55,332 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.5% since 2020)
399 square miles of land · 139 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.
8 active community water systems list Lenoir County in the area they serve, reporting 61,618 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| KINSTON, CITY OF buys surface water · local government · NC0454010 | 27,475 served |
| NORTH LENOIR WATER CORP buys surface water · private · NC0454025 | 15,494 served |
| DEEP RUN WATER CORPORATION buys surface water · private · NC0454030 | 14,196 served |
| LA GRANGE WATER SYSTEM groundwater · local government · NC0454015 | 3,167 served |
| PINK HILL, TOWN OF buys surface water · local government · NC0454020 | 950 served |
| GREEN ACRES MHP groundwater · private · NC0454109 | 229 served |
| JACKSON HEIGHTS MHP groundwater · private · NC0454127 | 107 served |
| NEUSE REGIONAL WTR & SWR AUTH surface water · private · NC6054001 | 0 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 189 people were held in Lenoir County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 575 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 211.
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 Lenoir County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $110.8 million — $107.5 million to run schools, about $12,902 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $11.1 million local (mostly property tax), $69 million state, $26.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $24.4 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 Lenoir County about $35.7 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
145 bridges in Lenoir County: 89 in good condition, 53 fair, and 3 poor (2.1%). “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.
| NC903 over NEUSE RIVER · built 1977 | 2,900 vehicles a day |
| SR1578 over BRIERY RUN · built 1960 | 1,800 vehicles a day |
| SR1141 over HORN PIPE CREEK · built 1980 | 1,200 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $20.8 million of work in Lenoir County in fiscal 2025, about $377 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 Lenoir 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 Lenoir County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of North Carolina: the state government and every county in North Carolina.
Nearby counties: Greene County (17 mi) · Jones County (21 mi) · Wayne County (22 mi) · Duplin County (27 mi) · Pitt County (28 mi) · Craven County (32 mi).