Fayetteville ( FAY-ət-vil, FED-vil) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Liberty, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America City Award from the National Civic League three times. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 208,501, It is the 6th-most populous city in North Carolina. Fayetteville is in the Sandhills in the western part of the Coastal Plain region, on the Cape Fear River. With an estimated population of 392,336 in 2023, the Fayetteville metropolitan area is the second-most populous in southeastern North Carolina and 142th-most populous in the United States. Suburban areas of metro Fayetteville include Fort Liberty, Hope Mills, Spring Lake, Raeford, Pope Field, Rockfish, Stedman, and Eastover.