North Carolina climate

North Carolina Plant Hardiness Zones

North Carolina’s towns run from zone 6b to zone 9a: the average coldest winter night is 23.3°F at Avon and -2.1°F at Banner Elk.

Hardiness zones in North Carolina

In USDA’s colors, neighboring states washed out. Zones follow elevation, coasts and cities down to half a mile. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Map of the 2023 plant hardiness zones across North Carolina, from zone 6a to zone 9a, with the state’s border drawn.
  • 6a
  • 6b
  • 7a
  • 7b
  • 8a
  • 8b
  • 9a

Open the live map with plant hardiness zones

Towns by zone

Each town’s 1991-2020 average annual extreme minimum at its center, read from the map’s 800 m grid. Warmest zone first.

9a Zone 9a, 20 to 25°F 12 towns

8b Zone 8b, 15 to 20°F 117 towns

8a Zone 8a, 10 to 15°F 331 towns

7b Zone 7b, 5 to 10°F 109 towns

7a Zone 7a, 0 to 5°F 21 towns

6b Zone 6b, -5 to 0°F 3 towns

Counties

At the county’s center; a county with hills or a coast spans several zones.

CountyZone at the centerAverage coldest night
Alamance County8a11.2°F
Alexander County8a11.5°F
Alleghany County7a1.9°F
Anson County8a13.5°F
Ashe County7a1.3°F
Avery County6b-1.2°F
Beaufort County8b16.3°F
Bertie County8a12.4°F
Bladen County8b15.1°F
Brunswick County8b15.9°F
Buncombe County7b6.9°F
Burke County7b9.9°F
Cabarrus County8a12.2°F
Caldwell County8a10°F
Camden County8a14°F
Carteret County8b18.2°F
Caswell County7b8.2°F
Catawba County8a11.1°F
Chatham County8a11.2°F
Cherokee County7b6°F
Chowan County8a14.4°F
Clay County7b5°F
Cleveland County8a10.3°F
Columbus County8b17°F
Craven County8b16.4°F
Cumberland County8a14.9°F
Currituck County8b17.9°F
Dare County8b18.3°F
Davidson County8a10.7°F
Davie County7b8.3°F
Duplin County8a13.9°F
Durham County8a11.5°F
Edgecombe County8a13.1°F
Forsyth County8a11.2°F
Franklin County8a10.2°F
Gaston County8a13.3°F
Gates County8a11°F
Graham County7b5.2°F
Granville County8a10.8°F
Greene County8a14.7°F
Guilford County8a11.2°F
Halifax County8a12.2°F
Harnett County8a13.4°F
Haywood County7a2.9°F
Henderson County7b6.7°F
Hertford County8a11.4°F
Hoke County8a12.6°F
Hyde County8b18.8°F
Iredell County7b8.2°F
Jackson County7b5.7°F
Johnston County8a13.6°F
Jones County8a14.9°F
Lee County8a11.2°F
Lenoir County8b15°F
Lincoln County8a11.5°F
Macon County7b5.7°F
Madison County7a4°F
Martin County8a14.1°F
McDowell County7b8.5°F
Mecklenburg County8a13.4°F
Mitchell County7a3.7°F
Montgomery County8a11.5°F
Moore County8a11.8°F
Nash County8a12.4°F
New Hanover County8b17.7°F
Northampton County8a10.3°F
Onslow County8a14.8°F
Orange County8a11.4°F
Pamlico County8b18.1°F
Pasquotank County8a13.8°F
Pender County8a14.5°F
Perquimans County8a14.8°F
Person County7b9°F
Pitt County8a14.4°F
Polk County8a11.6°F
Randolph County8a11.8°F
Richmond County8a12.9°F
Robeson County8b15.5°F
Rockingham County7b9.1°F
Rowan County8a10°F
Rutherford County7b9.7°F
Sampson County8b15°F
Scotland County8a13.9°F
Stanly County8a12.6°F
Stokes County7b6.8°F
Surry County7b6.7°F
Swain County7a4.3°F
Transylvania County7a4.7°F
Tyrrell County8b16°F
Union County8a13.2°F
Vance County7b8.5°F
Wake County8a13°F
Warren County8a10.3°F
Washington County8a14.6°F
Watauga County6b-3.2°F
Wayne County8a14.7°F
Wilkes County7b7.7°F
Wilson County8a14.7°F
Yadkin County7b7.1°F
Yancey County7a3.7°F

The zones

A plant hardiness zone is set by the average of each winter’s single coldest temperature, 1991 to 2020: zones are 10°F apart and each half zone, a and b, 5°F. It says how cold a winter night usually gets, not the coldest it has ever been, and nothing about summer heat, rain or soil. Plant labels give the coldest zone a perennial survives in.

ZoneAverage coldest nightIn Celsius
6b-5 to 0°F-20.6 to -17.8°C
7a0 to 5°F-17.8 to -15.0°C
7b5 to 10°F-15.0 to -12.2°C
8a10 to 15°F-12.2 to -9.4°C
8b15 to 20°F-9.4 to -6.7°C
9a20 to 25°F-6.7 to -3.9°C

Sources

Hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, from the GIS data of the PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, which may be freely reproduced and redistributed. Drawn by WeatherOverTime from the USDA-ARS and Oregon State University PRISM Climate Group 2023 GIS data; this is not the official USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.