Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Maiden gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $304K for a typical one, or 4.8 years of the Hickory metro’s $63K median household income. It grades B+ overall, ranked 42nd of 286 in North Carolina. Maiden's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 92% of U.S. towns. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Maiden, against 13% in North Carolina’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Maiden has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Salem Union Church and Cemetery and Abraham Anthony Farm.
Where Maiden beats most towns.
3,310 counted in 2010 and 3,736 in 2020; an estimated 3,922 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 5.2% since 2020, after 12.9% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within North Carolina), ordered by how far Maiden is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 264 in 1890, 3,736 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 2 maps from 1970 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Maiden, 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 Maiden.
Maiden draws workers from Hickory and beyond and has a longer frost-free season than most of the country, though not than most of North Carolina.
3,808 jobs are based in Maiden, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 2,542 in 2013 to 3,808.
Most working residents leave Maiden for work: only 7% work in town. Since 2013, Maiden has added 1,266 jobs, to 3,808 in 2023. The top destinations are Hickory (13%), Newton (9%) and Charlotte (7%).
| Maiden | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $76,000 | $69,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Catawba County Schools. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Maiden High, with 852 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maiden ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 562 | B |
| Maiden HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 852 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NC on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 71% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Maiden since 2003.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Lincolnton 4 W weather station, 11 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 201 days: longer than most of the country, but shorter than 80% of North Carolina places with climate records.
Maiden has mild winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 89°, January nights drop to 29° and about 6 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The median rent in Maiden is $776 a month. The typical Maiden home is worth about $304,000, up 1.8% in a year, 9% below the North Carolina typical home.
| Maiden | North Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $776 a month | $1,086 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 67% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Maiden tracks North Carolina closely on all 32 CDC measures. 32% of Maiden adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Maiden | 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% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 78% | 80% | 79% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.1 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Maiden Recreation Park, at 32 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maiden Recreation Park | — | 32 |
| 2. South Neighborhood Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Union Street Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Maiden. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi Stadium & arenaBank of America Stadium
18 mi LakeLake Norman
38 mi Theme parkCarowinds31 mi MuseumSullenberger Aviation Museum70K visitors a year
36 mi Stadium & arenaBojangles Coliseum35 mi TheatreTruliant AmphitheaterBank of America Stadium: HangingCurve, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Norman: Prince Grobhelm, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Carowinds: Pi.1415926535, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bojangles Coliseum: James Willamor, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Maiden
About 2 of every 100 Maiden residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across North Carolina.
Where Maiden’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 notable people were born in Maiden.
Town in North Carolina, United States
Maiden is a town in Catawba and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,845 at the 2023 census. Maiden High School was the first public high school in the state with an observatory and is currently home to an Apple iCloud Data Center, covering 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2). In May 2012, Apple announced it would generate 60 percent of the Maiden facility's power itself, through a large deployment of fuel cells at the site and a 100-acre (40 ha) solar farm, with an additional 150-acre (61 ha) site 2 miles (3 km) away. The Catawba County portion of Maiden is part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Lincoln County por…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Maiden grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #42 of 286 in North Carolina. It grades B− for health and B for schools.
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 A−.
4 notable people were born here, including Caleb Farley and Grover E. Murray.
