Medicare Advantage · State · 2026 plan year
Medicare Advantage in North Carolina
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 2026 plan-year files, 174 plans across 100 counties; find your county to compare every plan available where you live.
- 174
- Plans available
- 4.2★
- Avg CMS rating
- $23.94
- Avg premium/mo
- 26
- 5-star plans
The short answer
North Carolina ranks #7 of 49 by Medicare Advantage plan inventory (174 plans) but #3 by average CMS star (4.21★).
- #7
- inventory rank
- 174
- plans statewide
- #3
- avg star rank
- 4.21★
- mean CMS rating
Plan inventory and average star are independent CMS signals; a large catalog is not the same as the highest mean quality score.
Product mix · NC plans_unique
How 164 North Carolina plans split by CMS plan type
Exclusive CMS plan-type codes for this state's representative plans_unique rows, orthogonal to the star-bucket chart below. Source: CMS landscape, 2026.
Higher average CMS star band
North Carolina in the wider-inventory third
North Carolina ranks #3 of 49 rated states by mean CMS star (4.21★) - top-third quality band. According to CMS 2026 plan-year filings, North Carolina beneficiaries can choose from 174 distinct Medicare Advantage plans marketed across 100 counties - a top-third inventory book (#7 of 49 by plan count). 26 plans reached the top 5-star tier (year-round Special Enrollment rights for those contracts). County (FIPS) service areas still decide what is sold where you live - open a county below before the October 15 - December 7 Annual Election Period closes.
plans #7/49 · stars #3/49 · 100 counties · avg prem $23.94/mo
Higher-star MA quality band in North Carolina
North Carolina offers 174 Medicare Advantage plans across 100 counties. Mean star 4.2★ across a wider inventory book (star rank #3/49); compare county contracts, not only the state average. Confirm premiums and networks on <a class="underline" href="https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare/" target="_blank" rel="external noopener">Medicare.gov Plan Compare</a>.
Where North Carolina sits on CMS quality
Average CMS star rating across the state's own Medicare Advantage plans, against every state and territory in the CMS file
4.21★ Top 4% higher than 96% of 49 states and territories
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states and territories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source CMS Medicare Advantage Star Ratings 2026 · 2026-09-01
Counties in North Carolina
Click a county to see all Medicare Advantage plans available in your area.
Wider inventory markets: start with how to choose a plan then open your county.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Using North Carolina's Medicare Advantage market
Plan availability and star ratings vary by county, not just by state.
- North Carolina beneficiaries can choose from 174 distinct Medicare Advantage plans across 100 counties (#7 of 49 states by plan count) - look up your own county for what's actually sold there. Browse by county
- The state's mean CMS star rating ranks #3 of 49 - see how star ratings are built before comparing plans. How star ratings work
- Weigh total cost, not just premium: compare plan details using Medicare.gov before you enroll. Medicare Plan Compare
State-level figures average every county's filings; the plans actually sold where you live can differ from the state total.
PlainMedicare is rendered directly from CMS Medicare Advantage and Part D public files, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a correction. Data current as of 2026-09-01.
CMS lists 131,985 Medicare Advantage and Part D plan records in the current public files. PlainMedicare refreshes this registry with each annual release.