2020 census As of the
2020 census, Morganton had a population of 17,474. The median age was 39.5 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.5 males age 18 and over. 96.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.1% lived in rural areas. There were 6,862 households in Morganton, including 3,907 families, and 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 38.3% were married-couple households, 19.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 7,559 housing units, of which 9.2% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.8%.
Income and poverty The median household income is $47,715 with an owner-occupied housing rate of 51.6%.
2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 16,918 people, 7,618 households, and 4,117 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 7,313 housing units at an average density of . The racial composition of the city was: 75.67%
White, 12.76%
Black or African American, 11.16%
Hispanic or
Latino American, 1.99% Asian American, 0.55% Native American, 0.81%
Native Hawaiian or
Other Pacific Islander, 6.64%
some other race, and 1.58%
two or more races. There were 7,618 households, out of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.92. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,836, and the median income for a family was $42,687. Males had a median income of $29,118 versus $24,723 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,906. About 9.7% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.0% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over. ==Economy==