167,054 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.8% since 2020)
401 square miles of land · 416 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
82 active community water systems list Catawba County in the area they serve, reporting 136,067 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| HICKORY CITY OF surface water · local government · NC0118010 | 71,393 served |
| NEWTON, CITY OF surface water · local government · NC0118015 | 18,407 served |
| CONOVER, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · NC0118020 | 15,347 served |
| MAIDEN, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · NC0118030 | 5,563 served |
| LONGVIEW, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · NC0118025 | 5,244 served |
| SOUTHEAST CATAWBA COUNTY buys surface water · local government · NC2018004 | 5,080 served |
| CLAREMONT, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · NC0118035 | 2,645 served |
| CATAWBA, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · NC0118040 | 1,617 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 335 people were held in Catawba County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 320 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 206.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
3 school districts have their office in Catawba County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $204.2 million — $180.1 million to run schools, about $11,487 per student, plus $16.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $54.5 million local (mostly property tax), $113.1 million state, $38.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $65.8 million.
Spent $48.2 million — $45.2 million to run schools, about $11,662 per student, plus $1.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.6 million local (mostly property tax), $28.7 million state, $9.7 million federal.
Spent $38.9 million — $35.3 million to run schools, about $12,359 per student, plus $2.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.3 million local (mostly property tax), $22.4 million state, $6.9 million federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Low compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Catawba County about $45.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
235 bridges in Catawba County: 77 in good condition, 140 fair, and 18 poor (7.7%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I40 EBL over LYLE CREEK · built 1957 | 18,250 vehicles a day |
| SR1402 over SNOW CREEK · built 1981 | 14,000 vehicles a day |
| NC10 NC16 over NOR. & S. RR ABANDONED · built 1958 | 12,000 vehicles a day |
| SR1709 over I40 · built 1957 | 10,000 vehicles a day |
| NC150 over SEABOARD COASTLINE RR · built 1965 | 9,900 vehicles a day |
| US321 BUS over SMYRE CREEK · built 1922 | 9,300 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $15.2 million of work in Catawba County in fiscal 2025, about $95 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-09. Early voting: 2026-10-15 to 2026-10-31. Mail ballot request deadline: 2026-10-20. Election Day: 2026-11-03.
Source: NC State Board of Elections: upcoming election · NC State Board of Elections: vote in person · NC State Board of Elections: voter ID
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Catawba County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Catawba County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Lincoln County (12 mi) · Alexander County (18 mi) · Iredell County (22 mi) · Gaston County (26 mi) · Caldwell County (27 mi) · Burke County (28 mi).