Hickory is a city in North Carolina primarily located in Catawba County and is the 25th most populous city in North Carolina. It is located approximately 60 miles (97 km) northwest of Charlotte. Hickory's population in the 2022 United States Census Bureau estimate was 44,084. Hickory is the main city of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 368,347 in the 2022 census.

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.