[2] Lincoln County is included in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.

It was named for Benjamin Lincoln, a general in the American Revolutionary War.

22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Lincoln County is a member of the regional Centralina Council of Governments.

[17] In February 2020, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department received media attention when surveillance video was released showing first a pair of Atrium Health security guards assaulting a sixteen-year-old boy brought to the hospital's emergency room.

When another pair of sheriff's deputies arrived, video shows one of the deputies hitting the boy, now handcuffed, in the face twice as the boy spit blood pooling in his mouth after being tackled from behind by security guards.

[18] The boy was arrested and charged with felony assault on a police officer.