Forced vibration of carbon nanotubes based on the Rayleigh beam theory in conjunction with Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity is investigated. The governing equation of vibration of carbon nanotube using the above theories is developed. The carbon nanotube is rested on a nonlinear Winkler and Pasternak foundation with the simply-supported boundary conditions. The Gelerkin procedure is utilized to find the nonlinear ordinary differential equation of vibration of system. The differential equation is solved using the multiple scales method in order to investigate the primary resonance of the considered system. The frequency response of the system is obtained and the effects of different parameters, such as the surface effect, position and magnitude of applied force and Pasternak and Winkler foundation, on the vibration behavior of the system are studied. The sensitivity of the amplitude of oscillation of carbon nanotube is depicted with respect to the surface effect. It is shown that the surface effect plays an important role in the forced vibration of the nano-scale structure.