Hildebran, North Carolina.
. Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$964 (+124%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- North Carolina$1,743
- United States$1,922
Living in Hildebran, Burke County, North Carolina
Hildebran is a town of 1,679 people in Burke County. Half its households earn more than $55,703 a year and half less, against $58,592 across Burke County; 21% of its people live below the poverty line. Unemployment in Burke County was 3.4% in August 2026, and the county had 0.7% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in manufacturing, then shops.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 24 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Hildebran is a small town in Burke County, North Carolina, where residents are a little older than in many places and incomes run somewhat below the county's. Poverty is more common here than in much of the country. Winters are cool and fairly mild, with January the coldest month, and summers are warm, with July the warmest. Rain and melted snow fall steadily through the year.
Work. Residents work mostly in manufacturing, shops, schools, hospitals and social care, and the building trades. Few adults hold a four-year degree, and the typical commute is a moderate one, with only a small number working from home. In Hildebran itself, the largest workplaces include MillerKnoll, Lexington Home Brands and Airlite Nonwovens. Unemployment across Burke County is lower now than it was a year ago, and the number of jobs there has edged up slightly.
Things to do. A short drive away, McGalliard Falls is a waterfall, and Hickory Motor Speedway is a race track for those who like a night of racing. The Hickory Aviation Museum sits in or beside town, and South Mountains State Park, a protected area of mountain woods, is a longer drive away.
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- 902households
- 14%of adults have a degree
- 21%below the poverty line
- 20 mintypical commute
- 6%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Burke County had 29,771 jobs in 2025, 0.7% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 49° and lows near 30°; warmest in July, with highs near 87° and lows near 68°. About 47 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Hickory Faa Airport weather station, 3 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Hildebran
- MillerKnollFurniture, office-type, padded, upholstered, or plain wood, manufacturing257
- Lexington Home BrandsFurniture, household-type, upholstered on frames of any material, manufacturing146
- Airlite NonwovensPads and wadding, nonwoven, manufacturing84
- Kleen TechBleaching textile products, apparel, and fabrics38
- Cambridge HouseAssisted-living facilities without on-site nursing care facilities28
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 5 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 553 people in all. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- Inland floodingRelatively high
- TornadoesRelatively high
- Strong windRelatively moderate
- HailRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Hildebran’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Burke County and the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC metro.
Hildebran home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Hildebran6
Zip codes with a Hildebran address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Hildebran — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.
Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.