Compare North Carolina sheriff department costs
Sheriff department cost and staffing across all 100 counties. Click a column header to sort. Hover a column header to see what it measures. Data as of 2026-07-21.
| County | Population | Budget | $/resident | Sworn / 100k res | Custody / 100k res | Beds / 100k res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alamance County | 171,779 | — | — | 112.4 | 64.6 | — |
| Alexander County | 36,505 | — | — | 106.8 | 106.8 | — |
| Alleghany County | 10,989 | — | — | 263.9 | 109.2 | — |
| Anson County | 22,200 | — | — | 148.6 | 94.6 | — |
| Ashe County | 26,759 | — | — | 160.7 | 149.5 | — |
| Avery County | 17,679 | — | — | 147.1 | 113.1 | — |
| Beaufort County | 44,711 | — | — | 93.9 | 24.6 | — |
| Bertie County | 17,818 | — | — | 202.0 | 0.0 | — |
| Bladen County | 29,807 | — | — | 140.9 | 140.9 | — |
| Brunswick County | 139,721 | — | — | 143.9 | 83.0 | — |
| Buncombe County | 269,449 | — | — | 64.9 | 56.0 | — |
| Burke County | 87,799 | — | — | 21.6 | 0.0 | — |
| Cabarrus County | 226,396 | — | — | 77.3 | 60.1 | — |
| Caldwell County | 80,716 | — | — | 90.4 | 40.9 | — |
| Camden County | 10,547 | — | — | 189.6 | 0.0 | — |
| Carteret County | 68,353 | — | — | 95.1 | 65.8 | — |
| Caswell County | 22,747 | — | — | 145.1 | 74.7 | — |
| Catawba County | 161,011 | — | — | 94.4 | 37.3 | — |
| Chatham County | 76,754 | — | — | 118.6 | 76.9 | — |
| Cherokee County | 28,868 | — | — | 159.3 | 100.5 | — |
| Chowan County | 13,835 | — | — | 137.3 | 79.5 | — |
| Clay County | 11,186 | — | — | 152.0 | 107.3 | — |
| Cleveland County | 99,527 | — | — | 196.9 | 86.4 | — |
| Columbus County | 50,827 | — | — | 190.8 | 66.9 | — |
| Craven County | 101,098 | — | — | 86.1 | 44.5 | — |
| Cumberland County | 335,207 | — | — | 79.7 | 40.6 | — |
| Currituck County | 28,616 | — | — | 258.6 | 101.3 | — |
| Dare County | 37,160 | — | — | 188.4 | 107.6 | — |
| Davidson County | 169,498 | — | — | 70.2 | 23.0 | — |
| Davie County | 43,030 | — | — | 225.4 | 55.8 | — |
| Duplin County | 49,312 | — | — | 109.5 | 73.0 | — |
| Durham County | 325,101 | — | — | 64.0 | 43.1 | — |
| Edgecombe County | 49,067 | — | — | 181.4 | 126.4 | — |
| Forsyth County | 383,739 | — | — | 61.2 | 58.4 | — |
| Franklin County | 69,680 | — | — | 137.8 | 58.8 | — |
| Gaston County | 228,972 | — | — | 117.9 | 67.3 | — |
| Gates County | 10,509 | — | — | 95.2 | 0.0 | — |
| Graham County | 8,047 | — | — | 348.0 | 161.6 | — |
| Granville County | 61,161 | — | — | 98.1 | 58.9 | — |
| Greene County | 20,407 | — | — | 107.8 | 83.3 | — |
| Guilford County | 539,557 | — | — | 55.4 | 60.8 | — |
| Halifax County | 48,772 | — | — | 141.5 | 67.7 | — |
| Harnett County | 134,718 | — | — | 128.4 | 54.9 | — |
| Haywood County | 62,152 | — | — | 125.5 | 77.2 | — |
| Henderson County | 116,469 | — | — | 134.8 | 35.2 | — |
| Hertford County | 21,633 | — | — | 97.1 | 101.7 | — |
| Hoke County | 52,612 | — | — | 108.3 | 96.9 | — |
| Hyde County | 4,636 | — | — | 366.7 | 0.0 | — |
| Iredell County | 187,839 | — | — | 68.7 | 43.1 | — |
| Jackson County | 42,388 | — | — | 143.9 | 49.5 | — |
| Johnston County | 219,042 | — | — | 61.6 | 21.9 | — |
| Jones County | 9,263 | — | — | 269.9 | 151.1 | — |
| Lee County | 63,560 | — | — | 107.0 | 40.9 | — |
| Lenoir County | 55,071 | — | — | 121.7 | 76.3 | — |
| Lincoln County | 87,933 | — | — | 135.3 | 46.6 | — |
| Macon County | 37,088 | — | — | 126.7 | 67.4 | — |
| Madison County | 21,414 | — | — | 135.4 | 79.4 | — |
| Martin County | 21,992 | — | — | 195.5 | 0.0 | — |
| McDowell County | 44,629 | — | — | 116.5 | 56.0 | — |
| Mecklenburg County | 1,115,403 | — | — | 12.2 | 51.5 | — |
| Mitchell County | 14,989 | — | — | 140.1 | 0.0 | — |
| Montgomery County | 25,839 | — | — | 112.2 | 77.4 | — |
| Moore County | 100,759 | — | — | 74.4 | 76.4 | — |
| Nash County | 95,015 | — | — | 102.1 | 45.3 | — |
| New Hanover County | 228,134 | — | — | 112.2 | 82.4 | — |
| Northampton County | 17,528 | — | — | 159.7 | 91.3 | — |
| Onslow County | 203,686 | — | — | 69.7 | 54.0 | — |
| Orange County | 145,919 | — | — | 73.3 | 25.4 | — |
| Pamlico County | 12,317 | — | — | 121.8 | 170.5 | — |
| Pasquotank County | 40,454 | — | — | 229.9 | 145.8 | — |
| Pender County | 61,592 | — | — | 123.4 | 40.6 | — |
| Perquimans County | 13,053 | — | — | 214.5 | 0.0 | — |
| Person County | 39,131 | — | — | 120.1 | 71.6 | — |
| Pitt County | 171,196 | — | — | 98.7 | 98.7 | — |
| Polk County | 19,538 | — | — | 163.8 | 122.8 | — |
| Randolph County | 144,403 | — | — | 84.5 | 60.9 | — |
| Richmond County | 43,149 | — | — | 0.0 | 53.3 | — |
| Robeson County | 117,573 | — | — | 114.0 | 84.2 | — |
| Rockingham County | 91,209 | — | — | 106.3 | 47.1 | — |
| Rowan County | 147,067 | — | — | 98.6 | 51.0 | — |
| Rutherford County | 64,680 | — | — | 98.9 | 52.6 | — |
| Sampson County | 59,317 | — | — | 145.0 | 80.9 | — |
| Scotland County | 34,222 | — | — | 114.0 | 61.4 | — |
| Stanly County | 62,723 | — | — | 113.2 | 47.8 | — |
| Stokes County | 44,696 | — | — | 167.8 | 96.2 | — |
| Surry County | 71,429 | — | — | 131.6 | 58.8 | — |
| Swain County | 14,130 | — | — | 226.5 | 113.2 | — |
| Transylvania County | 33,131 | — | — | 90.5 | 144.9 | — |
| Tyrrell County | 3,389 | — | — | 413.1 | 0.0 | — |
| Union County | 240,109 | — | — | 99.5 | 38.3 | — |
| Vance County | 42,492 | — | — | 91.8 | 150.6 | — |
| Wake County | 1,132,103 | — | — | 33.6 | 42.0 | — |
| Warren County | 18,803 | — | — | 148.9 | 101.0 | — |
| Washington County | 11,051 | — | — | 171.9 | 99.5 | — |
| Watauga County | 54,540 | — | — | 75.2 | 45.8 | — |
| Wayne County | 117,480 | — | — | 68.9 | 51.9 | — |
| Wilkes County | 66,125 | — | — | 130.1 | 60.5 | — |
| Wilson County | 78,667 | — | — | 132.2 | 40.7 | — |
| Yadkin County | 37,280 | — | — | 112.7 | 61.7 | — |
| Yancey County | 18,538 | — | — | 145.6 | 97.1 | — |
A note on data vintages and definitions. Population is the US Census Bureau's 2018-2022 American Community Survey 5-year estimate. Sheriff staffing comes from the US Census Bureau's 2022 Census of Governments Employment survey (March reference period); headcount equals full-time plus part-time positions across function codes 062 (sworn law enforcement), 162 (civilian law enforcement), and 005 (corrections). The Census publishes no true full-time-equivalent figures, and the March payroll snapshot is not directly comparable to a full annual operating budget. Jail capacity has not been loaded for North Carolina; the state's semiannual jail inspections, conducted by the NC Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Health Service Regulation, Jails and Detention Section under 10A NCAC 14J, are available only through a public-records request rather than as a downloadable dataset, so the jail column shows a dash for every county. Sheriff department budget data has not yet been loaded for North Carolina. Sheriff names were collected from the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association directory and machine-verified against that source in July 2026; two counties, Chatham and Duplin, had a vacant sheriff's office at the time of collection.