Carteret County, North Carolina: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+43%. Republican peak: R+50 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+43MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 69,1482024 5-year
- Median household income
- $72,3222024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+49 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Stanly County, NC · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Carteret CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Carteret County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | +29.4% |
| 1896 | +16.2% |
| 1900 | +15.4% |
| 1904 | +21.3% |
| 1908 | +4.2% |
| 1912 | +49.0% |
| 1916 | −3.4% |
| 1920 | −5.6% |
| 1924 | +9.9% |
| 1928 | −21.0% |
| 1932 | +32.0% |
| 1936 | +33.4% |
| 1940 | +37.1% |
| 1944 | +38.0% |
| 1948 | +38.2% |
| 1952 | +18.1% |
| 1956 | +0.9% |
| 1960 | +7.9% |
| 1964 | +18.5% |
| 1968 | −7.3% |
| 1972 | −49.6% |
| 1976 | +10.0% |
| 1980 | −8.5% |
| 1984 | −32.8% |
| 1988 | −23.4% |
| 1992 | −10.6% |
| 1996 | −19.9% |
| 2000 | +32.3% |
| 2004 | −39.0% |
| 2008 | −34.7% |
| 2012 | −40.8% |
| 2016 | −44.0% |
| 2020 | −42.0% |
| 2024 | −43.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 12,813 | 32,508 | 45,817 | ||
| R | 12,093 | 30,028 | 42,695 | ||
| R | 9,939 | 26,569 | 37,781 | ||
| R | 10,301 | 24,775 | 35,517 | ||
| R | 11,130 | 23,131 | 34,597 | ||
| R | 7,732 | 17,716 | 25,575 | ||
| D | 17,381 | 8,839 | 26,461 | ||
| R | 7,566 | 11,721 | 20,876 | ||
| R | 8,028 | 10,334 | 21,819 | ||
| R | 6,859 | 11,076 | 17,994 | ||
| R | 5,882 | 11,637 | 17,557 | ||
| R | 6,485 | 7,733 | 14,767 | ||
| D | 7,080 | 5,786 | 12,939 | ||
| R | 2,805 | 8,463 | 11,415 | ||
| R | 3,762 | 4,593 | 11,416 | ||
| D | 6,231 | 4,289 | 10,520 | ||
| D | 5,264 | 4,493 | 9,757 | ||
| D | 3,875 | 3,804 | 7,679 | ||
| D | 4,280 | 2,967 | 7,247 | ||
| D | 3,491 | 1,520 | 5,160 | ||
| D | 3,489 | 1,566 | 5,055 | ||
| D | 3,896 | 1,789 | 5,685 | ||
| D | 3,780 | 1,889 | 5,669 | ||
| D | 3,455 | 1,765 | 5,275 | ||
| R | 2,045 | 3,133 | 5,178 | ||
| D | 2,261 | 1,854 | 4,130 | ||
| R | 2,070 | 2,315 | 4,385 | ||
| R | 1,165 | 1,246 | 2,411 | ||
| D | 1,153 | 218 | 1,908 | ||
| D | 1,152 | 1,060 | 2,212 | ||
| D | 1,012 | 656 | 1,668 | ||
| D | 1,046 | 767 | 1,817 | ||
| D | 1,308 | 943 | 2,257 | ||
| D | 1,211 | 613 | 2,036 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
24.4%
German
13.8%
Irish
12.9%
American
7.5%
Italian
4.9%
Scottish
2.7%
Polish
2.4%
African American
3.4%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 50.5 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$72,322
Carteret County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Carteret County$72,322
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Carteret County ranks near the middle of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.5%
Working age (18–64)9.6%
Seniors (65+)10.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.6%
speak English only
Spanish3.5%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 63.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Carteret's economy revolves around commercial fishing, military installations near Morehead City, and coastal tourism — a combination that has produced some of North Carolina's most consistent Republican supermajority margins over the past two decades.
The Republican margin here reached fifty points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-three points.
A population of 69,148, a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $72,322 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Stanly County and Lincoln County.
Most similar counties
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.
Carteret County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37031/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in North Carolina
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Frequently asked questions
How did Carteret County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Carteret County, North Carolina voted Republican by 43.0 points (R+43), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 45,817 votes cast, 12,813 went Democratic and 32,508 went Republican.
What is Carteret County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Carteret County, North Carolina in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 18 times, Republican 16 times, and other 0 times.
When did Carteret County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Carteret County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Carteret County, North Carolina?
Carteret County, North Carolina has a population of 69,148 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Carteret County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Carteret County, North Carolina is $72,322 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Carteret County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Carteret County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 16 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.