New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 31,291.It is located at the confluence of the Neuse and the Trent rivers, near the headwaters of Pamlico Sound on the North Carolina coast. It lies 112 miles east of Raleigh, 80 miles north of Wilmington, and 162 miles south of Norfolk. New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi.