Clay County, North Carolina: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+50%. Republican peak: R+51 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+50MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 11,6102024 5-year
- Median household income
- $56,9712024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+46 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Cherokee County, NC · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Clay CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Clay 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 | +17.6% |
| 1896 | +22.8% |
| 1900 | +1.3% |
| 1904 | +1.6% |
| 1908 | +3.3% |
| 1912 | +45.7% |
| 1916 | −6.2% |
| 1920 | −9.4% |
| 1924 | −6.6% |
| 1928 | −10.1% |
| 1932 | +2.9% |
| 1936 | −6.5% |
| 1940 | +6.9% |
| 1944 | −0.7% |
| 1948 | +3.7% |
| 1952 | −0.1% |
| 1956 | −5.7% |
| 1960 | −13.5% |
| 1964 | +6.2% |
| 1968 | −21.5% |
| 1972 | −31.6% |
| 1976 | +4.7% |
| 1980 | −22.9% |
| 1984 | −25.4% |
| 1988 | −25.4% |
| 1992 | −7.3% |
| 1996 | −8.4% |
| 2000 | +27.4% |
| 2004 | −32.5% |
| 2008 | −35.6% |
| 2012 | −42.4% |
| 2016 | −51.1% |
| 2020 | −49.5% |
| 2024 | −50.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,899 | 5,761 | 7,728 | ||
| R | 1,699 | 5,112 | 6,893 | ||
| R | 1,367 | 4,437 | 6,010 | ||
| R | 1,579 | 3,973 | 5,642 | ||
| R | 1,734 | 3,707 | 5,543 | ||
| R | 1,628 | 3,209 | 4,866 | ||
| D | 2,416 | 1,361 | 3,852 | ||
| R | 1,462 | 1,769 | 3,655 | ||
| R | 1,600 | 1,890 | 3,960 | ||
| R | 1,289 | 2,174 | 3,480 | ||
| R | 1,340 | 2,259 | 3,619 | ||
| R | 1,324 | 2,136 | 3,547 | ||
| D | 1,569 | 1,428 | 3,012 | ||
| R | 797 | 1,545 | 2,370 | ||
| R | 847 | 1,390 | 2,530 | ||
| D | 1,457 | 1,286 | 2,743 | ||
| R | 1,264 | 1,657 | 2,921 | ||
| R | 1,287 | 1,442 | 2,729 | ||
| R | 1,439 | 1,443 | 2,882 | ||
| D | 1,307 | 1,213 | 2,575 | ||
| R | 1,245 | 1,263 | 2,508 | ||
| D | 1,349 | 1,176 | 2,525 | ||
| R | 1,340 | 1,525 | 2,865 | ||
| D | 1,341 | 1,265 | 2,614 | ||
| R | 903 | 1,106 | 2,009 | ||
| R | 953 | 1,090 | 2,061 | ||
| R | 755 | 911 | 1,666 | ||
| R | 400 | 453 | 853 | ||
| O | 372 | 17 | 776 | ||
| D | 343 | 321 | 665 | ||
| D | 336 | 325 | 667 | ||
| D | 404 | 394 | 798 | ||
| D | 476 | 299 | 775 | ||
| D | 383 | 256 | 721 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
18.7%
German
12.8%
Irish
10.8%
American
10.0%
Italian
5.8%
Scottish
3.1%
Polish
1.0%
African American
1.8%
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: 55.0 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
$56,971
Clay County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Clay County$56,971
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Clay 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
12.9%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.0%
Working age (18–64)11.9%
Seniors (65+)22.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.2%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
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 25.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Tucked into the Blue Ridge highlands on North Carolina's southwestern tip, Clay County delivered a 50-point Republican presidential margin in 2024, reflecting the deep rural conservatism that has steadily reshaped mountain communities across the region.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-one points in 2016. The 2024 margin was fifty points.
A population of 11,610, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $56,971 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Cherokee County and Currituck 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.
Clay County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37043/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in North Carolina
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Clay County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Clay County, North Carolina voted Republican by 50.0 points (R+50), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 7,728 votes cast, 1,899 went Democratic and 5,761 went Republican.
What is Clay County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Clay 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 11 times, Republican 22 times, and other 1 times.
When did Clay County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Clay County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Clay County, North Carolina?
Clay County, North Carolina has a population of 11,610 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Clay County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Clay County, North Carolina is $56,971 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Clay County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Clay County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.