North Carolina sales tax, and who sets it
Tax year 2026
Set by the state
4.75%
Set locally
2.35%
statewide average
Combined
7.1%
Local share
33.1%
of what you pay
Work out the tax on a purchase in North Carolina
Add the tax on
7.1% effectiveThe general rate applies here: 7.1%, state and local combined. “Statewide average” is a comparison estimate. Named locations use the stored local rate; city and special-district coverage varies, so an address may differ. Rate source · as of 2026-07-01.
How North Carolina's sales tax is put together
- North Carolina splits this with your county. The state's share is about 4.75%. The local share, on average across North Carolina, is about 2.35%. What you actually pay is both of them at once, about 7.1%, and the second half changes depending on where in North Carolina you are standing when you buy.
- Food gets a discount in North Carolina, not a pass. The rate on groceries is about 2%, lower than on everything else but not nothing. A thousand dollars of shopping carries $20 of tax. Plenty of published summaries record North Carolina as exempting food. They are wrong.
- North Carolina taxes clothes like it taxes everything else. Spend a thousand dollars on apparel and the tax is $71. Some states exempt clothing outright, which sounds minor and is not — it changes what a whole category of spending costs. Prescription drugs are exempt here.
- Rate-setting in North Carolina is shared between the state and its localities. The state component is about 4.75% and the local component on average across North Carolina is about 2.35%, producing about 7.1%. Because the local half is set independently and varies across the state, the combined rate is a property of the transaction's location rather than of North Carolina as a whole — the reason this site prices purchases against a named county instead of a statewide average.
- Grocery purchases in North Carolina are taxed at a preferential about 2%, producing $20 on a thousand dollars of food. The reduced-rate treatment sits between the exempting majority and the handful of states applying the full rate, and it is routinely mis-recorded as an exemption in secondary sources. The distinction is worth several hundred dollars a year to a household at ordinary grocery volumes.
- Apparel falls inside North Carolina's sales tax base at the full combined rate, contributing $71 per thousand dollars spent. The states exempting clothing form a small group, and base differences of that kind explain more of the variation in real household sales tax burden than headline rates do. North Carolina exempts prescription drugs, in line with the near-universal national treatment.
Sales tax on this purchase
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $7.10 |
|---|---|
| Rate appliedStatewide average | 7.1% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
Rates across this state
A $75,000 salary
| Counties in this state | 100 |
|---|---|
| Different rates among them | 2 |
| Lowest county rate | 6.75% |
| Highest county rate | 7% |
Most counties here share a rate with many others. The county line rarely changes what you pay.
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
At the register
A $75,000 salary
| Tax added | $7.10 |
|---|---|
| You hand over | $107.10 |
| Rate here | 7.1% |
Uses this location’s stored combined rate and category rule. Clothing is one item; address-level coverage varies.
How much of that was tax
A $75,000 salary
| Goods before tax | $99.91 |
|---|---|
| Rate applied | 7.1% |
Uses the selected combined rate for ordinary goods. Exempt items or a mixed receipt change the split.
Every county here
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest | 6.75% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 7% |
| Gap between them | 0.25% |
County floors only — city, transit and special-district taxes are excluded where applicable.
What gets taxed, in each
A $75,000 salary
North Carolina
Statewide average
Texas
Harris County (Houston)
- Sales tax
- Fuel
- Tobacco
| Category | North Carolina | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | 2% | Exempt |
| Clothing at $100 | 7.1% | 8.25% |
| Fuel | 41¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco | $0.45 | $1.41 |
Grocery and general rates use the locations named here. Clothing is one item priced at $100; a more expensive garment may be taxed differently. Fuel and tobacco have separate units and scales.
The split, county by county
The state rate is the same everywhere in North Carolina. Anything beyond it was decided by a county or a city. These counties are a sample chosen to show the range, not a complete list.
| County | State | Local | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide average | 4.75% | 2.35% | 7.1% |
| Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) | same | 3.5% | 8.25% |
| Wake County (Raleigh) | same | 2.5% | 7.25% |
What it costs on a thousand dollars
The same purchase in four categories, priced on average across North Carolina. A flat thousand dollars is used deliberately — this is North Carolina's own rate restated in money, not a claim about what anyone spends.
| What you're buying | Tax as share of price | Tax on $1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| General goods | 7.1% | $71 |
| Groceries | 2% | $20 |
| Prescription drugs | 0% | $0 |
| Clothing | 7.1% | $71 |
Every county in North Carolina
This is the whole state, not a sample — 100 counties, from 6.75% in Alamance County up to 7% in Wilkes County. These are county floors. City, transit and special-district taxes can add to them, so an address may pay more.
Complete county coverage for North Carolina: 100 counties spanning 6.75% (Alamance County) to 7% (Wilkes County), across 2 distinct rates. Figures are county floors: the state rate plus the county's own levy, excluding municipal, transit and special-district taxes. The representative location figures earlier in the page may include additional local layers.
| County | State portion | County levy | Floor (state + county) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alamance County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Alexander County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Alleghany County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Anson County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Ashe County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Avery County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Beaufort County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Bertie County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Bladen County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Brunswick County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Buncombe County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Burke County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Cabarrus County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Caldwell County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Camden County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Carteret County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Caswell County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Catawba County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Chatham County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Cherokee County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Chowan County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Clay County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Cleveland County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Columbus County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Craven County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Cumberland County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Currituck County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Dare County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Davidson County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Davie County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Duplin County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Durham County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Edgecombe County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Forsyth County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Franklin County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Gaston County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Gates County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Graham County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Granville County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Greene County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Guilford County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Halifax County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Harnett County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Haywood County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Henderson County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Hertford County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Hoke County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Hyde County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Iredell County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Jackson County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Johnston County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Jones County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Lee County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Lenoir County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Lincoln County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Macon County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Madison County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Martin County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| McDowell County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Mecklenburg County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Mitchell County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Montgomery County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Moore County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Nash County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| New Hanover County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Northampton County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Onslow County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Orange County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Pamlico County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Pasquotank County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Pender County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Perquimans County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Person County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Pitt County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Polk County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Randolph County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Richmond County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Robeson County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Rockingham County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Rowan County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Rutherford County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Sampson County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Scotland County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Stanly County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Stokes County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Surry County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Swain County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Transylvania County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Tyrrell County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Union County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Vance County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Wake County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Warren County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Washington County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Watauga County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Wayne County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Wilkes County | 4.75% | 2.25% | 7% |
| Wilson County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Yadkin County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
| Yancey County | 4.75% | 2% | 6.75% |
Streamlined Sales Tax member rate files plus individual state Department of Revenue rate tables — county-level rows only; city, transit and special-district levies excluded — as of 2026-01-01, last verified 2026-08-29.
What this page does not cover
- Only sampled locations appear in the first North Carolina county table and calculator list. Covering every one would mean maintaining thousands of rates that change on their own local timetables, so this site samples instead. The consequence is simple: treat the figures as the shape of the thing, and your receipt as the truth.
- One tax, not all of them. What you see here is North Carolina's general sales tax. Gas, drink and cigarettes are taxed separately and those taxes are usually hidden inside the price. Hotels, restaurant meals and vehicle purchases often carry extra charges of their own on top.
- Exemptions are broader on paper than in a shop. North Carolina draws its own lines inside each category — what counts as a grocery rather than a prepared meal, what counts as clothing rather than an accessory. Those lines decide the tax on a real basket, and they are where two states with identical rates stop agreeing.
- North Carolina's first county table and calculator location list are curated samples rather than an exhaustive address dataset, a deliberate trade against maintaining several thousand independently-revised local rates. The figures characterise the distribution of local add-ons; they do not establish a minimum or maximum for the state. Address-level accuracy requires either the state revenue authority's lookup or a recent transaction record.
- This covers North Carolina's general sales tax in isolation. Fuel, alcohol and tobacco are subject to per-unit excise regimes that are generally included in the advertised price and are invisible at the point of sale. Lodging, prepared food and motor vehicle transactions commonly carry supplementary state or local levies beyond the general rate, so a transaction in one of those categories is not fully described by anything on this page.
- The exemption classes shown for North Carolina are broad categories, and the statutory boundaries inside each one govern the actual charge. Prepared and heated food routinely falls outside a grocery exemption; footwear, athletic wear and accessories are commonly carved out of a clothing exemption. Because these definitions differ between states, two jurisdictions with matching rates and matching exemption lists can produce materially different tax on an identical basket.
Questions people ask
Why is the tax at the register higher than the state rate?
Because the state rate is only the first layer. Counties, cities and special districts add their own on top, which takes about 4.75% up to about 7.1% — and it changes as you cross town lines rather than staying put.
Is food taxed at a lower rate here?
Food gets a lower rate rather than an exemption here. That is a deliberate middle path, and it means groceries still carry tax every week.
Is clothing exempt here?
No. A handful of states exempt clothing and North Carolina is not one of them, so a coat is taxed exactly like a television. The exemption is unusual enough that assuming it is the common mistake.
Will the rate change if I shop in the next town?
A little, but the state sets the bulk of it. With just about 33.1% decided locally, crossing a boundary changes the total only slightly.
What composes the combined rate in this state?
The combined rate is the state levy plus every local levy sourced to the point of sale. North Carolina sets about 4.75%; the representative combined rate is about 7.1%, of which about 33.1% is decided locally. A single statewide figure is therefore an approximation.
What reduced rate applies to groceries in this state?
North Carolina applies a preferential reduced rate to groceries rather than a full exemption. Local add-ons may or may not follow the reduced rate depending on state law, so the effective grocery rate is not always the state reduced rate alone.
How is apparel classified for sales tax in this state?
North Carolina applies the standard rate to apparel with no general exemption. Only a small minority of states exempt clothing, and among those several impose per-item caps or exclude athletic and formal wear, so cross-state assumptions about apparel are unreliable.
How much intra-state variation is there in the combined rate?
Locally determined levies account for about 33.1% of the representative combined rate, so intra-state dispersion is limited and the statewide figure approximates most locations closely. Rates remain sourced to the point of sale.