Concord is located in Cabarrus County (of which it is the county seat) between Charlotte and Salisbury along US Highway 29 near Kannapolis, Mount Pleasant, and UNC Charlotte.

Concord's history dates back over 200 years. In the late 1700's, the German and Scotch-Irish settlements disagreed on where the county seat of the newly formed Cabarrus County should be located. A new city was founded in 1796, and was named Concord, meaning "harmony," to reflect the spirit in which the issue was settled.