HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — Educators keep North Carolina running, and if you need any more proof, just look at the state’s top employers by county.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce publishes the top public and private sector employers in each of the state’s 100 counties. The rankings, based on average employment numbers from the Employment and Wages program files, come out quarterly. Here we’re looking at data for the second quarter of 2023.

When you remember that the Tar Heel state has more than 2,500 traditional public schools, it should come as no surprise that education took the top rank in 47 counties and appeared somewhere on the county-by-county top five lists 116 times, often appearing more than once in a single county's ranking. Public administration was the next most common field, occurring 97 times, followed by manufacturing (92 times), health care and social assistance (80 times) and transportation and warehousing (38 times).

Wilson County was the only county without educational services in its top 5 employers, instead focusing on manufacturing (twice on its list), finance and insurance, construction and public administration.

Yet, while education was the most common field in the top five rankings, Wal-Mart Associates Inc. was the state's top employer and appeared the most often, 29 times, across the 100 counties' top five lists.

Duke University, Food Lion, Atrium Health and Wells Fargo Bank round out the top five for the state as a whole. The N.C. Department of Adult Corrections, Food Lion, Ingles Markets and Vidant Medical Center round out the top five most common companies on the county-by-county rankings.

Take a look at our interactive map to see which employers are the largest in your county.