Orange County, NC: Cities, ZIP Codes & Population
Orange County in North Carolina (FIPS 37135) contains 4 communities in our dataset. The largest is Chapel Hill, NC, and the listed places add up to roughly 93,070 residents. Below you can browse its cities, check its ZIP codes and find nearby counties.
What are the key facts about Orange County?
| County | Orange County |
|---|---|
| State | North Carolina |
| FIPS code | 37135 |
| Places in our data | 4 |
| Places with a city page | 3 |
| Combined place estimates | 93,070 |
| Largest place | Chapel Hill, NC (64,051) |
| Rank in state | 18th of 100 counties by combined place population |
| Weighted density | 2,892 per sq mi |
| Time zone | Eastern time |
| ZIP codes | 8 |
Which cities and towns are in Orange County?
Orange County has 3 places large enough for a full page on this site. They are ranked below by estimated population, together with whether each is incorporated, its density in people per square mile and the number of ZIP codes it uses. Chapel Hill, NC is the largest, followed by Carrboro, NC.
| Place | Type | Population | Per sq mi | ZIPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapel Hill, NC | Incorporated | 64,051 | 2,973 | 5 |
| Carrboro, NC | Incorporated | 21,190 | 3,271 | 2 |
| Hillsborough, NC | Incorporated | 7,161 | 1,274 | 1 |
The county also contains 1 smaller community that appear here but do not have separate pages because their populations are too small for reliable data: Efland. Residents of these places often depend on the county for services such as roads, courts and public health.
How large is Orange County compared with other counties in North Carolina?
Adding up the estimates for the places in our data gives 93,070 people, which ranks Orange County 18th among 100 counties in North Carolina. The average listed place has about 23,268 residents. The weighted density is about 2,892 people per square mile, which is suburban by our scale. These totals add up place estimates, so they can differ from the official county population, which includes people outside any listed place. See why population figures differ.
What ZIP codes are in Orange County?
The places in Orange County use 8 ZIP codes: 27243, 27278, 27510, 27514, 27515, 27516, 27517, 27599. Every code begins with 2, which is assigned to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast coast (D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the Carolinas). A ZIP code can cross county lines, so a code listed here may also serve addresses in a neighboring county. Use the ZIP code lookup to check a single code, or read how ZIP codes work.
Which counties are near Orange County?
The closest counties by distance between the average locations of their places are listed below. The distance is a rough guide to how close the areas are, because county shapes vary widely.
- Durham County, NC — about 14 miles northeast (center to center), 426,574 people in listed places
- Alamance County, NC — about 18 miles west (center to center), 189,120 people in listed places
- Chatham County, NC — about 26 miles southwest (center to center), 18,342 people in listed places
- Person County, NC — about 28 miles north (center to center), 9,599 people in listed places
- Granville County, NC — about 30 miles northeast (center to center), 32,808 people in listed places
- Wake County, NC — about 30 miles southeast (center to center), 1,493,981 people in listed places
What does the FIPS code 37135 mean?
The first two digits, 37, identify North Carolina, and the last three, 135, identify Orange County inside that state. Government datasets use this code to join records without confusing counties that share a name. Our guide to counties and FIPS codes explains the numbering, and the North Carolina hub lists every county we cover in the state.
Where to go next
Combined place populations are estimates from a compiled dataset and are not official county totals.