Henderson County, North Carolina: Realigning Affluent Suburb county. In 2024, voted R+14%. Republican peak: R+62 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+14MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Realigning Affluent SuburbAkashic typology
- Population
- 118,4842024 5-year
- Median household income
- $68,1872024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 81.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 13.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+34 in 2000MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+62 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Gaston County, NC · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Henderson CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Henderson 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 | −16.9% |
| 1896 | −17.5% |
| 1900 | −20.7% |
| 1904 | −20.4% |
| 1908 | −27.2% |
| 1912 | +12.8% |
| 1916 | −21.2% |
| 1920 | −14.4% |
| 1924 | −8.2% |
| 1928 | −24.7% |
| 1932 | +11.4% |
| 1936 | +6.0% |
| 1940 | +26.1% |
| 1944 | +10.4% |
| 1948 | −17.2% |
| 1952 | −39.5% |
| 1956 | −39.6% |
| 1960 | −40.3% |
| 1964 | −18.3% |
| 1968 | −38.7% |
| 1972 | −62.3% |
| 1976 | −14.0% |
| 1980 | −27.0% |
| 1984 | −45.5% |
| 1988 | −35.6% |
| 1992 | −18.9% |
| 1996 | −26.2% |
| 2000 | +34.0% |
| 2004 | −30.1% |
| 2008 | −21.0% |
| 2012 | −27.4% |
| 2016 | −27.5% |
| 2020 | −18.8% |
| 2024 | −14.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 29,361 | 39,497 | 69,974 | ||
| R | 27,211 | 40,032 | 68,371 | ||
| R | 19,827 | 35,809 | 58,176 | ||
| R | 18,642 | 32,994 | 52,392 | ||
| R | 20,082 | 30,930 | 51,614 | ||
| R | 15,003 | 28,025 | 43,234 | ||
| D | 25,688 | 12,562 | 38,607 | ||
| R | 10,626 | 19,182 | 32,676 | ||
| R | 10,747 | 17,010 | 33,072 | ||
| R | 9,338 | 19,711 | 29,125 | ||
| R | 7,222 | 19,369 | 26,697 | ||
| R | 7,578 | 13,573 | 22,181 | ||
| R | 8,155 | 10,830 | 19,147 | ||
| R | 2,701 | 12,134 | 15,135 | ||
| R | 3,053 | 9,334 | 16,248 | ||
| R | 6,066 | 8,780 | 14,846 | ||
| R | 4,611 | 10,835 | 15,446 | ||
| R | 4,003 | 9,243 | 13,246 | ||
| R | 3,803 | 8,768 | 12,571 | ||
| R | 3,311 | 4,971 | 9,632 | ||
| D | 5,679 | 4,613 | 10,292 | ||
| D | 6,336 | 3,712 | 10,048 | ||
| D | 5,747 | 5,099 | 10,846 | ||
| D | 5,255 | 4,172 | 9,490 | ||
| R | 3,149 | 5,210 | 8,359 | ||
| R | 3,007 | 3,548 | 6,603 | ||
| R | 2,496 | 3,337 | 5,833 | ||
| R | 1,166 | 1,795 | 2,961 | ||
| D | 1,092 | 801 | 2,275 | ||
| R | 917 | 1,602 | 2,519 | ||
| R | 887 | 1,341 | 2,228 | ||
| R | 973 | 1,482 | 2,455 | ||
| R | 1,022 | 1,459 | 2,493 | ||
| R | 835 | 1,197 | 2,137 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
17.3%
German
12.9%
Irish
12.2%
American
10.4%
Scottish
3.8%
Italian
3.0%
French
2.2%
African American
2.3%
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: 47.5 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
$68,187
Henderson County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Henderson County$68,187
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Henderson 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
11.6%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.2%
Working age (18–64)10.2%
Seniors (65+)9.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.9%
speak English only
Spanish10.0%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 50.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Henderson County's population has grown steadily as retirees relocate to the Blue Ridge foothills, adding new residents to a county that nonetheless delivered a 14.5-point Republican margin in 2024.
Once reliably Republican — a margin of sixty-two points in 1972 at its widest — Henderson County has trended Democratic. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was fourteen points.
A median household income of $68,187 — among the higher at this geographic scale — and a population of 118,484 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Gaston County and Transylvania 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.
Henderson County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37089/. 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 Henderson County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Henderson County, North Carolina voted Republican by 14.5 points (R+14), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 69,974 votes cast, 29,361 went Democratic and 39,497 went Republican.
What is Henderson County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Henderson County, North Carolina in the "Realigning Affluent Suburb" typology — College-educated, affluent suburbs — the one bloc moving toward the Democratic Party. 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 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Henderson County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Henderson County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Henderson County, North Carolina?
Henderson County, North Carolina has a population of 118,484 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Henderson County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Henderson County, North Carolina is $68,187 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Henderson County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Henderson County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Realigning Affluent Suburb" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.