Sampson County, North Carolina: Florida Surge county. In 2024, voted R+30%. Republican peak: R+42 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+30MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Florida SurgeAkashic typology
- Population
- 59,4702024 5-year
- Median household income
- $52,4322024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 51.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 24.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 22.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+37 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Montgomery County, NC · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Sampson CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Sampson 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 | −0.6% |
| 1896 | +36.8% |
| 1900 | −21.8% |
| 1904 | −24.4% |
| 1908 | −29.7% |
| 1912 | +30.5% |
| 1916 | −33.2% |
| 1920 | −37.6% |
| 1924 | −22.3% |
| 1928 | −41.9% |
| 1932 | +8.6% |
| 1936 | +9.1% |
| 1940 | −6.1% |
| 1944 | −17.9% |
| 1948 | +0.3% |
| 1952 | +3.8% |
| 1956 | +3.7% |
| 1960 | +2.0% |
| 1964 | +2.8% |
| 1968 | −11.3% |
| 1972 | −32.6% |
| 1976 | +12.0% |
| 1980 | +5.6% |
| 1984 | −7.8% |
| 1988 | −3.1% |
| 1992 | +3.7% |
| 1996 | −0.5% |
| 2000 | +8.5% |
| 2004 | −13.2% |
| 2008 | −8.5% |
| 2012 | −10.9% |
| 2016 | −16.5% |
| 2020 | −22.5% |
| 2024 | −29.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 9,797 | 18,178 | 28,201 | ||
| R | 10,966 | 17,411 | 28,618 | ||
| R | 10,547 | 14,838 | 25,928 | ||
| R | 11,566 | 14,422 | 26,174 | ||
| R | 11,836 | 14,038 | 26,038 | ||
| R | 9,649 | 12,600 | 22,288 | ||
| D | 10,410 | 8,768 | 19,239 | ||
| R | 8,150 | 8,241 | 17,232 | ||
| D | 8,698 | 8,007 | 18,568 | ||
| R | 8,009 | 8,524 | 16,555 | ||
| R | 9,115 | 10,665 | 19,796 | ||
| D | 9,090 | 8,097 | 17,578 | ||
| D | 8,869 | 6,968 | 15,902 | ||
| R | 4,888 | 9,684 | 14,726 | ||
| R | 4,797 | 6,597 | 15,921 | ||
| D | 8,067 | 7,634 | 15,701 | ||
| D | 7,632 | 7,338 | 14,970 | ||
| D | 7,197 | 6,685 | 13,882 | ||
| D | 6,956 | 6,449 | 13,405 | ||
| D | 4,965 | 4,932 | 10,548 | ||
| R | 4,220 | 6,062 | 10,282 | ||
| R | 5,107 | 5,769 | 10,876 | ||
| D | 5,937 | 4,948 | 10,885 | ||
| D | 4,911 | 4,127 | 9,152 | ||
| R | 2,285 | 5,579 | 7,864 | ||
| R | 2,021 | 3,188 | 5,244 | ||
| R | 2,426 | 5,353 | 7,779 | ||
| R | 1,369 | 2,727 | 4,096 | ||
| O | 1,265 | 84 | 3,870 | ||
| R | 1,335 | 2,465 | 3,805 | ||
| R | 1,079 | 1,777 | 2,856 | ||
| R | 1,257 | 2,002 | 3,414 | ||
| D | 2,789 | 1,271 | 4,124 | ||
| O | 1,299 | 1,325 | 4,269 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
7.7%
American
6.5%
Irish
3.3%
German
2.0%
Italian
0.8%
Scottish
0.8%
African American
19.3%
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: 39.7 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
$52,432
Sampson County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Sampson County$52,432
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Sampson County ranks in the bottom 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
21.8%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1834.0%
Working age (18–64)18.0%
Seniors (65+)16.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
80.7%
speak English only
Spanish18.7%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
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 30.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Sampson is one of North Carolina's top hog-producing counties, and its agricultural identity anchors a persistently rural electorate that has leaned Republican by wide margins in recent presidential cycles.
The Democratic margin here once reached thirty-seven points in 1896. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty points.
A population of 59,470, a 51% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $52,432 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Montgomery County and Pender 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.
Sampson County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37163/. 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 Sampson County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Sampson County, North Carolina voted Republican by 29.7 points (R+30), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 28,201 votes cast, 9,797 went Democratic and 18,178 went Republican.
What is Sampson County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Sampson County, North Carolina in the "Florida Surge" typology — Florida coastal and retiree counties that moved sharply Republican across the Trump era. 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 12 times, Republican 20 times, and other 2 times.
When did Sampson County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Sampson County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Sampson County, North Carolina?
Sampson County, North Carolina has a population of 59,470 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sampson County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Sampson County, North Carolina is $52,432 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Sampson County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Sampson County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The county's typology — "Florida Surge" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.