Lincoln County, North Carolina: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+46%. Democratic peak: D+51 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+46MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 92,7162024 5-year
- Median household income
- $80,0162024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 83.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 8.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+51 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+47 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Stanly County, NC · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Lincoln CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Lincoln 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 | +17.5% |
| 1896 | +14.2% |
| 1900 | −11.8% |
| 1904 | +13.9% |
| 1908 | +0.2% |
| 1912 | +51.1% |
| 1916 | +5.2% |
| 1920 | +3.0% |
| 1924 | +4.5% |
| 1928 | −14.9% |
| 1932 | +10.5% |
| 1936 | +22.3% |
| 1940 | +22.5% |
| 1944 | +6.2% |
| 1948 | −0.8% |
| 1952 | −7.2% |
| 1956 | −6.4% |
| 1960 | −0.6% |
| 1964 | +10.9% |
| 1968 | −16.0% |
| 1972 | −25.2% |
| 1976 | +17.1% |
| 1980 | −7.1% |
| 1984 | −35.5% |
| 1988 | −28.7% |
| 1992 | −12.8% |
| 1996 | −17.8% |
| 2000 | +30.7% |
| 2004 | −35.9% |
| 2008 | −33.3% |
| 2012 | −38.7% |
| 2016 | −47.2% |
| 2020 | −45.9% |
| 2024 | −45.6% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 14,842 | 40,183 | 55,582 | ||
| R | 13,274 | 36,341 | 50,217 | ||
| R | 9,897 | 28,806 | 40,023 | ||
| R | 11,024 | 25,267 | 36,775 | ||
| R | 11,713 | 23,631 | 35,798 | ||
| R | 9,434 | 20,052 | 29,579 | ||
| D | 15,951 | 8,412 | 24,529 | ||
| R | 7,721 | 11,439 | 20,850 | ||
| R | 8,150 | 11,018 | 22,355 | ||
| R | 6,444 | 11,651 | 18,130 | ||
| R | 5,996 | 12,621 | 18,659 | ||
| R | 7,796 | 9,009 | 17,196 | ||
| D | 9,462 | 6,682 | 16,210 | ||
| R | 5,100 | 8,597 | 13,892 | ||
| R | 4,044 | 6,188 | 13,393 | ||
| D | 7,304 | 5,869 | 13,173 | ||
| R | 6,728 | 6,816 | 13,544 | ||
| R | 5,838 | 6,637 | 12,475 | ||
| R | 5,389 | 6,228 | 11,617 | ||
| R | 3,570 | 3,635 | 8,358 | ||
| D | 4,168 | 3,678 | 7,846 | ||
| D | 4,901 | 3,099 | 8,000 | ||
| D | 5,515 | 3,501 | 9,016 | ||
| D | 4,399 | 3,563 | 7,996 | ||
| R | 2,913 | 3,930 | 6,843 | ||
| D | 2,909 | 2,658 | 5,609 | ||
| D | 3,331 | 3,137 | 6,468 | ||
| D | 1,521 | 1,369 | 2,899 | ||
| D | 1,280 | 49 | 2,410 | ||
| D | 1,222 | 1,217 | 2,439 | ||
| D | 1,009 | 761 | 1,781 | ||
| R | 892 | 1,133 | 2,047 | ||
| D | 1,349 | 1,010 | 2,382 | ||
| D | 976 | 617 | 2,051 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
16.3%
English
12.9%
American
10.9%
Irish
9.8%
Italian
3.2%
Scottish
2.4%
Polish
2.1%
African American
4.7%
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: 44.4 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
$80,016
Lincoln County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Lincoln County$80,016
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Lincoln County ranks in the top 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
11.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.1%
Working age (18–64)9.8%
Seniors (65+)14.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.5%
speak English only
Spanish6.5%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Lincoln County, anchored by Lincolnton in the western Piedmont, has delivered lopsided Republican margins for over a decade, with its largely rural and small-town electorate showing little competitive movement in recent cycles.
The Republican margin here reached forty-seven points in 2016. The 2024 margin was forty-six points.
A population of 92,716, a 83% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $80,016 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Stanly County and Alexander 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.
Lincoln County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37109/. 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 Lincoln County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Lincoln County, North Carolina voted Republican by 45.6 points (R+46), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 55,582 votes cast, 14,842 went Democratic and 40,183 went Republican.
What is Lincoln County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Lincoln 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 15 times, Republican 19 times, and other 0 times.
When did Lincoln County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lincoln County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Lincoln County, North Carolina?
Lincoln County, North Carolina has a population of 92,716 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lincoln County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Lincoln County, North Carolina is $80,016 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Lincoln County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Lincoln County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 19 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.