CITY PROFILE
Hickory, NC
WHAT LIVING HERE IS LIKE
Hickory is a smaller metro with moderately priced homes—a reasonable entry point if you're not looking to stretch your budget in a major city. Expect a mild climate and moderate sunshine, though rainfall runs fairly heavy, so you'll want to be comfortable with wet weather. It's a quieter alternative to larger metros, with lower cost of living reflected in what your dollar can buy.
By the numbers
| Typical home value | $272K · Zillow, May 2026 (ZHVI) |
|---|---|
| Typical rent | $1,496/mo · Zillow, May 2026 (ZORI) |
| Average temperature | 15.2°C · warmest 26.4°C · coolest 3.3°C · NASA POWER |
| Annual precipitation | 1132 mm · NASA POWER |
| Sunshine (solar energy) | 4.44 kWh/m²/day · NASA POWER (annual mean) |
| Metro size rank (US) | #150 · Zillow SizeRank |
Match scores
- Affordable to buy89
- Affordable to rent77
- Climate comfort77
- Plenty of sunshine55
- Big-city amenities64
Scores are 0–100, normalised across the metros we cover, derived from the sourced figures above (higher = better on that factor). A research aid, not a recommendation to move. Job market, safety, and healthcare access need key-gated feeds (BLS, FBI, Census) not yet wired — see the methodology.
Where to look next
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