Hickory · Crash numbers
Hickory Crash Numbers From NCDOT, With Catawba County Detail
NCDOT's 2025 ranking of North Carolina cities with 10,000 or more residents puts Hickory sixth of 92, based on reported crashes from 2023 through 2025. Those numbers describe the whole city. I treat them as background, and they settle nothing about what happened in your crash.
People killed in crashes, Catawba County
| 2024 | 26 |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 27 |
| Yearly average, 2014 to 2023 | 25 |
Most of Hickory is in Catawba County, so the county tables here use Catawba figures unless a table says otherwise, and Burke and Caldwell appear where the state reports deaths by county.
This page goes through the 2025 city ranking, how Hickory's place moved across five years, Catawba County's 2024 crash profile, deaths in the three counties Hickory touches, alcohol-related crashes through 2025, and what none of these numbers can tell you.
01
Hickory's row in NCDOT's 2025 ranking of larger cities
Hickory's row in the NCDOT table titled 2025 Ranking of Cities with Populations of 10,000 or More shows 10,061 reported crashes over the three calendar years from 2023 to 2025. The table puts Hickory in sixth place among the 92 cities it lists, sharing that place with Monroe.
| City | Total crashes | % alcohol related | Fatal crashes | Non-fatal injury crashes | 2025 rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory | 10,061 | 1.85% | 21 | 1,600 | 6 |
| Lenoir | 3,245 | 2.22% | 10 | 461 | 30 |
| Shelby | 3,489 | 2.32% | 7 | 572 | 36 |
| Kings Mountain | 1,601 | 1.94% | 7 | 279 | 39 |
| Newton | 1,428 | 3.36% | 6 | 259 | 61 |
NCDOT's note on the table says the ranking draws on several factors, among them crash severity and crash rates based on population. No formula for a city's place appears in the document.
A rank compares one city with another. It does not measure any single street in Hickory.
02
How Hickory's place moved from 2021 through 2025
Hickory moved from seventeenth in 2021 to sixth in 2025 across the two newest editions of NCDOT's ranking of cities with 10,000 or more residents. Each edition prints four years of rankings beside its three-year crash totals.
| Ranking year | Hickory's place | Edition that prints it |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | 2024 edition |
| 2022 | 15 | 2024 and 2025 editions |
| 2023 | 13 | 2024 and 2025 editions |
| 2024 | 11 | 2024 and 2025 editions |
| 2025 | 6 | 2025 edition |
| Hickory crash window | Total crashes | % alcohol related | Fatal crashes | Non-fatal injury crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 through 2024 | 9,672 | 1.72% | 21 | 1,523 |
| 2023 through 2025 | 10,061 | 1.85% | 21 | 1,600 |
Exception. The two crash windows share 2023 and 2024, so the gap between them is not a one-year change. Subtracting one window from the other does not produce a single year's count for Hickory.
03
Catawba County's 2024 crash profile from NCDOT
NCDOT's 2024 Catawba County Crash Profile lists 4,843 reportable crashes in Catawba County for 2024, with 26 of them fatal and 1,241 of them causing an injury that was not fatal. The table prints each count under the column labels Reportable Crashes and Injuries.
| Catawba County, 2024 | Reportable crashes | Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal | 26 | 26 |
| Non Fatal Injury | 1,241 | 1,899 |
| PDO (No Injury) | 3,576 | none printed |
| Total | 4,843 | 1,925 |
| Pedestrian crashes, total | 28 | 28 |
| Bicycle crashes, total | 20 | 20 |
| Motorcycle crashes, total | 82 | 77 |
The 26 in the Injuries column of the Fatal row equals the 26 people the state's 2024 Crash Facts counts as killed in Catawba County crashes that year. Crashes in which no one was hurt sit in the row labeled PDO (No Injury).
In 2024, most reportable crashes in Catawba County hurt no one. The ones that do are a minority of the total, and each of them is its own case.
The motorcycle accident page explains the claim for a rider hurt in one of those Catawba County motorcycle crashes.
04
Crash deaths in the three counties Hickory touches
The state's 2024 Crash Facts report counts 26 people killed in Catawba County crashes in 2024, in its table of county deaths over ten years, one fewer than the 27 of the year before, with the ten-year average printed at 25. Hickory's small Burke and Caldwell parts make those two counties' rows worth reading too.
| County | Killed, 2024 | Killed, 2023 | Ten-year average, printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catawba | 26 | 27 | 25 |
| Burke | 19 | 11 | 14 |
| Caldwell | 24 | 10 | 11 |
The printed ten-year average works out to the mean of 2014 through 2023, rounded, and leaves 2024 out. Caldwell County's 2024 count runs at more than double that average.
These are deaths from crashes anywhere in each county. They are not a count of deaths inside Hickory.
They are not a count of deaths inside Hickory.
05
Alcohol-related crashes in Catawba County through 2025
NCDOT's alcohol crash report for 2020 to 2025 counts 208 alcohol related crashes in Catawba County in 2025, with 6 alcohol related fatalities and 159 alcohol related injuries. Those 2025 figures are the newest county numbers on this page.
| Catawba County | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 20-24 Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol related crashes | 205 | 181 | 208 | 208 |
| Alcohol related fatalities | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| Alcohol related injuries | 156 | 119 | 159 | 139 |
These county counts take in every alcohol-related reportable crash in Catawba County, inside Hickory and out. A note in the report defines alcohol related crashes as reportable crashes coded on the DMV-349 with one of four YES alcohol entries.
06
What Hickory crash numbers cannot answer about your own claim
Hickory's crash numbers cannot tell an injured person who caused a particular crash or what a claim is worth. Those answers come from the evidence and the medical records of one case.
The Catawba County profile labels its table as reportable crashes, a term G.S. 20-4.01(33b) reserves for crashes that kill or injure someone or damage property by $1,000 or more. All reported crashes are the base NCDOT names for its city ranking.
What the Hickory figures show
How many reported crashes the city and county logged, and how Hickory's place compares with other cities of its size.
What the Hickory figures leave out
Fault for any one crash, and the injuries a person lives with after it.
Those answers come from the evidence and the medical records of one case.
Start with the Hickory city page for how we talk and meet, and use the page on getting a Hickory crash report for the city's copy of yours.
Questions
Common questions
Why does Hickory's alcohol figure appear as a percentage?
NCDOT's city ranking reports alcohol involvement as a share of total crashes, in a column labeled % Alcohol Related Crashes. For Hickory the 2025 edition prints 1.85 percent across 2023 through 2025, while the county alcohol tables report counts instead.
Which edition of NC Traffic Crash Facts is posted for download?
NC Traffic Crash Facts is posted for download through the 2024 edition, which is where this page's county death counts come from. NCDMV's Crash Facts page gives operations-support@ncdot.gov as the address to write when you want the 2025 edition.
How many Hickory crashes were fatal from 2023 through 2025?
NCDOT's 2025 city ranking prints 21 fatal crashes for Hickory over the three years from 2023 to 2025. The same Hickory row shows 1,600 crashes with an injury that was not fatal, out of 10,061 crashes in all.
About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (7)
- NCDOT, 2025 Ranking of Cities with Populations of 10,000 or More, based on all reported crashes January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, 2024 Ranking of Cities with Populations of 10,000 or More, based on all reported crashes January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2024, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT, 2024 Catawba County Crash Profile, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, North Carolina 2024 Traffic Crash Facts, Fatalities by County: 10 Year Trend (page 6 per the table of contents), verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Facts page (2025 report by email request to operations-support@ncdot.gov), verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDOT Traffic Safety Unit, North Carolina Alcohol Related Crash Data, Statewide and County Level Information, 2020 to 2025 (revised March 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-4.01(33b), reportable crash, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
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