North Carolina Highway 87 is a mostly rural highway traversing the eastern half of the U.S. state of North Carolina. N.C. 87 begins in the Atlantic coastal town of Southport and ends at the Virginia state line five miles (8 km) north of Eden in Rockingham County. At 240 miles (390 km) in length, N.C. 87 is the second longest state highway in North Carolina (longer than Interstate 85 by about 10 miles).

N.C. 87 is a four-lane, divided highway with at-grade crossings between Tar Heel and Sanford. The section east of Tar Heel to N.C. 41 near Elizabethtown is currently being upgraded to four lanes. There is already a by-pass route for Elizabethtown. Other sections that are four-lane, divided highways include concurrencies with U.S. 17 and U.S. 74-76 in Brunswick County.

North of Sanford, N.C. 87 runs concurrent with U.S. 15-501 to Pittsboro. It then continues towards Graham as a two-lane highway. It returns to 4 lanes in southern Graham, returning to 2 lanes in downtown Graham. The route makes a left turn one block north of the Alamance County Courthouse, where it follows a 2-lane road before making a right turn onto a 4 lane street. The highway remains 4 lanes through downtown Burlington, returning to 2 lanes for the remainder of its route in North Carolina, save for a small section near its intersection with US Highway 29.

In Fayetteville, N.C. 87 has a limited-access portion north of I-95, the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway. According to NCDOT.

Established in 1997, when mainline NC 87 was moved south to bypass downtown Elizabethtown. NC 87 Business follows the original alignment along Broad Street.

The entire route is in Elizabethtown, Bladen County.

Established between 1940-44 as a new primary routing. It ran from US 15A/NC 87 (Hay Street) north along Robeson Street and then west along Fort Bragg Boulevard, recombining with mainline NC 87 on Fort Bragg Road. Sometime between 1945–49, it switched with mainline NC 87.

Established between 1945–49, the second NC 87A in Fayetteville followed the original NC 87 alignment along Hay Street, Morganton Road, and Fort Bragg Road. The route was decommissioned between 1955-57.