Morganton is a city in Burke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 16,918 at the 2010 census. Morganton is the county seat. Morganton is one of the principal cities in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. A site five miles north of here has been identified as the Mississippian culture chiefdom of Joara, occupied from 1400AD to 1600AD.