† 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
GroupSanford, NCNorth CarolinaUnited States
English11.2%12.7%9.5%
German7.5%9.4%12.5%
Irish7.0%8.4%9.4%
American4.5%8.3%5.3%
Italian2.6%3.3%4.8%
Scottish2.6%2.3%1.3%
Scotch-Irish2.1%1.4%—
Dutch1.6%——
Mexican13.0%5.6%11.3%
Salvadoran2.3%0.7%0.7%
Puerto Rican2.0%1.2%1.8%
Guatemalan1.5%0.4%0.5%
Honduran1.3%0.7%0.3%
Cuban0.2%0.3%0.7%
Dominican0.2%0.3%0.7%
Panamanian0.2%——
African American†16.3%18.3%9.9%
African0.5%0.7%0.5%
Haitian0.2%—0.3%
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
Sanford, NC
North Carolina
United States
Median age
39.5
39.5
39.1
Age 18–24
8.3%
9.5%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
17.2%
17.2%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Sanford, NC
North Carolina
United States
Median household income
$65,387
$72,388
$84,427
Poverty rate
16.5%
13.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
21.3%
35.8%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Sanford, NC
North Carolina
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
20.6%
13.5%
22.3%
Spanish
18.7%
8.7%
13.6%
Religious landscape
Measure
Sanford, NC
North Carolina
United States
Catholic
10.9%
8.9%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
22.3%
26.5%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
51.4%
48.0%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
8.7%
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.
Sanford, NC
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1908–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1908
+19.4%
1912
+29.9%
1916
+29.6%
1920
+34.1%
1924
+44.0%
1928
+9.5%
1932
+63.4%
1936
+69.5%
1940
+75.0%
1944
+62.0%
1948
+54.3%
1952
+38.0%
1956
+36.2%
1960
+29.2%
1964
+26.4%
1968
−0.7%
1972
−47.5%
1976
+16.0%
1980
+5.5%
1984
−35.2%
1988
−25.3%
1992
−5.5%
1996
−7.0%
2000
−16.1%
2004
−21.4%
2008
−8.4%
2012
−9.7%
2016
−12.9%
2020
−14.9%
2024
−17.4%
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
40.7%Harris12,245
58.1%Trump17,489
1.2%
R+17.4
R+2.5
R+16.0
30,081
R
41.9%Biden12,143
56.8%Trump16,469
1.4%
R+14.9
R+2.0
R+19.4
29,008
R
41.7%Clinton10,469
54.7%Trump13,712
3.6%
R+12.9
R+3.2
R+15.0
25,084
R
44.6%Obama10,801
54.3%Romney13,158
1.2%
R+9.7
R+1.4
R+13.6
24,239
R
45.3%Obama10,784
53.7%McCain12,775
1.0%
R+8.4
D+13.0
R+15.6
23,788
R
39.2%Kerry7,657
60.6%Bush11,834
0.3%
R+21.4
R+5.3
R+18.9
19,543
R
41.7%Gore6,785
57.8%Bush9,406
0.6%
R+16.1
R+9.0
R+16.6
16,283
R
43.0%Clinton6,290
50.0%Dole7,321
7.0%
R+7.0
R+1.5
R+15.6
14,630
R
39.9%Clinton5,852
45.4%Bush6,658
14.7%
R+5.5
D+19.8
R+11.1
14,659
R
37.2%Dukakis4,231
62.5%Bush7,104
0.3%
R+25.3
D+9.9
R+17.5
11,371
R
32.3%Mondale3,925
67.5%Reagan8,198
0.2%
R+35.2
R+40.6
R+16.9
12,151
D
51.3%Carter5,426
45.8%Reagan4,847
2.8%
D+5.5
R+10.5
D+15.2
10,574
D
57.8%Carter5,104
41.8%Ford3,691
0.4%
D+16.0
D+63.5
D+13.9
8,831
R
25.2%McGovern2,024
72.7%Nixon5,836
2.1%
R+47.5
R+46.8
R+24.3
8,026
O
28.6%Humphrey2,524
29.3%Nixon2,586
42.1%
Wallace +12.8
R+27.1
±0.0
8,821
D
63.2%Johnson4,730
36.8%Goldwater2,753
0.0%
D+26.4
R+2.7
D+3.8
7,483
D
64.6%Kennedy4,673
35.4%Nixon2,563
0.0%
D+29.2
R+7.1
D+29.0
7,236
D
68.1%Stevenson4,163
31.9%Eisenhower1,948
0.0%
D+36.2
R+1.8
D+51.6
6,111
D
69.0%Stevenson4,688
31.0%Eisenhower2,105
0.0%
D+38.0
R+16.3
D+48.8
6,793
D
74.4%Truman3,234
20.0%Dewey871
5.6%
D+54.3
R+7.7
D+49.9
4,348
D
81.0%Roosevelt3,448
19.0%Dewey808
0.0%
D+62.0
R+12.9
D+54.5
4,256
D
87.5%Roosevelt3,682
12.5%Willkie527
0.0%
D+75.0
D+5.5
D+65.0
4,209
D
84.7%Roosevelt3,723
15.3%Landon670
0.0%
D+69.5
D+6.1
D+45.2
4,393
D
81.5%Roosevelt3,058
18.2%Hoover681
0.3%
D+63.4
D+53.8
D+45.6
3,752
D
54.8%Smith1,715
45.2%Hoover1,416
0.0%
D+9.5
R+34.5
D+27.0
3,131
D
71.8%Davis1,834
27.8%Coolidge710
0.4%
D+44.0
D+9.9
D+69.2
2,554
D
67.1%Cox2,327
32.9%Harding1,143
0.0%
D+34.1
D+4.6
D+60.3
3,470
D
64.8%Wilson1,054
35.2%Hughes573
0.0%
D+29.6
R+0.4
D+26.4
1,627
D
62.8%Wilson862
32.8%Taft451
4.4%
D+29.9
D+10.6
D+10.4
1,373
D
59.7%Bryan832
40.3%Taft562
0.0%
D+19.4
—
D+28.9
1,394
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
No data
—
—
—
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
40.4%7,767
57.4%11,042
19,233
2020
R
41.3%11,851
53.7%15,419
28,714
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024R+0.8
vs
Presidential vote · 2024R+17.4
Registration leans Republican; the presidential vote runs 17 points more Democratic.
DemocraticRepublicanUnaffiliatedOther parties
Voter registration in Sanford, NC
Year
Total registered
Democratic
Republican
Unaffiliated
Other
2008
31,721
16,249
9,115
6,331
26
2012
34,927
16,441
10,197
8,194
95
2016
35,517
14,997
10,214
10,157
149
2020
38,771
13,859
11,746
12,876
290
2022
39,371
12,941
11,907
14,263
260
2024
41,335
12,445
12,792
15,620
478
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net domestic migration over time
+905 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net +5,766 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Domestic migration in Sanford, NC in Sanford, NC: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
+349
2012
+369
2013
+258
2014
−720
2015
−279
2016
−5
2017
+488
2018
+505
2019
+304
2021
+638
2022
+1,242
2023
+1,183
2024
+529
2025
+905
Sanford anchors Lee County, a historically tobacco-and-textiles economy now courting industrial diversification. The metro has trended competitive in recent cycles as in-migration from the Raleigh corridor reshapes its traditionally conservative voter base.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 75.0 points in 1940 and a Republican high of 47.5 points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 2.5 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 17.4 points.
A population of 65,816, a 56% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $65,387 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Kinston, NC and Wilson, NC.
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 →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Sanford, NC, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/41820/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Embed this page
A live widget for your site — no API key, attribution built in, CC BY 4.0. All widgets & sizes →
In 2024, Sanford, NC, North Carolina voted Republican by 17.4 points (R+17.4), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 30,081 votes cast, 12,245 went Democratic and 17,489 went Republican.
When did Sanford, NC, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Sanford, NC, North Carolina voted Democratic was 1980.
How many people live in Sanford, NC, North Carolina?
Sanford, NC, North Carolina has a population of 65,816 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sanford, NC, North Carolina?
Median household income in Sanford, NC, North Carolina is $65,387 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Sanford, NC, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Sanford, NC, North Carolina from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 12 went Republican.
