McDowell County, North Carolina: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+49%. Republican peak: R+50 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+49MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 44,8172024 5-year
- Median household income
- $57,1682024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 87.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+41 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Surry County, NC · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of McDowell CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for McDowell 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 | +11.8% |
| 1900 | −0.5% |
| 1904 | −5.3% |
| 1908 | −2.6% |
| 1912 | +32.1% |
| 1916 | +2.2% |
| 1920 | +4.6% |
| 1924 | +7.7% |
| 1928 | +0.1% |
| 1932 | +31.8% |
| 1936 | +26.4% |
| 1940 | +41.0% |
| 1944 | +27.9% |
| 1948 | +15.3% |
| 1952 | +0.5% |
| 1956 | −10.9% |
| 1960 | −11.4% |
| 1964 | +20.4% |
| 1968 | −21.3% |
| 1972 | −46.3% |
| 1976 | +16.7% |
| 1980 | −9.2% |
| 1984 | −30.4% |
| 1988 | −18.9% |
| 1992 | −5.9% |
| 1996 | −15.1% |
| 2000 | +31.1% |
| 2004 | −32.9% |
| 2008 | −27.0% |
| 2012 | −31.7% |
| 2016 | −49.8% |
| 2020 | −48.0% |
| 2024 | −49.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,911 | 17,520 | 23,655 | ||
| R | 5,832 | 16,883 | 23,003 | ||
| R | 4,667 | 14,568 | 19,875 | ||
| R | 6,031 | 11,775 | 18,099 | ||
| R | 6,571 | 11,534 | 18,386 | ||
| R | 5,330 | 10,590 | 16,002 | ||
| D | 9,109 | 4,747 | 14,011 | ||
| R | 4,553 | 6,407 | 12,278 | ||
| R | 5,309 | 6,090 | 13,295 | ||
| R | 4,449 | 6,526 | 10,997 | ||
| R | 4,076 | 7,639 | 11,736 | ||
| R | 4,703 | 5,680 | 10,606 | ||
| D | 6,246 | 4,450 | 10,746 | ||
| R | 2,348 | 6,570 | 9,114 | ||
| R | 2,543 | 4,740 | 10,301 | ||
| D | 6,314 | 4,174 | 10,488 | ||
| R | 4,889 | 6,148 | 11,037 | ||
| R | 4,392 | 5,468 | 9,860 | ||
| D | 4,755 | 4,710 | 9,465 | ||
| D | 3,805 | 2,709 | 7,152 | ||
| D | 4,008 | 2,258 | 6,266 | ||
| D | 5,290 | 2,216 | 7,506 | ||
| D | 5,352 | 3,114 | 8,466 | ||
| D | 4,810 | 2,478 | 7,323 | ||
| D | 3,430 | 3,423 | 6,853 | ||
| D | 3,023 | 2,590 | 5,638 | ||
| D | 2,809 | 2,561 | 5,370 | ||
| D | 1,274 | 1,218 | 2,494 | ||
| D | 1,037 | 343 | 2,163 | ||
| R | 950 | 1,000 | 1,954 | ||
| R | 836 | 931 | 1,792 | ||
| R | 1,014 | 1,024 | 2,055 | ||
| D | 1,204 | 950 | 2,158 | ||
| D | 1,055 | 727 | 1,862 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
14.3%
American
11.7%
Irish
10.4%
German
8.7%
Scottish
2.2%
Italian
1.6%
French
1.0%
African American
3.1%
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: 44.3 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
$57,168
McDowell County ranks near the middle of US counties.
McDowell County$57,168
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
McDowell 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
14.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.3%
Working age (18–64)13.7%
Seniors (65+)13.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.8%
speak English only
Spanish5.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%
Other Indo-European0.6%
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 54.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Nestled in the Blue Ridge foothills west of Morganton, McDowell County delivered a 49-point Republican presidential margin in 2024, reflecting the broader rural Appalachian shift that has reshaped western North Carolina's electoral map over the past two decades.
The Republican margin here reached fifty points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-nine points.
A median household income of $57,168, a 88% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 44,817 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Surry County and Tripp 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.
McDowell County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37111/. 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 McDowell County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, McDowell County, North Carolina voted Republican by 49.1 points (R+49), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 23,655 votes cast, 5,911 went Democratic and 17,520 went Republican.
What is McDowell County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places McDowell 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 16 times, Republican 18 times, and other 0 times.
When did McDowell County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which McDowell County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in McDowell County, North Carolina?
McDowell County, North Carolina has a population of 44,817 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in McDowell County, North Carolina?
Median household income in McDowell County, North Carolina is $57,168 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of McDowell County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in McDowell County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.