The land area is 399.42 square miles and the population was estimated to be 59,038 in 1997. The City of Kinston is situated along the banks of the Nuese River and serves as the county seat and retail-manufacturing center of Lenoir County.
Agriculture remains a major industry in the area, particularly the production of tobacco and hogs.
For the last thirty years, the population and economy of Lenoir County have been stagnant. During these hurricane and flood events, emergency management personnel and resources were extended beyond their limits. Most of damages were associated with the severe flooding of the Nuese River. The flooding from both Fran and Floyd created serious environmental disasters in their own right, including the failure of municipal sewage treatment facilities and sewage lagoons on the many hog farms. After Hurricane Fran in 1996, Lenoir County actively pursued the implementation of various loss reduction measures to become a more disaster-resistant community.