Home / Resources / Volunteering by state / North Carolina
Volunteering data · AmeriCorps, 2017 to 2023
Volunteering rate in North Carolina
Updated October 2026
Volunteering runs low in North Carolina. The 2023 rate was 24.9%, against 28.3% nationally, and only nine states came in lower. It's also one of 11 states clearly below their pre-pandemic level.
- 24.9%of residents 16 and older volunteered through an organization in 2023, plus or minus 2.5 points. National rate: 28.3%.
- 42nd of 51among the 50 states and DC. 13 states are too close to call.
- 2.2 millionvolunteers in 2023, give or take 218,000.
- 125 millionhours given in 2023, or 14.5 for each resident 16 and older. National figure: 18.7.
Source: AmeriCorps and U.S. Census Bureau, Volunteering and Civic Life in America, 2017 to 2023. Margins of error and hours: Ember analysis of the same survey.
The trend since 2017
From 30.4% in 2019, North Carolina dropped to 22.8% in 2021 and reached 24.9% in 2023. So the rate has not come back. It's 5.5 points short of 2019 and short of the 2017 to 2019 average as well, and both gaps are beyond the margin of error.
| Year | Rate | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 35.1% | ±3.0 points |
| 2019 | 30.4% | ±3.0 points |
| 2021 | 22.8% | ±3.0 points |
| 2023 | 24.9% | ±2.5 points |
North Carolina and its neighbors
North Carolina borders four states. Tennessee and Virginia clearly run higher; the others are too close to call.
| Place | 2023 rate | Against North Carolina |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina (this page) | 24.9% | |
| Tennessee | 33.2% | Clearly higher |
| Virginia | 31.6% | Clearly higher |
| South Carolina | 28.8% | Too close to call |
| Georgia | 25.6% | Too close to call |
"Clearly" means the gap between two rates is wider than their combined 90% margin of error.
What this means if you run volunteers
More people in North Carolina help out than sign up. In 2023, 49.3% of residents helped neighbors or friends outside any organization, about 24.4 points more than volunteered through one. The two groups overlap, but some of those helpers would never call themselves volunteers. A specific ask for a specific shift can change that. Our guide to recruiting volunteers has ways to make that ask.
The typical North Carolina volunteer gave 25 hours in the year, against 24 nationally. If your own volunteers give more than that, it's worth saying so in a report.
Use this number in a grant or report
In 2023, 24.9% of North Carolina residents 16 and older volunteered through an organization, giving about 125 million hours (AmeriCorps and U.S. Census Bureau, Volunteering and Civic Life in America; hours are an Ember analysis of the same survey).
To put your own program's hours in dollars, use the volunteer hour value calculator. To see every state side by side, go to volunteering rates by state. Ember Impact Reports shows the volunteer hours each program took and counts them in what the work cost, free if your budget is under $50K a year.
Get the next study in your inbox
Want the next one? We'll email you when Ember publishes its next study of public nonprofit data. That's all this list sends.
Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy
Every state
Pick a region to narrow the list.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
How this was measured
AmeriCorps and the Census Bureau ask this every two years, in September, in the Civic Engagement and Volunteering supplement to the Current Population Survey. A person counts as a volunteer if they gave time through an organization in the past 12 months, and the rate covers residents 16 and older. The state rates here are AmeriCorps' published figures. Margins of error, tests and hours are our own work from the survey's public files, using the Census Bureau's replicate weights, at 90% confidence.
Each state's sample is small, so treat the ranking as a rough order. September 2023 is the newest state reading available. The figures describe North Carolina as a whole, not any one organization.
Sources: AmeriCorps and U.S. Census Bureau, Volunteering and Civic Life in America: state rates, 2017 to 2023 (public domain; read October 9, 2026) and Civic Engagement and Volunteering Supplement data. Hours, margins of error, tests and neighbor comparisons are Ember's analysis of the same survey (free CSV, every column on this page).