Civilian labor force in Hickory, NC

Civilian labor force in Hickory, NC was 20,420 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is down 0.8% from 2024. That is the 27th highest of 44 cities in 2025.

2025, persons20,420
Change on 2024-0.8%
Series high20,8492023
Series low16,8141990

Next release: Wednesday, 28 October 2026, 10:00 ET, announced by BLS. Release calendar

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Civilian labor force in Hickory, NC, 1990 to 2025

16K17K18K19K20K21K19901996200220082014202020251990: 16,814 persons1991: 17,256 persons1992: 17,521 persons1993: 17,199 persons1994: 17,361 persons1995: 17,654 persons1996: 17,956 persons1997: 17,923 persons1998: 17,687 persons1999: 17,820 persons2000: 20,323 persons2001: 20,618 persons2002: 20,249 persons2003: 20,008 persons2004: 19,893 persons2005: 19,854 persons2006: 19,878 persons2007: 19,652 persons2008: 19,688 persons2009: 19,446 persons2010: 20,023 persons2011: 19,704 persons2012: 19,781 persons2013: 19,599 persons2014: 19,212 persons2015: 19,374 persons2016: 19,569 persons2017: 20,004 persons2018: 20,057 persons2019: 20,184 persons2020: 19,660 persons2021: 19,951 persons2022: 20,794 persons2023: 20,849 persons2024: 20,575 persons2025: 20,420 persons
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-09-30.
All 36 values
Periodpersons
202520,420
202420,575
202320,849
202220,794
202119,951
202019,660
201920,184
201820,057
201720,004
201619,569
201519,374
201419,212
201319,599
201219,781
201119,704
201020,023
200919,446
200819,688
200719,652
200619,878
200519,854
200419,893
200320,008
200220,249
200120,618
200020,323
199917,820
199817,687
199717,923
199617,956
199517,654
199417,361
199317,199
199217,521
199117,256
199016,814

Rankings

Definition

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average. People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Civilian labor force, Hickory, NC, 1990 to 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Civilian labor force, Hickory, NC, 1990 to 2025. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/civilian-labor-force/hickory-nc. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Civilian labor force, Hickory, NC, 1990 to 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/civilian-labor-force/hickory-nc.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Civilian labor force, Hickory, NC, 1990 to 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/civilian-labor-force/hickory-nc (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_civilian_labor_force_hickory_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Civilian labor force, Hickory, NC, 1990 to 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/civilian-labor-force/hickory-nc. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Civilian labor force, Hickory, NC, 1990 to 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/civilian-labor-force/hickory-nc
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/civilian-labor-force/hickory-nc.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU25-29. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Questions

What is the civilian labor force in Hickory, NC?

Civilian labor force in Hickory, NC was 20,420 in 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is down 0.8% from 2024. That is the 27th highest of 44 cities in 2025.

Where does this figure come from?

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest civilian labor force in Hickory, NC?

20,849 in 2023, the highest value since 1990 in this series.

Civilian labor force elsewhere in North Carolina

Related statistics for Hickory, NC

All statistics for Hickory, NC | Hickory, NC in figures