Catawba is a town in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 603 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area. As with the county, the name recalls the Catawba people, the indigenous people who once inhabited the area.

Catawba County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 160,610. Its county seat is Newton, and its largest community is Hickory.