Durham, North Carolina
| Durham, North Carolina | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Durham
Leonardo Williams | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2023 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2025 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2025 |
| City council seats: | 7[1] |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 283,506 |
| Race: | White 40.2% African American 36.2% Asian 5.6% Native American 0.7% Pacific Islander 0% Multiple 7.4% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 15.3% |
| Median household income: | $79,234 |
| High school graduation rate: | 91.4% |
| College graduation rate: | 55.7% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related Durham offices | |
| North Carolina Congressional Delegation North Carolina State Legislature North Carolina state executive offices | |
Durham is a city in Durham County, North Carolina. The city's population was 283,506 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of Durham utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council—which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body—appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[2]
Mayor
The mayor is a member of the city council and serves as the presiding officer of the council. The mayor also appoints individuals to resident boards, committees, and commissions.[3] The current Mayor of Durham is Leonardo Williams (nonpartisan). Williams assumed office in 2023.
City manager
The city manager is the city's chief executive. The responsibilities of the city manager include running the day-to-day operations of the city, managing the budget, overseeing personnel, and making recommendations to the city council.[2]
City council
The Durham City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget; appointing the city manager, city attorney, and city clerk; appointing members of boards and committees; authorizing city contracts, establishing city policies, and enacting ordinances and resolutions.[2]
The Durham City Council is made up of seven members. This includes the mayor, three members representing specific wards, and three at-large members.[4]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Durham, North Carolina.
Mayoral partisanship
Durham has a Democratic mayor. As of October 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2025
The city of Durham, North Carolina, is holding general elections for mayor and city council on November 4, 2025. A primary was scheduled for October 7, 2025. The filing deadline for this election was July 18, 2025.
2023
The city of Durham, North Carolina, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 7, 2023. A primary was scheduled for October 10, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was July 21, 2023.
2021
The city of Durham, North Carolina, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 2, 2021. A primary was scheduled for October 5, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was August 13, 2021.
2019
2017
The city of Durham, North Carolina, held a general election for mayor and city council on November 7, 2017. A primary election was scheduled for October 10, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 21, 2017.
2015
The city of Durham, North Carolina, held elections for mayor and city council on November 3, 2015. A primary took place on October 6, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was July 17, 2015. Three of the six city council seats were up for election.[5][6]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Durham | |
|---|---|
| Durham | |
| Population | 283,506 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 116 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 43.9% |
| Black/African American | 34.4% |
| Asian | 5.6% |
| Native American | 0.5% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| Other (single race) | 6.8% |
| Multiple | 8.6% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 14.7% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 91.4% |
| College graduation rate | 55.7% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $79,234 |
| Persons below poverty level | 12.2% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
Durham's fiscal year begins on July 1 and goes through June 30 of the following year. The preliminary budget is submitted to the city council each year in May. The city council holds work sessions and public hearings on the preliminary budget before adopting the budget. State law requires the city council to adopt the city budget by June 30.[7]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[8]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[9] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[10] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[8]
Durham, North Carolina, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
101 City Hall Plaza
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919-560-4333
City Clerk's office
101 City Hall Plaza
Suite 2700
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919-560-4166
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
The city of Durham is in Durham County. A list of ballot measures in Durham County is available here.
Noteworthy events
Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Durham, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Durham, North Carolina, began on Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the Durham County Courthouse.[11] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
Nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Durham, North Carolina, as a city or county that did not prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[12]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
- Cities in North Carolina
- Durham County, North Carolina
- Largest cities in the United States by population
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The mayor is included in this number as one of the city council members.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 City of Durham, "City Government Guide," accessed October 18, 2021
- ↑ City of Durham, "Office of the Mayor," accessed October 18, 2021
- ↑ City of Durham, "Meet the Durham City Council Members," accessed October 18, 2021
- ↑ Email correspondence with Michael E. Perry, Durham County Director of Elections, on September 16, 2014.
- ↑ Durham County Board of Elections, "Election Schedule for 2015," accessed June 8, 2015
- ↑ City of Durham, "Annual Budget Process," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ The News & Observer, "Marchers in Durham protest George Floyd’s death," May 30, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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