Hickory, NC
Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Hickory ranks 234th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 251st for income. A household earns $64,059 a year while median rent runs $934/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is rent (23rd of 300), while education is the soft spot (256th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 23rd and home prices 106th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Hickory, your take-home is worth about $66,302 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 251st of 300↑26.5%$64,059
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 34th of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $72,395
- Per-capita income
- $35,284
- Full-time pay
- $41,713
Housing
- Median rent
- 23rd of 300↑37.2%$934/mo
- Home value
- 106th of 300↑82.6%$266,100
- Property tax
- $1,467/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 7.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 99th of 3003.9%
- Bachelor's+
- 256th of 30024.8%
- Avg commute
- 182nd of 30024.9 min
People
- Population
- 373,031
- Population change
- +0.9%
- Median age
- 43.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.4%
- Broadband
- 89.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 153rd of 30046
- Natural-hazard loss
- 95th of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 184th of 30019.6%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 11.9%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Job market
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — hickory faa ap.
What jobs pay in Hickory
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $206,360
- IT managers
- $163,010
- Financial managers
- $138,150
- Pharmacists
- $137,180
- Software developers
- $122,540
- Lawyers
- $97,330
- General & operations managers
- $95,640
- Civil engineers
- $94,720
- Registered nurses
- $80,060
- Accountants & auditors
- $77,490
- Secondary school teachers
- $57,790
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $57,460
- Electricians
- $53,730
- Police officers
- $52,260
- Plumbers
- $51,330
- Elementary school teachers
- $49,540
- Carpenters
- $48,260
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $47,690
- Construction laborers
- $44,550
- Customer service reps
- $37,790
- Janitors
- $33,350
- Retail salespersons
- $30,520
- Waiters & waitresses
- $29,310
- Cashiers
- $27,570
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Hickory metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in North Carolina are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California895
- Florida670
- Virginia511
- New York490
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Hickory
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Hickory metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Hickory metro?
- Median gross rent across the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area is $934 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Hickory.
- What is the median household income in the Hickory metro?
- A typical household in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area earns $64,059 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Hickory expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area runs about 12% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Hickory metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $72,395 (versus its face value of $64,059). CityLedger rates the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Hickory metro?
- The median home value across the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area is $266,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Hickory metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metro Area is 3.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).