Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hickory grades C− overall, 200th of 286 graded towns in North Carolina, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. On the other side, it reports more crime per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, including 256 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $293K, 4.7 years of the Hickory metro’s $63K median household income. 33% of working residents work locally in Hickory, against 6.8% in North Carolina’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Shuford House and Weidner Rock House.
Where Hickory beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Shuford House
Census counts: 2,023 in 1890, 43,490 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 4 maps from 1895 on.
24 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Hickory is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hickory, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Hickory.
Hickory draws workers from Charlotte and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of North Carolina.
44,453 jobs are based in Hickory, 2.3 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Hickory’s working residents works in town. 17% of Hickory residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Hickory has added 5,275 jobs, to 44,453 in 2023.
| Hickory | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 13% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Hickory City Schools. Three of its 15 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Stephens ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 711 | C+ |
| Hickory HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,024 | B |
| Challenger Early College HighTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 376 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Hickory’s violent crime rate is 5.6 per 1,000 residents. Hickory reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 90% report less. Hickory’s property crime rate is 28.9 per 1,000 residents.
| Hickory | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.6 per 1,000 residents | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 28.9 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
8.1 miles of trail in 16 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Geitner Rotary Park, at 88 acres.
| Hickory | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Glenn C. Hilton Memorial Park | 1.1 mi | 70 |
| 2. Geitner Rotary Park | 0.3 mi | 88 |
| 3. Sally Fox Park | 0.3 mi | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 69% of U.S. communities. Since 1993, 42 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hickory.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons average 87.8°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 80% of North Carolina places with climate records; January nights average 29.1°.
Hickory has mild winters and warm summers. Snow is almost unheard of. The January low in Hickory is 29°F.
| Hickory | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 29°F | 31°F | 22°F |
| July high | 88°F | 89°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
55% of households own their home in Hickory. The typical Hickory home is worth about $293,000, up 1.3% in a year, 12% below the North Carolina typical home. 40% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent in Hickory.
| Hickory | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 67% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 40% | 49% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,063 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the North Carolina average. Hickory has grown 5.4% since 2020, to 45,975 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 37% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 36% across North Carolina.
| Hickory | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 37.5 years | 40.1 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 18% | 18% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.5 points. Across North Carolina, 51.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.7, men 34.6.
| Hickory | NC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.5% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.8% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 12.8% | 9.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.7% | 13.4% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.4% | 12.8% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.6% | 12.6% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.2% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.5% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.6% | 6.9% | 7% |
| No diploma | 10% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22% | 24.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.1% | 19.6% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.8% | 10.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.9% | 22.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.2% | 13.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 9,847 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hickory’s, it is healthier than 70%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Hickory tracks North Carolina closely on all 32 CDC measures.
| Hickory | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 25% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 16% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
3 within 15 miles of the center of Hickory
About 8 of every 100 Hickory residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
2 colleges in town.
24 places in Hickory on the National Register of Historic Places.
35 notable people were born in Hickory.
City in North Carolina, United States
Hickory is a city in western North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County. The 25th most populous city in the state, it is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Charlotte. Hickory's population in the 2022 United States Census Bureau estimate was 44,084. Hickory is the main city of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 368,347 in the 2022 census, and is included in the larger Charlotte-Concord, NC Combined Statistical Area with a population of 3,387,115 in 2022. In 2014, Reader's Digest named the Hickory metro area as the 10th best place to live and raise a family in the United States. Forbes ranked the Hickory-Lenoir-Morgan…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Hickory.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Newton (C) is closest.
| Town | NC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory | #200 | C− | C | D | B | B− |
| St. Stephens | #106 | B− | B− | — | B | B− |
| Mountain View | #83 | B− | B+ | — | B | B |
| Long View | #81 | B− | A− | — | B− | C |
| Brookford | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Conover | #126 | C+ | C+ | — | B | C+ |
| Northlakes | — | — | B− | — | C+ | A |
| Newton | #161 | C | B− | C− | B | C+ |
Northlakes has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. St. Stephens, Mountain View, Long View, Conover and Northlakes report no FBI crime data of their own. Brookford isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hickory with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hickory grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #200 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades B− for health, D for safety and B for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Within North Carolina, it does better than 33% of towns.
35 notable people were born here, including Chris Hughes and Chad Lail.
