Chowan County, North Carolina: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted R+22%. Democratic peak: D+92 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+22MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 13,8362024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,8642024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 60.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 32.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+92 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+34 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Southampton County, VA · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Chowan CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Chowan 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 | −12.4% |
| 1896 | −18.3% |
| 1900 | −1.9% |
| 1904 | +58.9% |
| 1908 | +48.9% |
| 1912 | +75.4% |
| 1916 | +73.9% |
| 1920 | +67.8% |
| 1924 | +75.4% |
| 1928 | +45.3% |
| 1932 | +92.2% |
| 1936 | +88.3% |
| 1940 | +89.4% |
| 1944 | +77.6% |
| 1948 | +74.3% |
| 1952 | +45.9% |
| 1956 | +45.5% |
| 1960 | +56.5% |
| 1964 | +36.6% |
| 1968 | +10.9% |
| 1972 | −33.8% |
| 1976 | +29.2% |
| 1980 | +19.7% |
| 1984 | −11.1% |
| 1988 | −3.5% |
| 1992 | +10.5% |
| 1996 | +13.6% |
| 2000 | −0.3% |
| 2004 | −10.4% |
| 2008 | −1.1% |
| 2012 | −4.5% |
| 2016 | −14.1% |
| 2020 | −15.7% |
| 2024 | −22.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,895 | 4,587 | 7,552 | ||
| R | 3,247 | 4,471 | 7,784 | ||
| R | 2,992 | 4,014 | 7,228 | ||
| R | 3,556 | 3,891 | 7,505 | ||
| R | 3,688 | 3,773 | 7,512 | ||
| R | 2,406 | 2,967 | 5,386 | ||
| R | 2,415 | 2,430 | 4,890 | ||
| D | 2,239 | 1,659 | 4,276 | ||
| D | 2,136 | 1,661 | 4,506 | ||
| R | 1,756 | 1,884 | 3,654 | ||
| R | 1,736 | 2,171 | 3,918 | ||
| D | 2,146 | 1,424 | 3,660 | ||
| D | 1,862 | 1,019 | 2,889 | ||
| R | 936 | 1,906 | 2,871 | ||
| O | 1,201 | 798 | 3,695 | ||
| D | 1,696 | 787 | 2,483 | ||
| D | 1,920 | 533 | 2,453 | ||
| D | 1,485 | 556 | 2,041 | ||
| D | 1,448 | 537 | 1,985 | ||
| D | 1,070 | 124 | 1,274 | ||
| D | 1,314 | 166 | 1,480 | ||
| D | 1,547 | 87 | 1,634 | ||
| D | 1,550 | 96 | 1,646 | ||
| D | 1,639 | 64 | 1,708 | ||
| D | 936 | 352 | 1,288 | ||
| D | 714 | 98 | 817 | ||
| D | 1,091 | 209 | 1,300 | ||
| D | 610 | 91 | 702 | ||
| D | 663 | 60 | 800 | ||
| D | 621 | 213 | 834 | ||
| D | 573 | 148 | 721 | ||
| R | 898 | 932 | 1,830 | ||
| R | 791 | 1,146 | 1,937 | ||
| R | 679 | 882 | 1,641 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
15.3%
American
11.5%
Irish
5.7%
German
5.0%
Italian
2.8%
Polish
1.7%
Scottish
1.2%
African American
26.2%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 48.6 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
$53,864
Chowan County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Chowan County$53,864
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Chowan County ranks in the bottom 25% 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
19.1%
Nearly half of children live in poverty.
Children under 1842.0%
Working age (18–64)14.3%
Seniors (65+)7.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.5%
speak English only
Spanish3.6%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 0.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Chowan's roughly 14,500 residents sit along the Albemarle Sound in northeastern North Carolina, where a shrinking population and an economy tied to agriculture and timber have correlated with steadily shifting presidential preferences over the past decade.
The Democratic margin here reached ninety-two points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-two points. The recent movement, modest against a deep Democratic baseline, mirrors a broader rightward drift across the Black Belt.
The economic context is part of the story: a median household income of $53,864 and a 19% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Southampton County and Chesterfield 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.
Chowan County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37041/. 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 Chowan County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Chowan County, North Carolina voted Republican by 22.4 points (R+22), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 7,552 votes cast, 2,895 went Democratic and 4,587 went Republican.
What is Chowan County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Chowan County, North Carolina in the "Black Belt" typology — Black-majority counties of the rural South — long the most Democratic ground in the region, now trending Republican at the margins. 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 20 times, Republican 13 times, and other 1 times.
When did Chowan County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Chowan County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Chowan County, North Carolina?
Chowan County, North Carolina has a population of 13,836 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Chowan County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Chowan County, North Carolina is $53,864 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Chowan County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Chowan County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 20 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.