242,010 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.9% since 2020)
356 square miles of land · 680 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.
142 active community water systems list Gaston County in the area they serve, reporting 191,732 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| TWO RIVERS UTILITIES surface water · local government · NC0136010 | 96,714 served |
| MOUNT HOLLY, CITY OF surface water · local government · NC0136020 | 19,200 served |
| BELMONT, CITY OF surface water · local government · NC0136015 | 17,477 served |
| DALLAS, TOWN OF surface water · local government · NC0136065 | 8,212 served |
| CHERRYVILLE, CITY OF surface water · local government · NC0136030 | 6,353 served |
| STANLEY, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · NC0136035 | 5,750 served |
| BESSEMER CITY, CITY OF surface water · local government · NC0136025 | 5,730 served |
| RANLO, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · NC0136034 | 4,511 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 495 people were held in Gaston County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 321 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 658.
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.
1 school district has its office in Gaston County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $391.3 million — $369.1 million to run schools, about $12,190 per student, plus $12 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $79.3 million local (mostly property tax), $218.6 million state, $97 million federal. Long-term debt: $148.1 million.
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 Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Gaston County about $59.3 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.
233 bridges in Gaston County: 78 in good condition, 134 fair, and 21 poor (9.0%). “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.
| I85 over ABERNATHY CREEK · built 1962 | 81,000 vehicles a day |
| US29 & US74 over SOUTH FORK CATAWBA RIVER · built 1926 | 27,500 vehicles a day |
| SR2329 over DUHARTS CREEK · built 1977 | 19,500 vehicles a day |
| NC275 over S. FORK CATAWBA RIVER · built 1953 | 10,500 vehicles a day |
| NC273 over DUKE POWER FEEDER · built 1956 | 9,200 vehicles a day |
| SR3217 over CATAWBA CREEK · built 1967 | 8,700 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $120.2 million of work in Gaston County in fiscal 2025, about $527 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 Gaston 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 Gaston County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Lincoln County (14 mi) · Mecklenburg County (20 mi) · Cleveland County (22 mi) · York County, SC (22 mi) · Catawba County (26 mi) · Cherokee County, SC (29 mi).