Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hudson gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $261K, 4.2 years of the Hickory metro’s $63K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 124th among North Carolina's 286 graded towns. Hudson is home to Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. Hudson's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 93% of U.S. towns. Hudson Cotton Manufacturing Company is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Hudson beats most towns.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute | 2,492 |
Hudson Cotton Manufacturing CompanyEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Hudson is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 411 in 1910, 3,780 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1924 and 2 maps from 1986 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hudson, 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 Hudson.
Hudson fares better on crime within North Carolina than nationally, draws workers from Lenoir and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
3,535 jobs are based in Hudson, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 2,435 in 2013 to 3,535.
Most working residents leave Hudson for work: only 7% work in town. Since 2013, Hudson has added 1,100 jobs, to 3,535 in 2023. At 22 minutes, Hudson’s average trip to work is below both the North Carolina town median (24 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes).
| Hudson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 13% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Caldwell County Schools. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Caldwell Early College, with 387 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 665 | B |
| Caldwell Early CollegeLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 387 | A+ |
| Caldwell Applied Sciences AcademyTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 218 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
1.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Hudson Redwood Park, at 32 acres.
| Hudson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hudson Redwood Park | 0.6 mi | 32 |
| 2. Windmill Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
81% of Hudson households own their home, against 67% in North Carolina’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns. The typical Hudson home is worth about $261,000, up 0.6% in a year, 22% below the North Carolina typical home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 28.6°: milder than most of the country, but colder than 79% of North Carolina places with climate records; July afternoons average 87.7°.
Hudson has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of. The January low in Hudson is 29°F.
| Hudson | 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
Against the 9,979 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hudson’s, it is healthier than 55%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
27% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Hudson.
| Hudson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Hudson | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.5% | 7.1% |
| More smokers | 16.9% | 13.5% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8% | 6.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 15.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 86% of North Carolina’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 64 to 41 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Hudson’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Hudson | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.6 per 1,000 residents | 21.8 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 57% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hudson. Close and well known come first.
21 mi ParkwayBlue Ridge Parkway16.5M visitors a year
40 mi LakeLake Norman
26 mi MountainGrandfather Mountain24 mi Theme parkTweetsie Railroad13 mi Ancient siteJoara32 mi Theme parkLand of OzBlue Ridge Parkway: Ken Thomas, Public domain · Lake Norman: Prince Grobhelm, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grandfather Mountain: Original uploader was KyleAndMelissa22 at en.wikipedia, Public domain
3 within 15 miles of the center of Hudson
About 9 of every 100 Hudson residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Where Hudson’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Town in North Carolina, United States
Hudson is a town in Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, Hudson had a population of 3,780. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Hudson.
Sawmills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Hudson with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hudson grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #124 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades C+ for health, B for safety and C+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
