Metro area · North Carolina

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC is a metropolitan area of 4 counties in North Carolina, home to 376,890 residents. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area has a quality-of-life score of 46 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #503 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in North Carolina it ranks #18 of 38. It ranks best on new homes permitted (high), rent as share of income (low) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on drug overdose deaths (high), public EV charging ports (low) and public transit commuters (low).

46Moderate
Quality-of-life score
#503 of 925 metro and micro areas
North Carolina
#18 of 38 in NC
Population
376,890 (2025)
Land area
1,639 mi²
Density
229.9 /mi²
CBSA code
25860

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety30#645/924
  • Economy49#471/925
  • Housing89#101/925
  • Health27#674/925
  • Healthcare43#530/923
  • Environment71#268/917
  • Education33#622/925
  • Infrastructure27#679/925
  • Community58#390/925
  • Leisure & amenities41#548/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Metro and micro areas like Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Catawba CountyCentral county63170,172
  2. Burke CountyCentral county4288,655
  3. Caldwell CountyCentral county3981,105
  4. Alexander CountyOutlying county3936,958

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. HickoryPrincipal city44,258
  2. LenoirPrincipal city18,299
  3. MorgantonPrincipal city17,646

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Hickory44,258
  2. Lenoir18,299
  3. Morganton17,646
  4. Newton13,333
  5. Lake Norman of Catawba9,906
  6. St. Stephens9,457
  7. Conover8,580
  8. Sawmills5,042
  9. Long View5,011
  10. Granite Falls4,929
  11. Valdese4,704
  12. Bethlehem4,101
  13. Mountain View3,982
  14. Maiden3,788
  15. Hudson3,772
  16. Gamewell3,689
  17. Cajah's Mountain2,704
  18. Connelly Springs2,427
  19. Salem2,377
  20. Hildebran2,207
  21. Taylorsville2,201
  22. Icard2,153
  23. Drexel2,146
  24. Glen Alpine1,991

Other metro and micro areas in North Carolina

Areas based in North Carolina, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M25860