Orange County, North Carolina: Diversifying Metro county. In 2024, voted D+51%. Democratic peak: D+54 in 1940.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+51MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Diversifying MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 149,6782024 5-year
- Median household income
- $90,0892024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 68.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 10.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+54 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+26 in 2000MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Durham County, NC · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Orange CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Orange 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 | +6.4% |
| 1896 | +14.6% |
| 1900 | −0.2% |
| 1904 | +23.1% |
| 1908 | −2.7% |
| 1912 | +41.4% |
| 1916 | +3.0% |
| 1920 | +6.9% |
| 1924 | +27.0% |
| 1928 | −17.5% |
| 1932 | +43.1% |
| 1936 | +45.5% |
| 1940 | +53.9% |
| 1944 | +38.1% |
| 1948 | +29.3% |
| 1952 | +15.0% |
| 1956 | +3.8% |
| 1960 | +15.7% |
| 1964 | +22.8% |
| 1968 | +12.4% |
| 1972 | +4.1% |
| 1976 | +25.6% |
| 1980 | +20.9% |
| 1984 | +13.7% |
| 1988 | +21.1% |
| 1992 | +33.0% |
| 1996 | +29.1% |
| 2000 | −26.3% |
| 2004 | +34.5% |
| 2008 | +44.8% |
| 2012 | +42.2% |
| 2016 | +50.2% |
| 2020 | +51.1% |
| 2024 | +50.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 65,444 | 20,806 | 87,807 | ||
| D | 63,594 | 20,176 | 84,997 | ||
| D | 59,923 | 18,557 | 82,340 | ||
| D | 53,901 | 21,539 | 76,757 | ||
| D | 53,806 | 20,266 | 74,910 | ||
| D | 42,910 | 20,771 | 64,153 | ||
| R | 17,930 | 30,921 | 49,344 | ||
| D | 28,674 | 15,053 | 46,765 | ||
| D | 28,595 | 13,009 | 47,300 | ||
| D | 22,326 | 14,503 | 37,067 | ||
| D | 20,564 | 15,585 | 36,277 | ||
| D | 15,226 | 9,261 | 28,589 | ||
| D | 15,755 | 9,302 | 25,226 | ||
| D | 12,634 | 11,632 | 24,408 | ||
| D | 8,366 | 6,097 | 18,308 | ||
| D | 9,206 | 5,785 | 14,991 | ||
| D | 7,180 | 5,231 | 12,411 | ||
| D | 4,743 | 4,396 | 9,139 | ||
| D | 5,156 | 3,813 | 8,969 | ||
| D | 3,523 | 1,813 | 5,843 | ||
| D | 3,274 | 1,467 | 4,741 | ||
| D | 3,673 | 1,100 | 4,773 | ||
| D | 3,860 | 1,446 | 5,306 | ||
| D | 2,924 | 1,114 | 4,203 | ||
| R | 1,799 | 2,564 | 4,363 | ||
| D | 1,879 | 1,065 | 3,010 | ||
| D | 1,993 | 1,737 | 3,730 | ||
| D | 1,230 | 1,158 | 2,388 | ||
| D | 997 | 172 | 1,994 | ||
| R | 1,017 | 1,073 | 2,092 | ||
| D | 900 | 558 | 1,483 | ||
| R | 1,275 | 1,280 | 2,565 | ||
| D | 1,700 | 1,264 | 2,978 | ||
| D | 1,117 | 936 | 2,830 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
15.6%
German
11.1%
Irish
10.0%
Italian
4.8%
American
4.0%
Scottish
3.8%
Polish
2.6%
African American
8.4%
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: 36.1 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
$90,089
Orange County ranks in the top 10% of US counties.
Orange County$90,089
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Orange County ranks in the top 10% 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
12.5%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.6%
Working age (18–64)13.9%
Seniors (65+)5.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
83.0%
speak English only
Spanish8.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander4.8%
Other Indo-European3.3%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 50.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Orange County's D+50.8 margin in 2024 reflects the outsized influence of a flagship research university on local political composition — a pattern common to college-dominated counties nationwide but rarely this pronounced in the South.
The Democratic margin here reached fifty-four points in 1940. The 2024 margin was fifty-one points.
A population of 149,678, a 69% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $90,089 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Durham County and Todd 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.
Orange County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37135/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in North Carolina
More diversifying metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Orange County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Orange County, North Carolina voted Democratic by 50.8 points (D+51), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 87,807 votes cast, 65,444 went Democratic and 20,806 went Republican.
What is Orange County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Orange County, North Carolina in the "Diversifying Metro" typology — Mid-size metropolitan counties growing more diverse and trending Democratic. 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 30 times, Republican 4 times, and other 0 times.
When did Orange County, North Carolina last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Orange County, North Carolina voted Republican was 2000.
How many people live in Orange County, North Carolina?
Orange County, North Carolina has a population of 149,678 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Orange County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Orange County, North Carolina is $90,089 — above the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Orange County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Orange County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 30 went Democratic and 4 went Republican. The county's typology — "Diversifying Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.