Gaston County is included in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 2,805,115 in 2023.

[5] In addition to fifteen incorporated towns and cities, there are several unincorporated communities such as Hardin, Lucia, Crowders Mountain, Sunnyside, Alexis, Tryon, and North Belmont.

[6] The earliest European settlers of Gaston County were principally Scots Irish, Pennsylvania Dutch, and English.

In the 1750s, Dutch settler James Kuykendall with Robert Leeper, and others constructed a Fort at the Point at the junction of the Catawba and South Fork Rivers.

[9] Most early farms in the area were small, cultivated primarily by white yeoman farmers of English ancestry.

North Carolina's colonial policy restricted the size of land grants, and in Gaston County they tended to be about 400 acres (1.6 km2) each.

One of the earliest grants in the area was given to Captain Samuel Cobrin, commander of a local militia company, on September 29, 1750.

[15] The county is located in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina, which consists of gently rolling terrain frequently broken by hills, river and creek valleys, and low, isolated mountain ridges.

The highest point in Gaston County is King's Pinnacle, a rocky monadnock which sharply rises over 800 feet (240 m) above the city of Gastonia.

King's Pinnacle rises 1,690 feet (520 m) above sea level, and is part of Crowders Mountain State Park.

Small claims court handles civil cases where a plaintiff requests assignment to a magistrate and the amount in controversy is $5,000 or less.

[29] In recent years, voters in most of the county have favored Republicans, though Democrats retain some electoral strength in the city of Gastonia.

[33] Progressive Rail operates state-owned trackage between Gastonia and Mount Holly with a spur extending to Belmont.

After five years of surface prospecting, the company began drilling many sample cores in 2021 across 2,300 acres (930 ha) of land it owns or has mineral rights to the county proving economic viability of mining lithium for the boom in battery demand to support electric vehicle and other uses.

The system is governed by the nine-member Gaston County Board of Education which sets policy and establishes guidelines for school operations.

They range from Crowders Mountain in the southwest corner to sites east of Stanley and at the mouth of the South Fork Catawba River.

Gaston County has twelve natural heritage sites listed as being of state or regional significance.

A farm site contains an old growth forest dominated by beech, yellow poplar, oaks, and maples - some trees with diameters of nearly 3 feet (0.91 m).

Catawba Cove, near the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, supports a stand of Schweinitz's sunflower (Helianthus schweinizii), a federally endangered species.

[43] The Hoyle Historic Homestead, with notable German-American construction features, is the oldest extant structure in Gaston County.

Located on the Dallas-Stanley Highway above the South Fork Catawba River, it was built around 1760 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[45] Crowder's Mountain State Park is noted for its resident raptors and sheer vertical cliffs which drop 150 feet (46 m).

From Crowders Mountain, the highest point in Gaston County, views stretch for more than 20 miles (32 km).

Spencer Mountain, which is located in central Gaston County, is the site of the old WBTV television transmitter.