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Where am ILOCATED

Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area

The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area is made up of 4 counties in North Carolina: Catawba, Burke, Caldwell, and Alexander, largest first. About 376,890 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 3.2% more than in April 2020.

Alexander County, outlyingBurke County, centralCaldwell County, centralCatawba County, centralHickoryLenoirMorganton
Central Outlying 4 counties in North Carolina
Population, July 2025
376,890 3.2% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
4: 3 central, 1 outlying
Land area
1,639 sq mi (4,246 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
North Carolina
Combined statistical area
Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC
CBSA code
25860
Open this area in the metro area finder

Counties in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Catawba CountyCentral170,17245.2%
Burke CountyCentral88,65523.5%
Caldwell CountyCentral81,10521.5%
Alexander CountyOutlying36,9589.8%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal cities, largest first

  1. Hickory44,258 people
  2. Lenoir18,299 people
  3. Morganton17,646 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 4 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area2,938,830 people
  2. Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC Micro Area103,325 people
  3. Albemarle, NC Micro Area68,830 people
  4. Marion, NC Micro Area45,198 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. North Wilkesboro, NC Micro Area32 mi north
  2. Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC Micro Area33 mi south
  3. Boone, NC Micro Area38 mi northwest
  4. Marion, NC Micro Area38 mi west
  5. Forest City, NC Micro Area42 mi southwest
  6. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area46 mi southeast

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗