Polk County, North Carolina
Precinct data
Results by precinct
7 precincts · 13,068 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
| Precinct -TR123TR123 | 1,297 | 1,046 | 41 | 2,384 | 54.4% | 43.9% | D+10.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precinct -CL08CL08 | 896 | 1,450 | 18 | 2,364 | 37.9% | 61.3% | R+23.4 |
| Precinct -GC09GC09 | 698 | 1,499 | 16 | 2,213 | 31.5% | 67.7% | R+36.2 |
| Precinct -CL07CL07 | 710 | 1,174 | 19 | 1,903 | 37.3% | 61.7% | R+24.4 |
| Precinct -CG05CG05 | 283 | 1,146 | 12 | 1,441 | 19.6% | 79.5% | R+59.9 |
| Precinct -WO06WO06 | 392 | 1,006 | 15 | 1,413 | 27.7% | 71.2% | R+43.5 |
| Precinct -SA04SA04 | 551 | 786 | 13 | 1,350 | 40.8% | 58.2% | R+17.4 |
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | −5.1% |
| 1896 | −21.6% |
| 1900 | −14.7% |
| 1904 | −5.9% |
| 1908 | −9.7% |
| 1912 | +39.2% |
| 1916 | −5.0% |
| 1920 | +1.3% |
| 1924 | +5.5% |
| 1928 | −7.4% |
| 1932 | +25.5% |
| 1936 | +16.8% |
| 1940 | +23.3% |
| 1944 | +16.5% |
| 1948 | +11.1% |
| 1952 | +3.4% |
| 1956 | −5.5% |
| 1960 | −1.7% |
| 1964 | +4.4% |
| 1968 | −18.5% |
| 1972 | −36.8% |
| 1976 | +9.5% |
| 1980 | −11.5% |
| 1984 | −30.0% |
| 1988 | −20.9% |
| 1992 | −6.8% |
| 1996 | −12.0% |
| 2000 | −23.6% |
| 2004 | −15.0% |
| 2008 | −15.1% |
| 2012 | −21.4% |
| 2016 | −27.7% |
| 2020 | −25.7% |
| 2024 | −25.1% |
U.S. Senate
| Year | Won | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | R | 38.1%3,635 | 59.6%5,686 | 9,547 |
| 2020 | R | 36.2%4,436 | 60.3%7,394 | 12,252 |
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Registration leans Republican; the presidential vote runs 8.0 points more Democratic.
| Year | Total registered | Democratic | Republican | Unaffiliated | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 14,628 | 4,926 | 5,377 | 4,319 | 6 |
| 2012 | 15,289 | 4,879 | 5,357 | 5,011 | 42 |
| 2016 | 16,092 | 4,636 | 5,598 | 5,785 | 73 |
| 2020 | 16,532 | 4,059 | 6,097 | 6,260 | 116 |
| 2022 | 16,507 | 3,743 | 6,127 | 6,525 | 112 |
| 2024 | 17,441 | 3,645 | 6,621 | 7,014 | 161 |
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
+341 net domestic migration · 2025
Net +3,670 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $83,109 in average income, against $82,760 for residents who stayed. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
The places arrivals came from lean R+18.2 on average — 6.9 points more Democratic-leaning than Polk County, NC itself (R+25.1).
Where arrivals came from lean of each source
- Henderson County, NC97R+14.5
- Spartanburg County, SC76R+33.6
- Buncombe County, NC58D+24.7
- Rutherford County, NC53R+47.7
- Greenville County, SC28R+22.2
Where departures went households, 2022–23
- Henderson County, NC105
- Spartanburg County, SC97
- Rutherford County, NC71
- Buncombe County, NC37
- Greenville County, SC32
Migration is one input to a place’s political change, not its cause — a shift can also come from residents changing their minds, generational turnover, or turnout. These figures describe the places people moved between; they do not measure how any mover voted.
| Year | Net domestic migration |
|---|---|
| 2011 | −11 |
| 2012 | +93 |
| 2013 | +286 |
| 2014 | +113 |
| 2015 | +178 |
| 2016 | +130 |
| 2017 | +279 |
| 2018 | +259 |
| 2019 | +195 |
| 2021 | +553 |
| 2022 | +495 |
| 2023 | +247 |
| 2024 | +512 |
| 2025 | +341 |
Polk County's 18,000 residents sit along the South Carolina border in North Carolina's southern mountains, where the 2024 presidential contest broke roughly 62–37 in favor of the Republican nominee — a margin consistent with its decade-long rightward drift.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 39.2 points in 1912 and a Republican high of 36.8 points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 0.6 points toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was 25.1 points.
A population of 19,891, a 87% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $67,758 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Transylvania County and Macon County.
The counties whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Browse places by community — income, education, race & ethnicity, language — all community cuts →
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 →
Polk County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37149/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.