† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
1 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupKinston, NCNorth CarolinaUnited States
English12.3%12.7%9.5%
American8.4%8.3%5.3%
Irish5.5%8.4%9.4%
German5.0%9.4%12.5%
Scottish1.1%2.3%1.3%
Scotch-Irish0.9%1.4%—
Italian0.8%3.3%4.8%
Dutch0.6%——
African American†34.7%18.3%9.9%
African4.0%0.7%0.5%
Mexican6.0%5.6%11.3%
Puerto Rican0.9%1.2%1.8%
Honduran0.7%0.7%0.3%
Guatemalan0.3%0.4%0.5%
Cuban0.2%0.3%0.7%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Kinston, NC
North Carolina
United States
Median age
41.9
39.5
39.1
Age 18–24
7.9%
9.5%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
21.4%
17.2%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Kinston, NC
North Carolina
United States
Median household income
$45,143
$72,388
$84,427
Poverty rate
22.0%
13.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
16.3%
35.8%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Kinston, NC
North Carolina
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
8.3%
13.5%
22.3%
Spanish
7.4%
8.7%
13.6%
Religious landscape
Measure
Kinston, NC
North Carolina
United States
Catholic
2.5%
8.9%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
37.2%
26.5%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
45.8%
48.0%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
7.5%
9.1%
5.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Kinston, NC
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
+15.4%
1896
+16.5%
1900
+22.7%
1904
+34.5%
1908
+18.1%
1912
+71.0%
1916
+42.8%
1920
+37.9%
1924
+61.4%
1928
+28.6%
1932
+85.7%
1936
+88.7%
1940
+86.8%
1944
+80.9%
1948
+80.2%
1952
+50.1%
1956
+45.5%
1960
+37.9%
1964
+15.1%
1968
+0.1%
1972
−49.4%
1976
−0.4%
1980
−12.9%
1984
−21.7%
1988
−16.5%
1992
−0.7%
1996
−4.2%
2000
−9.4%
2004
−11.8%
2008
−0.1%
2012
−0.1%
2016
−3.7%
2020
−3.5%
2024
−6.8%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
R
46.2%Harris12,700
53.0%Trump14,564
0.9%
R+6.8
R+3.3
R+5.3
27,503
R
47.9%Biden13,605
51.4%Trump14,590
0.8%
R+3.5
D+0.2
R+7.9
28,409
R
47.1%Clinton12,634
50.8%Trump13,613
2.1%
R+3.7
R+3.5
R+5.7
26,807
R
49.7%Obama13,948
49.8%Romney13,980
0.6%
R+0.1
±0.0
R+4.0
28,086
R
49.7%Obama13,378
49.8%McCain13,401
0.4%
R+0.1
D+11.7
R+7.4
26,897
R
44.0%Kerry10,207
55.8%Bush12,939
0.1%
R+11.8
R+2.4
R+9.3
23,179
R
45.0%Gore9,527
54.4%Bush11,512
0.6%
R+9.4
R+5.2
R+9.9
21,163
R
45.6%Clinton8,635
49.8%Dole9,433
4.5%
R+4.2
R+3.5
R+12.7
18,925
R
44.3%Clinton8,793
45.0%Bush8,932
10.7%
R+0.7
D+15.8
R+6.3
19,842
R
41.7%Dukakis7,649
58.1%Bush10,669
0.2%
R+16.5
D+5.3
R+8.7
18,353
R
39.0%Mondale8,556
60.8%Reagan13,321
0.2%
R+21.7
R+8.8
R+3.5
21,914
R
42.6%Carter7,546
55.5%Reagan9,832
1.9%
R+12.9
R+12.5
R+3.2
17,714
R
49.4%Carter7,650
49.9%Ford7,715
0.7%
R+0.4
D+48.9
R+2.5
15,474
R
24.5%McGovern3,672
73.9%Nixon11,065
1.6%
R+49.4
R+49.4
R+26.2
14,975
O
24.5%Humphrey3,853
24.4%Nixon3,844
51.1%
Wallace +26.6
R+15.1
D+0.8
15,733
D
57.6%Johnson7,617
42.4%Goldwater5,617
0.0%
D+15.1
R+22.8
R+7.5
13,234
D
69.0%Kennedy8,126
31.0%Nixon3,658
0.0%
D+37.9
R+7.6
D+37.8
11,784
D
72.8%Stevenson6,847
27.2%Eisenhower2,564
0.0%
D+45.5
R+4.6
D+60.9
9,411
D
75.1%Stevenson6,723
24.9%Eisenhower2,233
0.0%
D+50.1
R+30.0
D+60.9
8,956
D
88.5%Truman5,445
8.4%Dewey515
3.1%
D+80.2
R+0.8
D+75.7
6,150
D
90.5%Roosevelt5,253
9.5%Dewey554
0.0%
D+80.9
R+5.9
D+73.4
5,807
D
93.4%Roosevelt6,247
6.6%Willkie440
0.0%
D+86.8
R+1.8
D+76.9
6,687
D
94.3%Roosevelt5,854
5.7%Landon351
0.0%
D+88.7
D+3.0
D+64.4
6,205
D
92.6%Roosevelt4,677
6.9%Hoover350
0.5%
D+85.7
D+57.0
D+67.9
5,051
D
64.3%Smith2,363
35.7%Hoover1,311
0.0%
D+28.6
R+32.8
D+46.1
3,674
D
80.3%Davis2,191
18.8%Coolidge514
0.9%
D+61.4
D+23.5
D+86.6
2,730
D
68.9%Cox2,560
31.1%Harding1,153
0.0%
D+37.9
R+4.9
D+64.1
3,713
D
71.3%Wilson1,666
28.6%Hughes667
0.1%
D+42.8
R+28.2
D+39.6
2,335
D
77.0%Wilson1,568
6.0%Taft122
17.0%
D+71.0
D+52.9
D+51.4
2,037
D
59.0%Bryan1,393
40.9%Taft966
0.1%
D+18.1
R+16.5
D+27.6
2,362
D
67.2%Parker1,386
32.7%Roosevelt674
0.0%
D+34.5
D+11.9
D+54.2
2,061
D
61.3%Bryan1,942
38.7%McKinley1,224
0.0%
D+22.7
D+6.2
D+30.2
3,166
D
58.2%Bryan1,966
41.7%McKinley1,410
0.1%
D+16.5
D+1.1
D+22.5
3,378
D
49.6%Cleveland1,388
34.2%Harrison957
16.3%
D+15.4
—
D+13.7
2,800
Congressional elections · 2 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2022
R
42.1%7,872
55.9%10,452
18,686
2020
R
47.2%13,284
49.4%13,898
28,119
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024D+13.5
vs
Presidential vote · 2024R+6.8
Kinston, NC registers Democratic but votes Republican — a 20-point gap between how voters register and how they vote, the signature of ancestral registration that trails realignment.
DemocraticRepublicanUnaffiliatedOther parties
Voter registration in Kinston, NC
Year
Total registered
Democratic
Republican
Unaffiliated
Other
2008
37,847
23,862
8,858
5,117
10
2012
40,152
23,955
9,682
6,465
50
2016
39,627
21,924
9,712
7,893
98
2020
38,569
18,787
10,347
9,279
156
2022
37,246
16,885
10,222
9,994
145
2024
39,568
16,310
10,965
11,874
419
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net domestic migration over time
+563 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net −1,468 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Domestic migration in Kinston, NC in Kinston, NC: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−80
2012
−310
2013
−325
2014
−463
2015
−277
2016
−667
2017
−518
2018
−546
2019
+80
2021
−113
2022
+131
2023
+552
2024
+505
2025
+563
Kinston anchors a historically Democratic tobacco-farming corridor that has shifted sharply toward Republicans over the past two decades, mirroring broader rural realignment patterns across eastern North Carolina's Black Belt counties.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 88.7 points in 1936 and a Republican high of 49.4 points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 3.3 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 6.8 points.
A population of 54,919, a 47% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $45,143 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Americus, GA and McComb, MS.
Akashic
Political twins — metros
The metros whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
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All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Kinston, NC, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/28820/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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In 2024, Kinston, NC, North Carolina voted Republican by 6.8 points (R+6.8), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 27,503 votes cast, 12,700 went Democratic and 14,564 went Republican.
When did Kinston, NC, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Kinston, NC, North Carolina voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Kinston, NC, North Carolina?
Kinston, NC, North Carolina has a population of 54,919 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Kinston, NC, North Carolina?
Median household income in Kinston, NC, North Carolina is $45,143 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Kinston, NC, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Kinston, NC, North Carolina from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 19 went Democratic and 14 went Republican.
