The Unifour

The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties in the Catawba Valley region of western North Carolina. Local residents often refer to the area as the Unifour, although this name is largely unknown outside of the region.

As of the 2000 census, the MSA had a population of 341,851 (though a July 1, 2009 estimate placed the population at 365,364).

Counties

 * Alexander
 * Burke
 * Caldwell
 * Catawba

Places with more than 30,000 inhabitants

 * Hickory (Principal city)

Places with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants

 * Conover
 * Lenoir (Principal city)
 * Morganton (Principal city)
 * Newton

Places with 2,500 to 5,000 inhabitants

 * Bethlehem
 * Cajah's Mountain
 * Gamewell
 * Granite Falls
 * Hudson
 * Icard
 * Lake Norman of Catawba
 * Long View
 * Maiden (partial)
 * Mountain View
 * Salem
 * Sawmills
 * Valdese

Places with 1,000 to 2,500 inhabitants

 * Blowing Rock (partial)
 * Claremont
 * Connelly Springs
 * Drexel
 * Glen Alpine
 * Hildebran
 * Rutherford College
 * Stony Point
 * Taylorsville

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

 * Brookford
 * Catawba
 * Cedar Rock
 * Rhodhiss

Unincorporated places

 * St.Stephens
 * Sherrills Ford
 * Collettsville
 * Drumstand
 * Ellendale
 * Hiddenite
 * Kings Creek
 * Little River
 * Millersville
 * Petersburg
 * Sugar Loaf
 * Vashti
 * Wittenburg

Demographics
As of the census 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, 6.91% African American, 0.25% Native American, 2.31% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.95% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic 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 for the MSA was $18,404.