2024 population: 373,031 ( 7,750 from 2020)
Land area: 1639.5 square miles
Population density: 227.5 persons per square mile

2024 Census data
White:	289,905	77.72%	0.0%
Black:	25,302	6.78%	1.3%
Indian:	1,060	0.28%	12.2%
Asian:	12,840	3.44%	8.2%
2+ races:	7,365	1.97%	15.6%
Hispanic:	36,559	9.80%	17.2%

Total non-White:	83,126	22.28%	10.3%

2020-2024 Components	Number	Rate
Births:	15,278	10.5
Deaths:	21,990	15.1
Net Migration:	12,463	8.5
Net Immigration:	1,790	1.2

Change in White population:	-42	-0.0
Change in Non-White pop.:	7,792	2.1

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

[Display all years]

Year:

Total population:

White:

Black:

Indian:

Asian:

2+ races:

Hispanic:

Total non-White:

2020
365,281
289,947	79.38%
24,965	6.83%
945	0.26%
11,863	3.25%
6,370	1.74%
31,191	8.54%
75,334	20.62%

2010
365,497
302,096	82.65%
24,860	6.80%
792	0.22%
9,475	2.59%
4,831	1.32%
23,063	6.31%
63,401	17.35%

2000
341,851
292,922	85.69%
23,441	6.86%
701	0.21%
7,975	2.33%
2,691	0.79%
13,834	4.05%
48,929	14.31%

1990
292,409
267,570	91.51%
21,279	7.28%
599	0.20%
1,587	0.54%
n/a
1,374	0.47%
24,839	8.49%

1980
270,457
247,814	91.63%
20,246	7.49%
284	0.11%
483	0.18%
n/a
1,557	0.58%
22,643	8.37%

1970
227,402
207,346	91.18%
19,382	8.52%
116	0.05%
156	0.07%
n/a
349	0.15%
20,056	8.82%

Decade:

Components:

Births:

Deaths:

Net Migration:

Net Immigration:

Change in White population:

Change in Non-White pop.:

Number	Rate
2010's
34,817	9.5
36,533	10.0
2,986	0.8
2,924	0.8

-12,149	-3.3
11,933	3.3

Number	Rate
2000's
41,159	12.0
30,597	9.0
6,605	1.9
7,771	2.3

9,174	2.7
14,472	4.2

Number	Rate
1990's
42,670	14.6
27,840	9.5
20,342	7.0
1,851	0.6

25,352	8.7
24,090	8.2

Number	Rate
1980's
36,155	13.4
22,302	8.2
9,258	3.4
n/a

19,756	7.3
2,196	0.8

Number	Rate
1970's
n/a
n/a
20,191	8.9
n/a

40,468	17.8
2,587	1.1

Age, Family & Household Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

[Display all years]

Year:

Median Age:

Under 18:

Voting Age Population:

Over 65:

Households:

Persons Per HH:

Families (%HH):

Married Couples (%Fams):

Single Mothers (%Fams):

Non-Family (%HH):

2022
Number	Percent
43.4
74,256	19.9%
298,775	80.1%
71,992	19.3%

145,518
2.46

98,807	67.9%
72,487	73.4%
8,430	8.5%
46,711	32.1%

2010
Number	Percent
40.5
84,222	23.0%
281,275	77.0%
54,889	15.0%

144,504
2.47

100,057	69.2%
74,520	74.5%
9,439	9.4%
44,447	30.8%

2000
Number	Percent
36.8
82,077	24.0%
259,774	76.0%
43,600	12.8%

134,105
2.50

96,169	71.7%
75,969	79.0%
8,196	8.5%
37,936	28.3%

1990
Number	Percent
34.6
69,694	23.8%
222,715	76.2%
35,582	12.2%

112,506
2.55

84,742	75.3%
69,528	82.0%
5,916	7.0%
27,764	24.7%

1980
Number	Percent
30.7
78,765	29.1%
191,692	70.9%
25,924	9.6%

94,377
2.81

75,971	80.5%
64,625	85.1%
5,082	6.7%
18,406	19.5%

2022 Housing Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

Household Income
Range	Number	%
Less than $10,000	7,010	4.8%
$10,000 to $14,999	6,897	4.7%
$15,000 to $19,999	7,434	5.1%
$20,000 to $24,999	7,544	5.2%
$25,000 to $29,999	7,169	4.9%
$30,000 to $34,999	7,087	4.9%
$35,000 to $39,999	5,706	3.9%
$40,000 to $44,999	7,455	5.1%
$45,000 to $49,999	6,883	4.7%
$50,000 to $59,999	11,940	8.2%
$60,000 to $74,999	15,620	10.7%
$75,000 to $99,999	19,124	13.1%
$100,000 to $124,999	12,916	8.9%
$125,000 to $149,999	9,224	6.3%
$150,000 to $199,999	7,023	4.8%
$200,000 or more	6,486	4.5%

Median Household Income	57,976
Per Capita Income	31,942

Cost of Living Index (100 = average)
Compared to U.S.	74

Welfare Households
	Number	%
SSI	7,622	5.2%
Public Assistance	2,925	2.0%
Public Asst. or Food Stamps	18,925	13.0%

Labor Force, Ages 25-64
	Number	%
Employed	145,062	68.7%
Unemployed	8,330	3.9%
In Armed Forces	66	0.0%

Total Labor Force	153,458	72.7%
Not in Labor Force	57,688	27.3%

Real Unemployment Rate		31.3%

Class of Worker
	Male	Female	% Male
Private Sector	67,903	52,851	56.2%
Non-Profit	3,473	6,407	35.2%
Self-Employed	10,211	5,221	66.2%

Local Government	4,507	6,546	40.8%
State Government	3,737	5,264	41.5%
Federal Government	684	1,138	37.5%

Total Private + Self	78,114	58,072	57.4%
Total Non-Profit + Govt.	12,401	19,355	39.1%
Total	90,515	77,427	53.9%

Pct. Govt.	13.0%

Occupation
	Number	%
Management, Business, Science, Arts	22,114	13.1%
Sales and Office Occupations	32,622	19.4%
Professional, Technical	30,735	18.2%
Service Occupations	25,889	15.4%
Farming, Forestry, Fishing	438	0.3%
All others	57,116	33.9%

White Collar		50.7%

Industry
	Number	%
Manufacturing	42,682	25.3%
Health care and social assistance	20,998	12.5%
Retail trade	19,188	11.4%
Educational services	12,038	7.1%
Accommodation and food services	11,492	6.8%
Construction	10,286	6.1%
Other services	9,054	5.4%
Transportation and warehousing	8,084	4.8%
Public administration	6,766	4.0%
Administrative, support, waste mgmt.	5,445	3.2%
Wholesale trade	5,290	3.1%
Professional, scientific, technical	5,174	3.1%
Finance and insurance	3,458	2.1%
Arts, entertainment, recreation	2,130	1.3%
Real estate and rental and leasing	2,009	1.2%
Information	1,861	1.1%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting	1,328	0.8%
Utilities	1,082	0.6%
Mining, quarrying, oil/gas extraction	61	0.0%
Management	50	0.0%

Hispanic Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Mexican	15,567	4.25%
Puerto Rican	3,150	0.86%
Cuban	342	0.09%
Dominican	95	0.03%

Total Central American	6,271	1.71%
Costa Rican	337	0.09%
Guatemalan	2,777	0.76%
Honduran	1,368	0.37%
Nicaraguan	233	0.06%
Panamanian	35	0.01%
Salvadoran	1,467	0.40%
Other Central American	54	0.01%

Total South American	1,662	0.45%
Argentinean	210	0.06%
Bolivian	42	0.01%
Chilean	284	0.08%
Colombian	521	0.14%
Ecuadorian	285	0.08%
Paraguayan	0	0.00%
Peruvian	144	0.04%
Uruguayan	0	0.00%
Venezuelan	172	0.05%
Other South American	4	0.00%

Other Hispanic	2,277	0.62%

Asian Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Hmong	6,982	1.91%
Chinese	670	0.18%
Laotian	531	0.15%
Vietnamese	530	0.14%
Filipino	458	0.13%
Thai	310	0.08%
Indian	292	0.08%
Mien	188	0.05%
Korean	158	0.04%

Language Spoken at Home
Language	Number	%
English	312,810	90.0%
Spanish	22,998	6.6%
Other Asian	6,107	1.8%
Other Indo-European	1,462	0.4%
German, other Germanic	774	0.2%
Arabic	604	0.2%
Chinese	523	0.2%
Tagalog	518	0.1%
Other	490	0.1%

Ancestry
Country	Number	%
American	72,880	19.9%
German	49,722	13.6%
English	39,715	10.9%
Irish	32,410	8.9%
Scottish	8,255	2.3%
European	8,012	2.2%
Scotch-Irish	7,784	2.1%
Italian	7,526	2.1%
Dutch	4,835	1.3%
French	4,545	1.2%
Polish	4,076	1.1%
British	2,158	0.6%
Welsh	1,958	0.5%
Norwegian	1,807	0.5%
Swedish	1,459	0.4%

Citizenship & Nativity
	Number	%
U.S. citizen	355,566	97.1%
Not a citizen	10,465	2.9%

Native	347,338	94.9%
Foreign-born	18,693	5.1%

Educational Attainment, Population 25 Years and Older
13,315	5.1%	24,914	9.5%	83,753	32.1%	84,665	32.4%	37,512	14.4%	17,134	6.6%
Average years of education: 12.8

Population 25 Years and Older
< 9 Years	13,315	5.1%
9-12 Years	24,914	9.5%
H.S. Grad or GED	83,753	32.1%
Some College	84,665	32.4%
Bach. Degree	37,512	14.4%
Grad Degree	17,134	6.6%
Average years of education: 12.8

Labor Force Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Year	Labor Force	Employed	Unemployed	Unemp. Rate	State Avg.
1990	339,718	326,020	13,698	4.0%
1991	344,400	321,276	23,124	6.7%
1992	349,096	329,050	20,046	5.7%
1993	347,280	332,772	14,508	4.2%
1994	350,462	338,680	11,782	3.4%
1995	355,202	340,280	14,922	4.2%
1996	360,474	345,832	14,642	4.1%
1997	362,582	348,742	13,840	3.8%
1998	355,776	345,786	9,990	2.8%
1999	358,858	351,136	7,722	2.2%

2000	376,850	365,556	11,294	3.0%
2001	375,724	351,500	24,224	6.4%
2002	366,094	335,512	30,582	8.4%
2003	362,746	332,700	30,046	8.3%
2004	358,820	333,218	25,602	7.1%
2005	355,344	330,374	24,970	7.0%
2006	356,110	333,662	22,448	6.3%
2007	347,790	325,520	22,270	6.4%
2008	348,196	322,094	26,102	7.5%
2009	349,568	297,760	51,808	14.8%

2010	353,296	306,394	46,902	13.3%
2011	348,334	306,864	41,470	11.9%
2012	346,712	310,042	36,670	10.6%
2013	340,482	311,996	28,486	8.4%
2014	333,972	313,082	20,890	6.3%
2015	334,606	315,988	18,618	5.6%
2016	339,890	323,528	16,362	4.8%
2017	346,740	332,234	14,506	4.2%
2018	347,730	335,026	12,704	3.7%
2019	350,348	337,778	12,570	3.6%

2020	342,376	315,918	26,458	7.7%
2021	337,910	322,008	15,902	4.7%
2022	350,396	338,348	12,048	3.4%
2023	348,982	337,464	11,518	3.3%
2024	341,474	329,318	12,156	3.6%

Housing Data
	Number	%
Housing Units	163,980
Median Value	$174,164

Occupied	145,518	88.7%
Vacant	18,462	11.3%

Owned	107,696	74.0%
Rented	37,822	26.0%
Median Rent	$796

Single-Family Units	116,721	71.2%
Detached	113,305	69.1%
Attached	3,416	2.1%
Buldings with 5+ Units	11,318	6.9%
Mobile Homes	27,769	16.9%

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

Age, Family & Household Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

2022 Housing Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

2022 Income & Employment Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

2022 Ancestry, Citizenship & Language Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

2022 Educational Attainment Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

Historical Labor Force Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area