Catawba County, North Carolina: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+38%. Republican peak: R+51 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+38MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 163,5732024 5-year
- Median household income
- $67,8642024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 74.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+46 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Rowan County, NC · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Catawba CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Catawba 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 | +29.7% |
| 1896 | +44.7% |
| 1900 | +2.7% |
| 1904 | +6.1% |
| 1908 | −3.7% |
| 1912 | +45.5% |
| 1916 | −1.1% |
| 1920 | −4.7% |
| 1924 | −2.0% |
| 1928 | −21.2% |
| 1932 | +18.3% |
| 1936 | +26.6% |
| 1940 | +33.0% |
| 1944 | +16.9% |
| 1948 | −3.1% |
| 1952 | −18.5% |
| 1956 | −25.5% |
| 1960 | −17.3% |
| 1964 | −4.0% |
| 1968 | −35.0% |
| 1972 | −50.5% |
| 1976 | −5.1% |
| 1980 | −23.8% |
| 1984 | −45.7% |
| 1988 | −38.1% |
| 1992 | −18.5% |
| 1996 | −24.4% |
| 2000 | +35.4% |
| 2004 | −35.3% |
| 2008 | −25.0% |
| 2012 | −29.4% |
| 2016 | −37.5% |
| 2020 | −37.0% |
| 2024 | −37.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 26,569 | 59,577 | 87,109 | ||
| R | 25,689 | 56,588 | 83,425 | ||
| R | 21,216 | 48,324 | 72,351 | ||
| R | 24,069 | 44,538 | 69,601 | ||
| R | 25,656 | 42,993 | 69,451 | ||
| R | 18,858 | 39,602 | 58,688 | ||
| D | 34,244 | 16,246 | 50,841 | ||
| R | 15,601 | 26,898 | 46,354 | ||
| R | 16,334 | 25,466 | 49,409 | ||
| R | 12,922 | 28,872 | 41,838 | ||
| R | 11,700 | 31,476 | 43,250 | ||
| R | 13,873 | 22,873 | 37,878 | ||
| R | 16,862 | 18,696 | 35,708 | ||
| R | 7,744 | 24,106 | 32,375 | ||
| R | 6,974 | 18,393 | 32,652 | ||
| R | 15,814 | 17,116 | 32,930 | ||
| R | 13,491 | 19,135 | 32,626 | ||
| R | 11,424 | 19,246 | 30,670 | ||
| R | 11,554 | 16,814 | 28,368 | ||
| R | 8,844 | 9,471 | 19,937 | ||
| D | 10,146 | 7,211 | 17,357 | ||
| D | 11,233 | 5,656 | 16,889 | ||
| D | 11,017 | 6,387 | 17,404 | ||
| D | 8,446 | 5,817 | 14,340 | ||
| R | 4,916 | 7,556 | 12,472 | ||
| R | 5,754 | 5,998 | 11,919 | ||
| R | 5,404 | 5,935 | 11,339 | ||
| R | 2,569 | 2,624 | 5,207 | ||
| D | 2,110 | 203 | 4,188 | ||
| R | 1,864 | 2,010 | 3,909 | ||
| D | 1,497 | 1,309 | 3,082 | ||
| D | 1,612 | 1,522 | 3,292 | ||
| D | 2,649 | 1,004 | 3,682 | ||
| D | 1,711 | 705 | 3,382 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
14.7%
English
13.2%
American
11.0%
Irish
7.9%
Italian
2.6%
Scottish
2.4%
French
1.5%
African American
6.3%
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: 42.1 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
$67,864
Catawba County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Catawba County$67,864
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Catawba 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
12.7%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.3%
Working age (18–64)11.5%
Seniors (65+)11.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.2%
speak English only
Spanish8.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.1%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 41.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Catawba County anchors North Carolina's furniture and fiber-optics corridor along the Catawba River, and its working-class industrial base has drifted steadily toward lopsided Republican margins over the past two decades.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-one points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-eight points.
A median household income of $67,864, a 75% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 163,573 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Rowan County and Iredell 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.
Catawba County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37035/. 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 Catawba County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Catawba County, North Carolina voted Republican by 37.9 points (R+38), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 87,109 votes cast, 26,569 went Democratic and 59,577 went Republican.
What is Catawba County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Catawba County, North Carolina in the "Sunbelt Conservative" typology — Affluent, predominantly white Sunbelt counties — reliably Republican. 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 10 times, Republican 24 times, and other 0 times.
When did Catawba County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Catawba County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Catawba County, North Carolina?
Catawba County, North Carolina has a population of 163,573 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Catawba County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Catawba County, North Carolina is $67,864 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Catawba County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Catawba County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.