The Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, is an area consisting of four counties, Catawba,

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

, Caldwell,

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

. It is located in the Catawba Valley region of

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Local residents often refer to the area as The Unifour, although this name is largely unknown outside of the region. The U.S. Census Bureau includes the Unifour in the larger Charlotte-Concord, NC Combined Statistical Area. The 2000 census gives the MSA's population as 341,851, with a July 1, 2009, estimate placing the population at 365,364.

Area

Counties

(36,444) *

(87,570) * Caldwell (80,652) * Catawba (160,610)

Anchor city

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

''Catawba/Burke/Caldwell'' 43,490

Principal cities

* Lenoir ''Caldwell'' 18,352 * Morganton ''Burke'' 17,474

Suburban towns and cities over 5,000 in population

(Including county and 2020 U.S. census population) *

Conover Conover may refer to: People * Conover (surname) Places in the United States * Conover, Iowa, a ghost town * Conover, North Carolina, a city * Conover, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Conover, Wisconsin, a town * Conover (community), Wis ...

''Catawba'' 8,421 * Long View ''Catawba & Burke'' 5,088 * Newton ''Catawba'' 13,148 * Sawmills ''Caldwell'' 5,020

Suburban towns and cities under 5,000 in population

(Including county and 2020 U.S. census population) * Blowing Rock ''Caldwell & Watauga'' 1,376 * Brookford ''Catawba'' 442 * Catawba ''Catawba'' 702 * Cedar Rock ''Caldwell'' 301 * Claremont ''Catawba'' 1,692 * Connelly Springs ''Burke'' 1,529 * Drexel ''Burke'' 1,760 * Gamewell ''Caldwell'' 3,702 * Glen Alpine ''Burke'' 1,529 * Granite Falls ''Caldwell'' 4,965 * Hildebran ''Burke'' 1,679 *

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

''Caldwell'' 3,780 *

Maiden Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

''Catawba & Lincoln'' 3,736 * Rhodhiss ''Burke & Caldwell'' 997 * Rutherford College ''Burke'' 1,226 * Taylorsville ''Alexander'' 2,320 * Valdese ''Burke'' 4,689

Unincorporated communities

(Including county and 2020 U.S. census population) *

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

''Alexander'' 4,491 * Collettsville ''Caldwell'' *

Hiddenite Hiddenite is a pale-to-emerald green variety of spodumene that is sometimes used as a gemstone. The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered circa 1879 near the settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Al ...

''Alexander'' 507 * Icard ''Burke'' 2,452 * Lake Norman of Catawba ''Catawba'' 11,395 * Mountain View ''Catawba'' 3,590 * Northlakes ''Caldwell'' 1,543 * Petersburg ''Burke'' * Salem ''Burke'' 2,356 * Stony Point ''Alexander'' 1,146 * St.Stephens ''Catawba'' 8,852 * Sherrills Ford ''Catawba'' * Terrell ''Catawba''

Transportation

Mass transit

Greenway Public Transportation offers bus service to the cities of

, Morganton, and Newton.

Roads

The Hickory region is served by

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

which passes through the center of Catawba and

counties. Other important US highways in the region include: US 70 (east to

Morehead City Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hi ...

, west to Asheville), and US 321 (through Catawba and Caldwell Counties). Primary state routes include NC 10, NC 16, NC 18, NC 90, NC 127, and NC 150.

Air

The region's primary general aviation airport is Hickory Regional Airport. The closest commercial airports are Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and Asheville Regional Airport.

Rail

With approximately twenty freight trains a day, Catawba County is a freight railroad transportation center. This is largely due to the areas strong manufacturing based economy, and its placement along the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

line. The Caldwell County Railroad also serves the county and interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Hickory. Conover has been designated a stop on the future Western NC Rail service.Infrastructure
, Caldwell County Economic Development Commission (retrieved 16 June 2014)

Higher education

* Appalachian Center at Hickory * Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute * Catawba Valley Community College * Lenoir–Rhyne University *NC Center for Engineering Technologies * Western Piedmont Community College

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 341,851 people, 133,966 households, and 95,583 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 87.47%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 6.91%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.25% Native American, 2.31% Asian, 0.08%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.95% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.05% of the population. The median income for a household in the MSA was $37,647, and the median income for a family was $44,236. Males had a median income of $29,273 versus $22,266 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the MSA was $18,404.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unifour Geography of Alexander County, North Carolina Geography of Burke County, North Carolina Geography of Caldwell County, North Carolina Geography of Catawba County, North Carolina Metropolitan areas of North Carolina