Gastonia, North Carolina

Gastonia population, 2020 to 2024

Gastonia added 4,974 residents from July 2020 to July 2024, a change of +6.2%. In the latest year it moved by +1,304. Among 147 North Carolina places of 5,000 or more, that growth ranks 61st; the median place changed by +4.7%. The median place of 5,000+ in North Carolina has 14,573 people, so Gastonia is 5.9 times that size.

Gastonia covers 53.74 square miles of land and 0.23 of water, for 1,592 people per square mile of land. The median North Carolina place of 5,000+ has 1,316, so Gastonia is denser than the typical town.

What county Gastonia is in

All of Gastonia's residents live in Gaston County, which had 242,010 residents in 2024. Gastonia holds 35.3% of the county's population. The shaded shape is on the map above; dots mark the eight nearest places.

ZIP codes in Gastonia

3 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) overlap Gastonia by at least 10% of the ZCTA's or the city's land: 28052, 28054, 28056. ZCTAs are Census approximations of USPS ZIP code delivery areas. The list comes from the 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, so a city that annexed land after 2020 may reach into ZIP codes not listed here.

Where Gastonia is

The Census internal point of Gastonia is at 35.248800, -81.186400. Raleigh, the capital, is 147.9 miles ENE in a straight line. The nearest larger place is Charlotte, NC (943,476 people), 20.3 miles away.

Daylight in Gastonia

At 35.25° N, Gastonia gets about 14 h 32 min of daylight around the June solstice and 9 h 47 min around the December solstice, a swing of 4 h 45 min. Figures are sunrise to sunset from the SunCalc model for June 21 and December 21, 2026.

Places near Gastonia

The eight nearest incorporated places of 1,000+ in North Carolina, measured between internal points. The closest is Ranlo, 4.3 miles away, with 4,756 people.