Burke County

Burke County

Last updated February 2012

57,170 Total Voters

Republican 34.96% Democrat 38.54% Libertarian 0.22% Unaffiliated 26.28%
White 90.83% Black 5.99% Other 3.18%

Burke County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010, the population was 90,912. Its county seat is Morganton.

The first European settlement in the interior of North Carolina and what would become the United States was made by Spanish in 1567, when they built Fort San Juan at the large Native American settlement of Joara near present-day Morganton. They renamed the settlement Cuenca. However the following year the Indians killed the Spanish and burned the fort. It was two centuries before Europeans tried to settle there again.

Burke County is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Burke County on Wikipedia »

Unemployment 11.97%

Voter Registration Trends

In the General Assembly

  • Representatives
  • Mitch Gillespie (NC-85)
  • Hugh Blackwell (NC-86)
  • Senators
  • Warren Daniel (NC-44)

Election Results

County Report Card

Click on a grade for more information about it.

A County Government Growth

C Transparency

F 2008 Voter Turnout

D 2010 Voter Turnout