Franklin is a town in and the county seat of Macon County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated within the Nantahala National Forest. The population was reported to be 4,175 in the 2020 census, an increase from the total of 3,845 tabulated in 2010. The town developed around a 1,000-year-old platform mound, the center of the historic Cherokee town of Nikwasi.