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):

2024
Number	Percent
43.7
74,606	20.0%
298,425	80.0%
74,635	20.0%

149,578
2.41

100,588	67.2%
73,221	72.8%
9,301	9.2%
48,990	32.8%

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%

2024 Housing Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

Household Income
Range	Number	%
Less than $10,000	6,850	4.6%
$10,000 to $14,999	5,943	4.0%
$15,000 to $19,999	6,330	4.2%
$20,000 to $24,999	7,614	5.1%
$25,000 to $29,999	6,513	4.4%
$30,000 to $34,999	6,045	4.0%
$35,000 to $39,999	7,106	4.8%
$40,000 to $44,999	5,492	3.7%
$45,000 to $49,999	7,964	5.3%
$50,000 to $59,999	12,248	8.2%
$60,000 to $74,999	15,365	10.3%
$75,000 to $99,999	20,018	13.4%
$100,000 to $124,999	14,225	9.5%
$125,000 to $149,999	10,108	6.8%
$150,000 to $199,999	9,688	6.5%
$200,000 or more	8,069	5.4%

Median Household Income	62,858
Per Capita Income	34,771

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

Welfare Households
	Number	%
SSI	8,320	5.6%
Public Assistance	3,294	2.2%
Public Asst. or Food Stamps	20,959	14.0%

Labor Force, Ages 25-64
	Number	%
Employed	144,832	69.6%
Unemployed	6,234	3.0%
In Armed Forces	85	0.0%

Total Labor Force	151,151	72.7%
Not in Labor Force	56,826	27.3%

Real Unemployment Rate		30.3%

Class of Worker
	Male	Female	% Male
Private Sector	66,935	53,453	55.6%
Non-Profit	4,100	6,655	38.1%
Self-Employed	10,686	5,694	65.2%

Local Government	4,933	7,738	38.9%
State Government	3,381	4,764	41.5%
Federal Government	1,073	1,093	49.5%

Total Private + Self	77,621	59,147	56.8%
Total Non-Profit + Govt.	13,487	20,250	40.0%
Total	91,108	79,397	53.4%

Pct. Govt.	13.5%
Pct. Private + Self	80.2%

Occupation
	Number	%
Management, Business, Science, Arts	24,074	14.1%
Sales and Office Occupations	32,983	19.3%
Professional, Technical	32,712	19.1%
Service Occupations	25,870	15.1%
Farming, Forestry, Fishing	525	0.3%
All others	55,414	32.4%

White Collar		52.5%

Industry
	Number	%
Manufacturing	40,842	23.9%
Health care and social assistance	22,411	13.1%
Retail trade	20,273	11.9%
Educational services	12,380	7.2%
Accommodation and food services	10,626	6.2%
Construction	10,356	6.1%
Other services	9,276	5.4%
Transportation and warehousing	7,888	4.6%
Public administration	6,848	4.0%
Professional, scientific, technical	6,593	3.9%
Administrative, support, waste mgmt.	5,880	3.4%
Finance and insurance	4,552	2.7%
Wholesale trade	4,534	2.7%
Arts, entertainment, recreation	2,229	1.3%
Real estate and rental and leasing	1,901	1.1%
Information	1,779	1.0%
Utilities	1,357	0.8%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting	1,169	0.7%
Management	102	0.1%
Mining, quarrying, oil/gas extraction	57	0.0%

Hispanic Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Mexican	15,755	4.28%
Puerto Rican	3,779	1.03%
Cuban	724	0.20%
Dominican	100	0.03%

Total Central American	7,674	2.08%
Costa Rican	383	0.10%
Guatemalan	3,822	1.04%
Honduran	1,709	0.46%
Nicaraguan	48	0.01%
Panamanian	100	0.03%
Salvadoran	1,612	0.44%
Other Central American	0	0.00%

Total South American	2,655	0.72%
Argentinean	426	0.12%
Bolivian	68	0.02%
Chilean	259	0.07%
Colombian	1,158	0.31%
Ecuadorian	367	0.10%
Paraguayan	0	0.00%
Peruvian	213	0.06%
Uruguayan	0	0.00%
Venezuelan	157	0.04%
Other South American	7	0.00%

Other Hispanic	2,968	0.81%

Asian Breakdown
Country	Number	%
Hmong	7,031	1.91%
Vietnamese	862	0.23%
Filipino	620	0.17%
Chinese	500	0.14%
Laotian	434	0.12%
Indian	346	0.09%
Thai	301	0.08%
Mien	270	0.07%
Korean	190	0.05%

Language Spoken at Home
Language	Number	%
English	315,566	90.2%
Spanish	23,255	6.7%
Other Asian	6,031	1.7%
Other Indo-European	1,522	0.4%
Tagalog	565	0.2%
Vietnamese	558	0.2%
German, other Germanic	551	0.2%
Other	531	0.2%
French, Haitian, Cajun	396	0.1%

Ancestry
Country	Number	%
American	55,599	15.1%
German	50,652	13.8%
English	49,208	13.4%
Irish	33,867	9.2%
Scottish	9,534	2.6%
European	9,213	2.5%
Italian	7,413	2.0%
Scotch-Irish	6,771	1.8%
Polish	4,463	1.2%
French	4,457	1.2%
Dutch	3,366	0.9%
Welsh	1,874	0.5%
Norwegian	1,802	0.5%
Swedish	1,392	0.4%
British	1,104	0.3%

Citizenship & Nativity
	Number	%
U.S. citizen	358,160	97.2%
Not a citizen	10,156	2.8%

Native	348,764	94.7%
Foreign-born	19,552	5.3%

Educational Attainment, Population 25 Years and Older
12,252	4.6%	23,088	8.7%	84,132	31.8%	86,224	32.6%	40,388	15.3%	18,639	7.0%
Average years of education: 12.9

Population 25 Years and Older
< 9 Years	12,252	4.6%
9-12 Years	23,088	8.7%
H.S. Grad or GED	84,132	31.8%
Some College	86,224	32.6%
Bach. Degree	40,388	15.3%
Grad Degree	18,639	7.0%
Average years of education: 12.9

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	167,096
Median Value	$214,081

Occupied	149,578	89.5%
Vacant	17,518	10.5%

Owned	110,454	73.8%
Rented	39,124	26.2%
Median Rent	$876

Single-Family Units	121,311	72.6%
Detached	117,712	70.4%
Attached	3,599	2.2%
Buldings with 5+ Units	11,987	7.2%
Mobile Homes	25,564	15.3%

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

Race Breakdown with Components of Population Change

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

2024 Housing Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

2024 Income & Employment Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

2024 Ancestry, Citizenship & Language Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

2024 Educational Attainment Data for Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

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