What Areas and Towns are Considered the Outer Banks?

In this post, we’re going to shed some light on which areas and towns are considered part of the Outer Banks, which, if you don’t already know, is the name bestowed upon the chain of barrier islands located off the coast of North Carolina.

And if you thought those islands were OBX, you’d be correct. Well, semi-correct! The acronym OBX is short for Outer Banks. You may have seen a black letter and white background OBX sticker on someone’s bumper while cruising down the interstate.

Those OBX stickers are everywhere!

But I digress. Depending on who you ask, these are all of the areas and towns considered part of the Outer Banks, a dynamic group of islands that shift north, south, east, and west with hurricanes and nor’easters frequently smack the coast of North Carolina.

• Carova
• Corolla
• Duck
• Southern Shores
• Kitty Hawk
• Kill Devil Hills
• Nags Head
• Manteo
• Wanchese
• Rodanthe
• Waves
• Salvo
• Buxton
• Frisco
• Avon
• Hatteras Village
• Ocracoke Island

If someone attempts to tell you Cape Lookout is part of the Outer Banks, you can send them a link to this post! Above is the complete list of towns considered part of the OBX.

We hope this clears up any confusion, and we invite you to come to visit the area sometime if you haven’t been here before. And if you have seen the coast of North Carolina before, then chances are that you don’t need us to help convince you to come back!