), north of Uptown, is an emerging center for arts and entertainment.
Myers Park,
Dilworth, and
Eastover are home to some of Charlotte's most affluent, oldest and largest houses, on tree-lined boulevards, with
Freedom Park
In the Philippines, a freedom park is a centrally located public space where political gatherings, rallies and demonstrations may be held without the need of prior permission from government authorities. Similar to free speech zones in the United ...
nearby.
The
SouthPark area offers shopping, dining, and multifamily housing. Far South Boulevard is home to a large Hispanic community. Many students, researchers, and affiliated professionals live near
UNC Charlotte in the northeast area known as
University City.
The large area known as Southeast Charlotte is home to many golf communities, luxury developments, churches, the Jewish community center, and private schools. As undeveloped land within Mecklenburg has become scarce, many of these communities have expanded into
Weddington and
Waxhaw in
Union County.
Ballantyne, in the south of Charlotte, and nearly every area on the I‑485 perimeter, has experienced rapid growth over the past ten years. The
Steele Creek neighborhood which is primarily in Mecklenburg county is located within minutes near Uptown Charlotte.
Since the 1980s in particular, Uptown Charlotte has undergone massive construction of buildings, housing
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
,
Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...
, and
Duke Energy
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 – its highest-ever placement on the ...
, several hotels, and multiple condominium developments.
Parks and green space
Latta Park was created in 1891 as an amusement park.
Bryant Park
Bryant Park is a , privately managed public park in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) and between 40th Street (Manhattan), 40th and 42 ...
was established in the 1930s and is one of the earliest small-scale public parks in Charlotte. It is the only green space remaining in West Morehead Street's industrial sector.
The
Park Road Park is a prominent landmark near the SouthPark area.
Park Road Park features eight basketball courts, two horseshoe pits, six baseball fields, five picnic shelters, volleyball courts, playgrounds, trails, tennis courts, and an lake. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Parks & Recreation Department operates 36 tennis facilities and the 12 lighted tennis courts at the park. In September 2013, the
Romare Bearden Park opened to the public.
The urban section of
Little Sugar Creek Greenway was completed in 2012. Inspired in part by the
San Antonio River Walk, and integral to Charlotte's extensive urban park system, it is "a huge milestone" according to Gwen Cook, greenway planner for Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation. However, the Little Sugar Creek Greenway bears no relation to the San Antonio River Walk. The Little Sugar Creek Greenway is prone to flooding during thunderstorms and periods of heavy rain. Creation of Little Sugar Creek Greenway cost $43 million and was controversial because it required the forced acquisition of several established local businesses.
The city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County began purchasing flood-prone homes in the 1990s. Voluntary buyouts of 700 households have created around s of open land that can flood safely, thereby saving an estimated $28 million in flood damage and emergency rescues.
McAlpine Creek Park and integrated McAlpine Creek Greenway constructed in 1978 was the first greenway built in the western piedmont of North Carolina.
Climate
Like much of the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States, Charlotte has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfa''), with four distinct seasons. Charlotte is part of USDA
hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
8a, transitioning to 7b in the suburbs in all directions except the south. The following narrative reflects 1991–2020 climate data. Winters are short and fairly mild, with a normal January daily mean temperature of . On occasion the temperature can fall below but Charlotte also enjoys multiple warm winter days in excess of .
On average, there are 59 nights per year that drop to or below freezing, and only 1.5 days that fail to rise above freezing.
Precipitation is evenly distributed through the year. Only August stands out as a slightly wetter month, averaging 4.35 inches of rainfall. Summers are hot and humid, with a normal July daily mean temperature of .
Hot and humid days can arrive as early as May and last to the end of September. There is an average of 44 days per year with highs at or above .
Official record temperatures range from recorded six times on 6 September 1954, 9–10 August 2007 and
June 29 to July 1, 2012, down to recorded on
December 30, 1880,
February 14, 1899 and
January 21, 1985. The record cold daily maximum is on
February 12 and 13, 1899.
The record warm daily minimum is on August 13, 1881. The average window for freezing temperatures is November 5 to March 30, allowing a growing season of 220 days.
Charlotte is directly in the path of subtropical moisture from the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
as it heads up the eastern seaboard, thus the city receives ample precipitation throughout the year but also many clear, sunny days. Precipitation is generally less frequent in autumn than in spring.
On average, Charlotte receives of precipitation annually, evenly distributed throughout the year. Annual precipitation has historically ranged from in 2001 to in 1884.
There is an average of of snow, mainly in January and February and rarely December or March, with more frequent ice storms and sleet mixed in with rain. Seasonal snowfall has historically ranged from trace amounts in 2011–12 to in 1959–60.
Snow and ice storms can have a major impact on the area, as they often pull tree limbs down onto power lines and make driving hazardous. Snow has been recorded a small number of times in April, most recently on April 2, 2019.
, the Charlotte metropolitan area as a whole is noted for having one of the worst
weather radar
A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...
gaps among any major
U.S. East Coast city, with little to no coverage in a roughly quadrilateral area spanning
Concord,
Salisbury
Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
and much
of
Statesville.
As the nearest
NWS-owned
NEXRAD
NEXRAD or Nexrad (Next-Generation Radar) is a network of 159 high-resolution S-band pulse-Doppler radar, Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ...
is located in
Greer, South Carolina
Greer is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, Greenville and Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Spartanburg counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 35,308, making ...
, more than to the west-southwest of Charlotte, this deficit is particularly problematic during
severe thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
or
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
episodes.
The current lowest angle of the radar, based in Greer, is quite far above the surface over Charlotte, so the
velocities measurement for detecting
rotations cannot be below mid-level in potential tornado-forming storms and thus cannot indicate whether said rotation extends closer to the ground (below ).
Demographics
In the
2020 census, there were 874,579 people, 342,448 households, and 195,614 families living in the city. In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates showed 885,708 residents living within Charlotte's city limits
and 1,093,901 in Mecklenburg County.
The
combined statistical area, or trade area, of
Charlotte–Concord–Gastonia, NC–SC had an estimated population of 3,387,115 in 2023.
Figures from the more comprehensive 2010 census show Charlotte's
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 319,918 housing units at an average density of .
In 1970, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Charlotte's population as 30.2% Black and 68.9% White. In 2020, 39.72% of the population was non-Hispanic white, 32.5% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 7.02% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.15% other or mixed, and 16.32% Hispanic or Latin American of any race. This reflected the national demographic shift as Hispanic or Latinos and Asians increased in population.
In 2020, the median income for a household in Charlotte was $48,670. The median income for a family was $59,452. Males had a median income of $38,767 versus $29,218 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for Charlotte was $29,825. The percentage of the population living at or below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
was 10.6%, with 7.8% of families living at or below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 13.8% of those under the age of 18 and 9.7% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Religion

Charlotte has been historically
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
and remains predominantly Protestant today. It is the birthplace of
Billy Graham
William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...
, and is also the historic seat of
Southern Presbyterianism. The changing demographics of the city's increasing population have brought scores of new denominations and faiths. The
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,
Wycliffe Bible Translators'
JAARS Center,
SIM Missions Organization, and The Christian Research Institute make their homes in the Charlotte general area. In 2018, Charlotte proper had over 700 places of worship.
The
Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...
is now the fourth largest denomination in Charlotte, with 68,000 members and 206 congregations. The second largest Presbyterian denomination, the
Presbyterian Church in America
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Calvinist, Reformed in theolog ...
has 43 churches and 12,000 members, followed by the
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church with 63 churches and 9,500 members.
The
Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America is headquartered in Charlotte, and both
Reformed Theological Seminary and
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary have campuses there; more recently, the
religious studies
Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...
academic departments of Charlotte's local colleges and universities have also grown considerably.
The
Advent Christian Church is headquartered in Charlotte. The
Western North Carolina Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...
is also headquartered in Charlotte.
The largest
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
church in Charlotte, by attendance, is
Elevation Church, a Southern Baptist church founded by lead pastor
Steven Furtick
Larry Stevens Furtick Jr. (born February 19, 1980), known professionally as Steven Furtick, is an American evangelical Christian pastor, author, and composer of Elevation Worship. He is the founder and general overseer of Elevation Church, base ...
. The church has over 15,000 congregants at nine Charlotte locations.
Charlotte's
Cathedral of Saint Patrick is the seat of the bishop of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, the head of which is Rev.
Peter Joseph Jugis. St. Matthew Parish, located in the
Ballantyne neighborhood, is the largest Catholic parish with over 30,000 parishioners. Charlotte is home to ~28,000 Catholic househilds.
The
Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...
's cathedral for North Carolina,
Holy Trinity Cathedral, is located in Charlotte.
Charlotte has the largest
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
population in the Carolinas. Shalom Park in south Charlotte is the hub of the Jewish community, featuring two synagogues,
Temple Israel and Temple Beth El, as well as a community center, the Charlotte Jewish Day School for grades K–5, and the headquarters of the ''
Charlotte Jewish News''.
Most African Americans in Charlotte are Baptists affiliated with the
National Baptist Convention, the largest predominantly African American denomination in the United States. African American Methodists are largely affiliated with either the
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, headquartered in Charlotte, or the
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...
. African American Pentecostals are represented by several organizations such as the
United House of Prayer for All People,
Church of God in Christ
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is an international Christian perfection#Holiness Pentecostalism, Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and a large Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi ...
, and the
United Holy Church of America.
, 51.91% of people in Charlotte practice religion on a regular basis, making it the second most religious city in North Carolina after
Winston-Salem. The largest religion in Charlotte is
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, with
Baptists
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
(13.26%) having the largest number of adherents. The second largest Christian group are the
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
s (9.43%), followed by
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
s (8.02%) and
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
s (5.25%). Other Christian affiliates include
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...
s (2.50%),
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
s (1.30%),
Episcopalians (1.20%),
Latter-Day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(0.84%), and other Christian (8.87%) churches, including the
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
and
non-denominational
A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination.
The term has been used in the context of various faiths, including Jainism, Baháʼí Faith, Zoro ...
congregations.
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
(0.57%) is the second largest religion after Christianity, followed by
Eastern religions (0.34%) and
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
(0.32%).
Economy

Charlotte is the second-largest banking center in the United States, after
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
, the second-largest financial institution by total assets in the United States, is headquartered in Charlotte. It is also home to
Truist Financial, the nation's sixth-largest financial institution.
Charlotte also has become a large employment center for major banks not headquartered in Charlotte:
* Charlotte is the regional headquarters for
East Coast operations of
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
, which is headquartered in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, California. Charlotte also serves as the headquarters for Wells Fargo's capital markets activities.
* Bank of America's headquarters, along with other regional banking and financial services companies, are located primarily in the Uptown central business district.
* In May 2021,
Ally Financial
Ally Financial Inc. (known as GMAC until 2010) is an American bank holding company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered at Ally Detroit Center in Detroit, Michigan. The company provides financial services including car finance, online bank ...
moved to
Ally Charlotte Center, which houses its 2,100 Charlotte-based employees and contractors across of the building.
*
U.S. Bancorp leases in
Truist Center to house 850 employees
*
USAA
The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is an American financial services company providing insurance and banking products exclusively to members of the military, veterans and their families. It was founded in 1922 in San Antonio, Texas ...
occupies in The Square which is located in
South End to house 500 employees.
* In September 2022,
TD Bank announced its plan to expand its retail in Charlotte with 15 new branches.
* In August 2022 UK based
The Bank of London announced it will be leasing in
101 Independence Center to house the 350 jobs they are creating in Charlotte by 2026.
Other large companies, such as
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
and
Centene Corporation, operate their East Coast headquarters in Charlotte. In November 2018,
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...
moved its corporate headquarters to Charlotte. In June 2019,
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...
announced it will be building its
Lowe's Global Technology Center worth $153 million, which is set to be complete in 2021 and will be headquartered in
South End neighborhood in Charlotte. In 2019,
Dole Food Company relocated its headquarters to Charlotte from California, and expanded its presence in Charlotte with its merger with Ireland-based Total Produce in February 2021. On May 25, 2021, it was announced that Charlotte would become the East Coast headquarters of
Credit Karma
Credit Karma is an American multinational personal finance company founded in 2007. It has been a brand of Intuit since December 2020. It is best known as a free credit and financial management platform, but its features also include monitori ...
.
Cedar Fair's corporate office is located in southwest Charlotte. On September 20, 2022, the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC) announced it will be relocating its headquarters from nearby
Greensboro to Charlotte in 2023. On July 12, 2023, railcar company
TTX announced it will move its corporate headquarters to Charlotte.
As of 2019, Charlotte has seven
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
companies in its metropolitan area, including, in order of their rank:
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
,
Honeywell
Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...
,
Nucor
Nucor Corporation is an American company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that produces steel and related products. It is the largest steel producer in the United States and the largest recycler of scrap in North America. Nucor is the 16th- ...
,
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...
,
Duke Energy
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 – its highest-ever placement on the ...
,
Sonic Automotive, and
Brighthouse Financial
Brighthouse Financial, Inc. is an American insurance company, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, that sells annuity and life insurance. Brighthouse is one of the largest providers of annuities and life insurance in the United States, wit ...
. The Charlotte area includes a diverse range of businesses, including foodstuffs such as
Harris Teeter,
Snyder's-Lance,
Dentsply Sirona,
Carolina Foods Inc.,
Bojangles,
Food Lion
Food Lion is an American regional supermarket Chain store, chain headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina, that operates over 1,000 supermarkets in 10 states: Delaware, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsyl ...
,
Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill,
Compass Group
Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in Europe, ahead of Sodexo, employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in location ...
USA,
Krispy Kreme, Inc., and
Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc. (Charlotte being the nation's second largest Coca-Cola bottler); packaging company
Sealed Air, financial services company
Dixon Hughes Goodman, online leading marketplace
LendingTree
LendingTree, Inc. is an online lending marketplace, founded in 1996 and headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The business platform allows potential borrowers to connect with multiple lender, loan operators to find optimal terms for loans, ...
, chemical company
Albemarle Corporation, Lawn and garden equipment maker
WORX, door and window maker
JELD-WEN, motor and transportation companies such as
RSC Brands,
Continental Tire the Americas, LLC.,
Meineke Car Care Centers, retail companies
Belk
Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...
,
Cato Corporation and
Rack Room Shoes, along with a wide array of other businesses.
Charlotte is the major center of the U.S. motorsports industry, housing the US's only
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
team,
Haas F1, multiple teams and offices of
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
, the
NASCAR Hall of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame and Museum located in Charlotte, North Carolina that honors NASCAR and its history. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs ...
, and
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...
in Concord. Approximately 75% of the NASCAR industry's race teams, employees and drivers are based nearby. The large presence of the racing technology industry and the newly built
NHRA dragstrip,
zMAX Dragway at
Concord, are influencing other top professional
drag racers to move their shops to Charlotte as well.
Located in the western part of Mecklenburg County is the
U.S. National Whitewater Center, which consists of human-made rapids of varying degrees, and is open to the public year-round.
The Charlotte Region has a major base of energy-oriented organizations and has become known as "Charlotte USA – The New Energy Capital". In the region there are more than 240 companies directly tied to the energy sector, collectively employing more than 26,400. Since 2007 more than 4,000 energy sector jobs have been announced. Major energy players in Charlotte include
AREVA
Areva S.A. was a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power, active between 2001 and 2018. It was headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through t ...
,
Duke Energy
Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 – its highest-ever placement on the ...
, Electric Power Research Institute, Fluor, Metso Power, Piedmont Natural Gas,
Albemarle Corp,
Siemens Energy, Shaw Group, Toshiba, URS Corp., and Westinghouse. The
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...
has a reputation in energy education and research, and its Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) trains energy engineers and conducts research. Over the last couple of years, Charlotte has become a hub in the
Information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
industry.
The area is an increasingly growing trucking and freight transportation hub for the East Coast. There are a couple of reasons for this growth. First, Charlotte's close proximity to major Interstates 40, 85, 77 or 95. Second, geographically it is also positioned within a 650-mile drive to 53% of the US population. A number of Charlotte-based logistics companies have experienced a lot of recent growth. There are few notable expansions in the last ten years that have helped to create Charlotte as a logistics hub. In December 2015 FedEx announced plans to build a number of warehouse buildings in a
Concord, North Carolina
Concord ( ) is the most populous city in Cabarrus County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 105,240 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Concord is the second-most populous city in the Cha ...
business park to locate 800 jobs there. In August 2016 Red Classic, Coke Consolidated transportation subsidiary, announced they would be hiring for an additional 300 jobs between August 2016 and the end of 2017. The company as of August 2022 has 357 local employees.
In October 2022
XPO, Inc. has spun off RXO into a separate company that is a truckload brokerage. The new company has 750 local employees and $4.7 billion in annual revenue Also in October 2022 Armstrong Transport Group formerly located in the
University area after relocating to
South End would be adding 100 jobs to its current local headcount of 125.
Others logistics companies that have are large Charlotte presence are Maersk North America with 800 employees, Zenith Global Logisitics with 720 employees, Cargo Transporters with 650 employees,
Southeastern Freight Lines Inc. with 517 employees, Distribution Technology with 400 employees, and Transportation Insight LLC with 375 local employees.
Charlotte has seen a major construction boom in recent years.
Zillow identified the city as the "hottest housing market" in 2023. Numerous residential units continue to be built uptown, including over 20 skyscrapers under construction, recently completed, or in the planning stage. Many new restaurants, bars and clubs now operate in the Uptown area. Several projects are transforming the Midtown Charlotte/
Elizabeth area. Population increases has also brought about
gentrification
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
in the city, particularly in predominantly
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
neighborhoods such as
Biddleville and
Cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...
.
In 2013, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' named Charlotte among its list of Best Places for Business and Careers. Charlotte was listed as the 20th largest city in the US, and the 60th fastest growing city in the US between 2000 and 2008.
Arts and culture
Museums

* ArtPop Street Gallery
*
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
*
Billy Graham Library
* Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fire Education Center and Museum
*
Charlotte Museum of History
*
Charlotte Nature Museum in
Freedom Park
In the Philippines, a freedom park is a centrally located public space where political gatherings, rallies and demonstrations may be held without the need of prior permission from government authorities. Similar to free speech zones in the United ...
* Charlotte Trolley Museum in
Historic South End
*
Discovery Place
*
Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
*
Historic Rosedale Plantation
*
Levine Museum of the New South
* The Light Factory Photo Arts Center
*
McColl Center for Art + Innovation
*
Mint Museum
The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collecti ...
* Museum of Illusions Charlotte
*
NASCAR Hall of Fame
The NASCAR Hall of Fame, is a Hall of Fame and Museum located in Charlotte, North Carolina that honors NASCAR and its history. Inductees to the Hall of Fame are drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs ...
* Second Ward Alumni House Museum
*
Sullenberger Aviation Museum
* The Visual and Performing Arts Center (VAPA)
Performing arts
* Amos' Southend Music Hall
*
Comedy Arts Theater of Charlotte
*
Blumenthal Performing Arts Center
*
Charlotte Ballet
*
Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
*
Carolina Theatre
*
ConCarolinas
*
ImaginOn
*
AvidxChange Music Factory
*
PNC Music Pavilion
*
Opera Carolina
*
The Robot Johnson Show
*
Citizens of the Universe
* Children's Theatre of Charlotte
* Theatre Charlotte
* JazzArts Charlotte
Festivals and events
The Charlotte region is home to many annual festivals and special events.
The Carolina Renaissance Festival operates on Saturdays and Sundays each October and November. Located near the intersection of
NC 73 and Poplar Tent Road, the Carolina Renaissance Festival is one of the largest renaissance themed events in the country. It features 11 stages of outdoor variety entertainment, a 22-acre village marketplace, an interactive circus, an arts and crafts fair, a jousting tournament, and a feast, all rolled into one non-stop, day-long family adventure.
The Yiasou Greek Festival is a Greek Festival. It began in 1978 and since then has become one of Charlotte's largest cultural events. The Yiasou (the Greek word for Hello, Goodbye and Cheers) Greek Festival features Hellenic cultural exhibits, authentic Greek cuisine and homemade pastries, entertainment, live music and dancing, wine tastings, art, shopping and more.
Taste of Charlotte is a three-day festival offering samples from area restaurants, live entertainment and children's activities. Located on Tryon Street, Taste of Charlotte spans six city blocks from Stonewall to 5th Street.
Moo and Brew Fest is an annual craft beer and burger festival that is the largest in North Carolina, held each April and includes various national musical acts.
Breakaway Music Festival is a music festival which takes place at the NC Music Factory and consists of hip hop and electronic music artists and DJs.
Heroes Convention is an annual comic book convention held in June at the Charlotte Convention Center. Founded in 1982, it is one of the oldest and largest independent comic book conventions in the United States.
Charlotte
Pride
Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...
is an annual LGBT event held in August. In 2019, the event attracted 200,000 people to Uptown Charlotte. The event's parade became Charlotte's largest annual parade in 2017.
Charlotte Turkey Trot is an annual 5k & 8k running marathon hosted every
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...
, it is also the largest running event in the state of North Carolina.
Charlotte also has the
Charlotte Regional Farmers Market where local farmers sell their
produce
In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...
.
Three annual arts and cultural festivals celebrating visual and performing arts are hosted throughout the Charlotte region: BOOM Charlotte hosted in the Camp North End area, the Charlotte International Arts Festival hosted in Ballantyne, and Charlotte SHOUT! hosted in Uptown.
Zoos and aquariums
Charlotte is "... the largest metropolitan area in the United States without a zoo". The Charlotte Zoo initiative is a proposal to allocate of natural North Carolina land to be dedicated to the zoological foundation, which was incorporated in 2008. On August 18, 2012, Channel 14 News says that the initiative is "... still a few years away" and the plot of land is "... just seven miles from the center of uptown". According to the news channel, "... the zoo will cost roughly $300 million, and will be completely funded." The Charlotte Observer references two other zoos, the
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden and the
North Carolina Zoological Park as two "great zoos" that are accessible from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area, both roughly more than 70 miles away.
Charlotte is also served by the
Sea Life Charlotte-Concord Aquarium in the nearby city of
Concord. The aquarium is 30,000 square feet in size, and is part of the
Concord Mills mall. The aquarium opened on February 20, 2014.
Libraries

The
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library serves the Charlotte area with a large collection (more than 1.5 million) of books, CDs and DVDs at 15 locations in the city of Charlotte, with branches in the surrounding towns of
Matthews,
Mint Hill,
Huntersville,
Cornelius and
Davidson. All locations provide free access to Internet-enabled computers and WiFi, and a library card from one location is accepted at all 20 locations.
Although the library's roots go back to the ''Charlotte Literary and Library Association,'' founded on January 16, 1891,
the state-chartered
Carnegie Library, which opened on the current North Tryon site of the Main Library, was the first non-subscription library opened to members of the public in the city of Charlotte. The philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...
donated $25,000 for a library building, on the condition that the city of Charlotte donate a site and $2,500 per year for books and salaries,
and that the state grant a charter for the library. All conditions were met, and the Charlotte Carnegie Library opened in an imposing classical building on July 2, 1903.
The 1903 state charter also required that a library be opened for the disenfranchised African-American population of Charlotte. This was completed in 1905 with the opening of the ''Brevard Street Library for Negroes'', an independent library in Brooklyn, a historically black area of Charlotte, on the corner of Brevard and East Second Streets (now Martin Luther King Boulevard).
The Brevard Street Library was the first library for African Americans in the state of North Carolina,
and some sources say in the southeast.
The library was closed in 1961 when the Brooklyn neighborhood in Second Ward was redeveloped, but its role as a cultural center for African-Americans in Charlotte is continued by the Beatties Ford and West Boulevard branches of the library system, as well as by Charlotte's African-American Cultural Center.
Sports

Charlotte is home to the
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
of the National Football League (
NFL), the
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...
of the National Basketball Association (
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
), and
Charlotte FC of
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
(
MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...
). The Panthers have been located in Charlotte since the team's creation in 1995, and the current Hornets franchise has been located in Charlotte since its creation in 1988 (with the exception of the
2002-03 and
2003-04 seasons). The Panthers and Charlotte FC play their home games in
Bank of America Stadium, while the Hornets play in the
Spectrum Center. The Panthers have won six division titles from (1996, 2003, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015) and two NFC championships in 2003 and 2015. Carolina has reached the Super Bowl twice but has been unsuccessful in both losing to the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
in
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2003 Carolina Panthers season, Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2003 New England Patriots season, New E ...
in 2004 and against the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
in
Super Bowl 50 in 2016. The original Hornets NBA franchise was established in 1988 as an expansion team, but it relocated to
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
in 2002 after animosity grew between the team's fans and principal owner
George Shinn. The NBA quickly granted Charlotte an expansion franchise following the departure of the Hornets and the new franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, began to play in 2004. The team retook the Hornets name when the New Orleans–based team renamed itself the
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...
in 2013. The name change became official on May 20, 2014. On the same day, the franchise reclaimed the history and records of the original 1988–2002 Hornets. MLS awarded its expansion team to Charlotte in 2019, which began play as Charlotte FC in 2022.
Charlotte is represented in professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
by the
Charlotte Checkers
The Charlotte Checkers are a professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affiliate of the ...
and in professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
at the
Triple-A level by the
Charlotte Knights
The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...
. Since 1999, the Knights has been the Triple-A Affiliate of the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...
.
The
Charlotte Independence are a minor professional soccer club who play in
USL League One
USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...
the third tier of US professional soccer. The Independence play their home matches at
American Legion Memorial Stadium
The city is also the home of the
National Junior College Athletic Association
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions across 24 states ...
(NJCAA) headquarters. The NJCAA is the second-largest national intercollegiate athletic organization in the United States with over 500 member schools in 43 states. The
Big South Conference
The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...
is also headquartered in Charlotte. Founded in 1983, the Big South Conference has 11 member institutions with over 19 different sports and completes in the NCAA's Division I. The
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC) also has its headquarters in Charlotte. Founded in 1954, the ACC has 15 member institutions 4 of whom are located in the state of North Carolina with over 28 different sports and competes in NCAA's Division I.
Over the years, Charlotte has hosted many international, collegiate, and professional sporting events. In professional basketball, the city hosted the
NBA All-Star Game
The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...
twice in
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
at the old
Charlotte Coliseum and most recently in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
at
Spectrum Center. In collegiate sports, Charlotte hosts the
ACC Championship Game and
Duke's Mayo Bowl. The city has also been the host many
ACC men's basketball tournaments most recently in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
. In 2021, Charlotte hosted the
ACC baseball tournament. In 2017, Charlotte hosted the
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...
at the
Quail Hollow Club and is set to host again by 2025. Charlotte will also host the
2022 Presidents Cup. In 1994, Charlotte hosted the
Final Four
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
.
Since 1931,
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...
has been a full-fledged
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
performer, based in the North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia states, and has been called
Mid-Atlantic Wrestling.
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
,
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
,
WWE has big matches, and many
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
event. Many professional wrestlers living.
Currently, the city is home to two universities that participate in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
Athletics: the
Charlotte 49ers
The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the Nati ...
of the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...
, as well as the
Queens Royals
The Queens Royals are the athletic teams that represent Queens University of Charlotte, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, in NCAA intercollegiate sporting competitions. On July 1, 2022, the Royals began a four-year transition f ...
of
Queens University of Charlotte
The Queens University of Charlotte is a private university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It has approximately 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students. Established in 1857, the university offers 50 undergraduate majors, 58 minors, ...
, who announced their transition from
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...
to Division I on May 7, 2022.
Charlotte has participated in 11 NCAA
men's basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
tournaments, 14 NCAA
men's soccer tournaments, and the
football team
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
participated in their first bowl game in 2019 just six years after starting their program.
Johnson C. Smith University participates at the
NCAA Division II
NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...
level.
Johnson and Wales University participate in the
USCAA
The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 national ...
.
Government
Charlotte has a
council–manager form of government. The
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
and
Charlotte City Council are elected every two years, with no
term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...
s. The mayor is ''ex officio'' chair of the City Council, and only votes in case of a tie. Unlike other mayors in council–manager systems, Charlotte's mayor has the power to
veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...
ordinances passed by the council; the council can override a mayoral veto by a vote of seven of its ten members. The Council appoints a
city manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
to serve as chief administrative officer.
Unlike some other cities and towns in North Carolina, elections are held on a partisan basis.
Vi Lyles, a
Democrat elected in 2017, became the 59th mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina. She was elected to her third term in 2022.
Patrick Cannon, a Democrat, was sworn in as mayor on December 2, 2013. On March 26, 2014, Cannon was arrested on public corruption charges. Later the same day, he resigned as mayor. Mayor Pro Tem
Michael Barnes served as Acting Mayor until April 7, when the City Council selected State Senator
Dan Clodfelter, also a Democrat, to serve the remainder of Cannon's term. Former Mecklenburg County Commission chairwoman
Jennifer Roberts Jennifer Roberts may refer to:
* Jennifer Roberts (judge) (1953–2024), judge of the High Court of England and Wales
* Jennifer Roberts (politician), American politician, businesswoman and diplomat
* Jennifer Roberts (art historian) (born 1969), A ...
defeated Clodfelter in the 2015 Democratic primary and went on to win the general election, becoming the first Democratic woman to be elected to the post. She was ousted in the 2017 Democratic primary by Mayor Pro Tem
Vi Lyles, who later defeated Republican City Councilman Kenny Smith in the general election to become Mayor of Charlotte.
Historically, voters have been friendly to moderates of both parties. However, in recent years, Charlotte has swung heavily to the Democrats. Republican strength is concentrated in the southeastern portion of the city, while Democratic strength is concentrated in the south-central, eastern, and northern areas. The city had a Republican mayor from 1987 to 2009.
The Charlotte City Council has 11 members (7 from districts and 4
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
). Democrats control the council with a 9-to-2 advantage, winning all 4 of the at-large seats in the November 2013, 2015, and 2017 municipal elections. While the City Council is responsible for passing ordinances, the city's budget, and other policies, all decisions can be overridden by the
North Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...
, since North Carolina municipalities do not have
home rule
Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
. While municipal powers have been broadly construed since the 1960s, the General Assembly still retains considerable authority over local matters.
Charlotte is split between two
congressional district
Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...
s on the federal level. The northern half of the city is in the
12th district, represented by Democrat
Alma Adams. The southern half is in the
14th district, represented by Democrat
Jeff Jackson. Charlotte is represented by ten members of the
North Carolina House of Representatives
The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...
,
Mary Gardner Belk (D-88th),
Terry M. Brown Jr. (D-92nd),
Nasif Majeed (D-99th),
John Autry (D-100th),
Carolyn Logan (D-101st),
Becky Carney (D-102nd),
Brandon Lofton (D-104th),
Wesley Harris (D-105th),
Carla Cunningham (D-106th), and
Kelly Alexander (D-107th), and six members of the
North Carolina Senate
The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...
,
Mujtaba A. Mohammed (D-38th),
DeAndrea Salvador (D-39th),
Joyce Waddell (D-40th),
Rachel Hunt
Rachel Henderson Hunt (born May 19, 1965) is an American politician who has served as the 36th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina since 2025 under Governor Josh Stein. A Democrat, Hunt previously was a member of the North Carolina State S ...
(D-42nd),
Vickie Sawyer (R-37th), and
Natasha Marcus (D-41st).
Charlotte was selected in 2011 to host the
2012 Democratic National Convention
The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 4–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Pr ...
, which was held at the
Spectrum Center. It began September 4, 2012, and ended on September 6, 2012. In 2018, Charlotte was chosen to host the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
in August 2020. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...
most events were not held in Charlotte.
Education
School system
The city's public school system,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, is the second largest in North Carolina and 17th largest in the nation. In 2009, it won the NAEP Awards, the Nation's Report Card for urban school systems with top honors among 18 city systems for fourth grade math, second place among eighth graders. An estimated 144,000 students are taught in 164 separate elementary, middle, and high schools. Charlotte is also home to many private and independent schools, including
British School of Charlotte,
Charlotte Catholic High School,
Charlotte Christian School,
Charlotte Country Day School,
Charlotte Islamic Academy,
Charlotte Latin School,
Grace Academy,
Providence Day School,
Hickory Grove Christian School,
Northside Christian Academy,
Southlake Christian Academy, and
United Faith Christian Academy.
Colleges and universities

Charlotte is home to a number of universities and colleges such as
Central Piedmont Community College
Central Piedmont Community College (Central Piedmont) is a Public college, public community college in Charlotte, North Carolina. With an enrollment of more than 40,000 students annually, Central Piedmont is the second-largest community college ...
,
Johnson C. Smith University,
Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its cam ...
,
Queens University of Charlotte
The Queens University of Charlotte is a private university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It has approximately 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students. Established in 1857, the university offers 50 undergraduate majors, 58 minors, ...
, and the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...
. Several notable colleges are located in the metropolitan suburbs. Located in nearby
Davidson, North Carolina is
Davidson College
Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...
. Additional colleges in the area include
Belmont Abbey College in the suburb of
Belmont, North Carolina,
Gaston College with its main campus in the suburb of
Dallas, North Carolina and
Wingate University in the suburb of
Wingate, North Carolina. Also nearby are
Winthrop University
Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, a ...
, Clinton Junior College,
York Technical College in
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...
, and
Gardner-Webb University in
Boiling Springs, North Carolina in the westernmost part of the
Charlotte area.
UNC Charlotte is the city's largest university. It is located in
University City, the northeastern portion of Charlotte, which is also home to
University Research Park
University City (sometimes University Area or U-City) is an edge city mostly within the city limits of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, surrounding the University of North Carolina at Charlotte campus. It is found in northeastern M ...
, a research and corporate park. With more than 30,000 students, UNC Charlotte is the second largest university in the state system.
Central Piedmont Community College is the largest
community college
A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...
in
the Carolinas, with more than 70,000 students each year and 6 campuses throughout the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. CPCC is part of the statewide
North Carolina Community College System.
The Charlotte School of Law opened its doors in Charlotte in 2006 and was fully accredited by the American Bar Association in 2011. The law school offered the
Juris Doctor
A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
degree but the Bar association rescinded the accreditation in 2017. Charlotte School of Law, once the largest law school in the Carolinas, has ceased to operate.
Pfeiffer University has a satellite campus in Charlotte.
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...
, with its main campus in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...
, also operates a satellite campus of its Babcock Graduate School of Management in the Uptown area. On March 24, 2021, it was announced
Wake Forest School of Medicine would expand a 20-acre campus in Charlotte by 2024. The
Connecticut School of Broadcasting,
DeVry University, and
ECPI University all have branches in Charlotte. The
Universal Technical Institute has the NASCAR Technical Institute in nearby
Mooresville, serving the Charlotte area.
Montreat College (Charlotte) maintains a School of Professional and Adult Studies in the city. Additionally,
Union Presbyterian Seminary
Union Presbyterian Seminary is a Presbyterian seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, offering graduate theological education in multiple modalities: in-person, hybrid, and online.
History
As a result of efforts underta ...
has a non-residential campus offering the Master of Arts in Christian Education, and the
Master of Divinity
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...
in Charlotte near the Beverley Woods area.
The
North Carolina Research Campus
The North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) is a public-private research center in Kannapolis, North Carolina, Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States. The Campus was envisioned by David H. Murdock, owner of Dole Food Company and Castle and Cook ...
, a 350-acre
biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
hub located northeast of Charlotte in the city of
Kannapolis, is a public-private venture including eight universities, one community college, the
David H. Murdock Research Institute (DHMRI), the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and corporate entities that collaborate to advance the fields of human health, nutrition and agriculture. Partnering educational organizations include UNC Charlotte and
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, from the Charlotte region, as well as
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...
,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
,
Duke University
Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
,
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...
,
North Carolina A&T State University,
Shaw University,
North Carolina Central University and
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...
.
The research campus is part of a larger effort by leaders in the Charlotte area to attract energy, health, and other knowledge-based industries that contribute to North Carolina's strength in biotechnology.
Media
Newspaper
Charlotte has one major daily newspaper, ''
The Charlotte Observer''. It boasts the largest circulation in North Carolina and South Carolina.
Radio
Charlotte is the 24th largest radio market in the nation, according to
Nielsen Audio. While major groups like
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
and
Urban One have stations serving Charlotte, several smaller groups also own and operate stations in the area. The local
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
news affiliate is
WFAE News, which sponsors a number of podcasts and radio shows.
Television
According to
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, Charlotte is the 22nd largest television market in the nation (as of the 2016–2017 season) and the largest in the state of North Carolina. Major television stations located in Charlotte include
CBS affiliate
WBTV 3 (the oldest television station in the Carolinas),
ABC affiliate
WSOC-TV
WSOC-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Telemundo. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside Kannapolis-licensed independent station WAXN-TV ...
9,
NBC affiliate
WCNC-TV
WCNC-TV (channel 36) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. WCNC-TV's studios are located in the Wood Ridge Center office complex off Billy Graham Parkway (Ch ...
36,
CW affiliate
WCCB 18, and
PBS member station
WTVI 42. One cable sports network is headquartered in Charlotte: the
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
-controlled
SEC Network
SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which hold ...
.
Raycom Sports is also headquartered in Charlotte.
Other stations serving the Charlotte market include
Fox affiliate
WJZY 46 in
Belmont,
UNC-TV/
PBS member station WUNG-TV 58 in
Concord,
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
station
WAXN-TV 64 (a sister to WSOC-TV) in
Kannapolis, and two stations in
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...
:
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...
affiliate
WMYT-TV 55 (a sister to WJZY) and
PBS member station
WNSC-TV 30. Additionally,
INSP is headquartered in nearby
Indian Land, South Carolina.
In 2020,
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
established a Charlotte bureau spearheaded by national correspondent Dianne Gallagher.
Cable television customers are served by
Spectrum
A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...
, which offers a localized feed of
Raleigh
Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
-based
Spectrum News North Carolina.
Infrastructure
City services
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services for the city of Charlotte are provided by Mecklenburg EMS Agency (MEDIC). MEDIC received over 160,000 calls in 2022 and transported over 107,000 patients in Mecklenburg County. The agency employs over 600 paramedics, EMTs, EMDs and admin staff.
In addition to dispatching MEDIC's EMS calls, the agency also dispatches all county fire calls outside of the city of Charlotte.
Hospitals

Hospitals in Charlotte include
Atrium Health Mercy,
Atrium Health Pineville,
Atrium Health University City, Carolinas ContinueCare Pineville, Atrium Health
Carolinas Medical Center /
Levine Children's, Novant Health Charlotte Orthopedic Hospital, Novant Health Hemby Children's Hospital, and Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority is the public hospital authority of Mecklenburg County.
Fire department
The
Charlotte Fire Department provides fire suppression, emergency medical services, public education, hazardous materials (HAZMAT) mitigation, technical rescues, and fire prevention and inspection with 1,164 personnel. Forty-three fire stations are strategically scattered throughout Charlotte to provide a reasonable response time to emergencies in the city limits.
Law enforcement and crime
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) is a combined jurisdiction agency. The CMPD has law enforcement jurisdiction in both the city of Charlotte and the few unincorporated areas left in Mecklenburg County. The other small towns maintain their own law enforcement agencies for their own jurisdictions. The department consists of approximately 1,700 sworn law enforcement officers, 550 civilian personnel, and more than 400 volunteers.
An average of 4,939 vehicles are stolen every year in Charlotte.
According to the Congressional Quarterly Press; '2008 City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America,' Charlotte, North Carolina ranks as the 62nd most dangerous city larger than 75,000 inhabitants. However, the entire Charlotte-Gastonia Metropolitan Statistical Area ranked as 27th most dangerous out of 338 metro areas.
Waste treatment
Charlotte has a municipal waste system consisting of trash pickup, water distribution, and waste treatment. There are five waste water treatment plants operated by Charlotte Water (previously Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility Department). Charlotte has a
biosolids program.
Some Chester residents spoke out against the program on February 26, 2013. Charlotte's sludge is handled, transported, and spread on farm fields in Chester by a company called Synagro, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management.
Carlyle specializes in ...
Charlotte's sludge is of the "CLASS B" variety, which means it still contains detectable levels of pathogens.
Transportation
The city of Charlotte has a lower than average percentage of households without a car. In 2015, 7.4 percent of Charlotte households lacked a car, and decreased to 6 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Charlotte averaged 1.65 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8.
Mass transit

The
Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the agency responsible for operating mass transit in the Charlotte metropolitan area, carrying over 16 million riders annually. Established in 1999 and administered as a department of the city of Charlotte, CATS operates
light rail
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
transit,
streetcar
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
,
express buses,
local buses, and special bus services serving Charlotte and the surrounding area in addition to other programs such as
vanpool
Vanpools or vanpooling is an element of the transit system that allow groups of people to share the ride similar to a carpool, but on a larger scale with concurrent savings in fuel and vehicle operating costs and thus usually a lower cost to the ...
.
CATS' rail arm, LYNX Rapid Transit Services, comprises two lines as of fall 2020. The Blue Line is an 18.9‑mile line north–south light rail line running through
South End,
Center City,
NoDa, and
University City. The
CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar, Phase 1 of which opened in 2015, is under Phase 2 construction as of fall 2020. When completed, the Gold Line will link the Beatties Ford neighborhood through Uptown and then south and east to the Elizabeth neighborhood. The
LYNX Silver Line, a light rail line in the pre-project development phase as of fall 2020, will link the southeastern suburbs of
Matthews,
Stallings, and
Indian Trail with
Uptown Charlotte and the future Charlotte Gateway Station before extending west to
Charlotte Douglas International Airport and across the Catawba River to
Belmont in Gaston County.
The bulk of CATS ridership is derived from its extensive bus network, which has its main hub at the Charlotte Transportation Center in Uptown, which also connects to the Blue and Gold lines. Other bus hubs are located at community transit centers in SouthPark, Eastland, and at Rosa Parks Place. CATS operates express buses to outlying parts of the city and some commuter bus to the northern suburbs in the Lake Norman area under the MetroRAPID umbrella.
Walkability
A 2011 study by
Walk Score
Walk Score, a subsidiary of Redfin, provides walkability analysis and apartment search tools. Its flagship product is a large-scale, public access walkability index that assigns a numerical walkability score to any address in the United States, U ...
ranked Charlotte the 49th most walkable of the 50 largest cities in the United States.
Roads and highways

Charlotte's central location between the population centers of the
Northeast and
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
has made it a transportation focal point and primary distribution center, with two major interstate highways,
I-85 and
I-77, intersecting near the city's center. The latter highway also connects to the population centers of the
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt, formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt, is an area of the United States that underwent substantial Deindustrialization, industrial decline in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (Uni ...
.
Charlotte's
beltway
A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
, designated
I-485 and simply called "485" by local residents, was under construction for over 20 years, but funding problems slowed its progress. The final segment was finished in mid-2015. I-485 has a total circumference of approximately . Within the city, the
I-277 loop freeway encircles Charlotte's uptown (usually referred to by its two separate sections, the
John Belk Freeway and the Brookshire Freeway) while
Charlotte Route 4 links major roads in a loop between I-277 and I-485.
Independence Freeway, which carries
U.S. 74 and links downtown with the Matthews area, is undergoing an expansion and widening in the eastern part of the city.
Air

In 2011,
Charlotte Douglas International Airport was the sixth-busiest airport in both the U.S. and the world overall as measured by traffic (aircraft movements). The airport handled just over 50 million travellers in 2019, as well as many domestic and international carriers including
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...
,
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...
, and
Volaris
Volaris (legally ''Concesionaria Vuela Compañía de Aviación S.A.B. de C.V.'') is a Mexican low-cost airline based in Santa Fe, Mexico City, Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City with its operating bases in Canc ...
. It is a major hub for
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
, having historically been a hub for its predecessors
US Airways
US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...
and
Piedmont Airlines. Nonstop flights are available to many destinations across the United States,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Central America
Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
,
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. The
145th Airlift Wing of
North Carolina Air National Guard is also located east of the airport.
Intercity transportation
Charlotte is served daily by three
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
routes with ten daily trips from a station on North Tryon Street, just outside downtown.
* The ''
Crescent
A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself.
In Hindu iconography, Hind ...
'' connects Charlotte with New York,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
;
Charlottesville
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...
, and
Greensboro to the north, and
Greenville,
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
Meridian and
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
to the south. It arrives overnight once in each direction.
* The ''
Carolinian'' connects Charlotte with New York; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.;
Richmond;
Raleigh
Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
;
Durham; and Greensboro. Charlotte is the southern terminus, with the northbound train leaving just before the morning rush and the southbound train arriving in the evening.
* The ''
Piedmont
Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
'', a regional companion of the ''Carolinian'', connects Charlotte with Greensboro, Durham and Raleigh with four daily round trips. Charlotte is the southern terminus.
Charlotte is also served by both
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets.
Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
and low-cost curbside carrier
Megabus. Charlotte is a service stop for Greyhound routes running to Atlanta, Detroit,
Jacksonville
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
, New York and Philadelphia. It is also a stop for buses running out of Megabus' hub in Atlanta, with connections to Megabus' northeastern routes out of New York.
The city is planning a new centralized downtown multimodal station called
Gateway Station. It is expected to house Amtrak, Greyhound and the future LYNX Red Line. It is under construction at the former site of the Greyhound station; Greyhound is currently operating from a temporary station nearby.
Notable people
Sister cities
Charlotte's
sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there ar ...
are:
*
Arequipa
Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...
, Peru (1962)
*
Krefeld
Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...
, Germany (1985)
*
Baoding
Baoding is a prefecture-level city in central Hebei province, approximately southwest of Beijing. As of the 2020 census, Baoding City had 11,544,036 inhabitants, of which 2,549,787 lived in the metropolitan area made of 4 out of 5 urban distri ...
, China (1987)
*
Limoges
Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...
, France (1992)
*
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
, Poland (1993)
*
Kumasi
Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...
, Ghana (1995)
Former
*
Voronezh
Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
, Russia (1991–2022)
See also
*
List of municipalities in North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the Southern United States. According to the 2020 United States census, North Carolina is the 9th-most populous state with inhabitants, but the 28th-largest by land area spanning of land. North Caroli ...
*
List of Charlotte neighborhoods
*
List of tourist attractions in Charlotte, North Carolina
*
Urban League of Central Carolinas
*
USS ''Charlotte'', 4 ships
Notes
References
Further reading
* Graves, William, and Heather A. Smith, eds. ''Charlotte, NC: The Global Evolution of a New South City'' (University of Georgia Press; 2010) 320 pages. Essays that use Charlotte to explore how globalization and local forces combine to transform Southern cities.
* Hanchett, Thomas W. ''Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875–1975''. 380 pages. University of North Carolina Press. August 1, 1998. .
* Kratt, Mary Norton. ''Charlotte: Spirit of the New South''. 293 pages. John F. Blair, Publisher. September 1, 1992. .
* Kratt, Mary Norton and Mary Manning Boyer. ''Remembering Charlotte: Postcards from a New South City, 1905–1950''. 176 pages. University of North Carolina Press. October 1, 2000. .
* Kratt, Mary Norton. ''New South Women: Twentieth Century Women of Charlotte, North Carolina''. Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in Association with John F. Blair, Publisher. August 1, 2001. .
* Sanford, Ken. ''Charlotte and UNC Charlotte: Growing Up Together'' (2021
summary
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
1755 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
Populated places established in 1755
North Carolina populated places on the Catawba River
Cities in North Carolina