| Rankin | community in S Mecklenburg County served by post office, 1888-1903. |
| Ranlo-Rex-Priscilla and Smyre Mills | an industrial community in E Gaston County between Lowell and East Gastonia. Textile-manufacturing plants operated there. |
| Ranns Falls | rapids in Cape Fear River in central Harnett County E of the town of Lillington. Mentioned as early as 1819 in a survey of the rivers of North Carolina. |
| Ransom Township | E Columbus County. |
| Ransom's Bridge | community at the junction of Nash, Franklin, Warren, and Halifax Counties; formerly thriving, but now sparsely settled. There is a bridge at the site over Fishing Creek. A post office by the name existed as early as 1822 and as recently as 1882. Was a center of gold-mining activity before the Civil War. |
| Ransomville | community in E Beaufort County at the head of North Creek. Named for Confederate general Matthew W. Ransom (1826-1904). |
| Rantersville | See LaGrange. |
| Raoul Branch | rises in S Buncombe County near the Biltmore Estate and flows SW into Four-mile Branch. |
| Rapid Creek Ridge | NE Swain County in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a short spur extending S from Dashoga Ridge, lat. 35°39'10" N., long. 83°15' W. |
| Rapier Mill Creek | rises in SW Cherokee County and flows SE and NE into Nottely River. |