Hickory vs St. Stephens

A side-by-side comparison of Hickory and St. Stephens: population, income, housing, and more.

Hickory and St. Stephens are places in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hickory has the higher population (43,747 vs 9,409 in St. Stephens). Hickory has the higher median household income ($63,361 vs $57,882 in St. Stephens). Hickory has the higher median home value ($248,300 vs $187,500 in St. Stephens).

Population, income & housing

	Hickory	St. Stephens
Population	43,747	9,409
Median age	37.7 yrs	41.5 yrs
Median household income	$63,361	$57,882
Median home value	$248,300	$187,500
Median gross rent	$975	$864
Housing units	19,328	4,092
Homeownership rate	55.9%	81.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.9%	24.0%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	3.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hickory	St. Stephens
Population	40,634 → 43,747 (+7.7%)	9,408 → 9,409 (+0.0%)
Median household income	$47,652 → $63,361 (+33.0%)	$48,231 → $57,882 (+20.0%)
Median home value	$168,600 → $248,300 (+47.3%)	$132,100 → $187,500 (+41.9%)
Median gross rent	$734 → $975 (+32.8%)	$736 → $864 (+17.4%)

Hickory

Population

40,63443,747

Median household income

$47,652$63,361

Median home value

$168,600$248,300

Median gross rent

$734$975

St. Stephens

Population

9,4089,409

Median household income

$48,231$57,882

Median home value

$132,100$187,500

Median gross rent

$736$864

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hickory	St. Stephens
Under 5	5.2%	5.5%
5 to 17	16.5%	16.6%
18 to 24	12.4%	6.7%
25 to 34	13.2%	12.3%
35 to 44	10.8%	15.5%
45 to 54	12.7%	11.4%
55 to 64	12.6%	13.0%
65 to 74	9.4%	10.2%
75 and over	7.3%	8.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hickory	St. Stephens
White (non-Hispanic)	64.3%	68.6%
Black or African American	13.3%	4.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	4.2%	5.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.3%	6.3%
Hispanic or Latino	13.9%	15.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hickory	St. Stephens
No high school diploma	10.2%	14.0%
High school graduate	23.3%	30.2%
Some college or associate's	30.7%	31.7%
Bachelor's degree	23.0%	18.8%
Graduate or professional degree	12.9%	5.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hickory	St. Stephens
Drove alone	73.3%	84.9%
Carpooled	12.9%	9.0%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	1.3%	0.3%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.0%
Worked from home	11.0%	4.5%
Other means	1.3%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hickory	St. Stephens
1-unit, detached	54.1%	74.1%
1-unit, attached	4.9%	7.7%
2 to 4 units	10.9%	4.0%
5 to 19 units	17.7%	1.8%
20 or more units	8.1%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	4.3%	12.5%

Poverty & households

	Hickory	St. Stephens
Poverty rate	16.9%	16.7%
Average household size	2.44	2.40
Mean commute (minutes)	20	22
Median year structure built	1983	1975