Swain County, North Carolina: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+24%. Republican peak: R+30 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+24MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 14,0132024 5-year
- Median household income
- $52,3492024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 59.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+30 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+30 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Perry County, IL · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Swain CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Swain 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 | +12.8% |
| 1896 | +20.7% |
| 1900 | −14.0% |
| 1904 | −24.8% |
| 1908 | −21.5% |
| 1912 | +29.6% |
| 1916 | −15.3% |
| 1920 | −21.9% |
| 1924 | −10.3% |
| 1928 | −18.1% |
| 1932 | +12.0% |
| 1936 | +11.4% |
| 1940 | +25.9% |
| 1944 | +16.7% |
| 1948 | +15.4% |
| 1952 | +7.4% |
| 1956 | −6.1% |
| 1960 | +1.4% |
| 1964 | +19.9% |
| 1968 | −8.2% |
| 1972 | −29.9% |
| 1976 | +14.4% |
| 1980 | +15.1% |
| 1984 | −0.3% |
| 1988 | +0.7% |
| 1992 | +11.0% |
| 1996 | +11.4% |
| 2000 | +2.9% |
| 2004 | −3.4% |
| 2008 | −1.6% |
| 2012 | −6.3% |
| 2016 | −22.4% |
| 2020 | −19.5% |
| 2024 | −23.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,643 | 4,311 | 7,052 | ||
| R | 2,780 | 4,161 | 7,068 | ||
| R | 2,196 | 3,565 | 6,124 | ||
| R | 2,618 | 2,976 | 5,728 | ||
| R | 2,806 | 2,900 | 5,798 | ||
| R | 2,419 | 2,593 | 5,044 | ||
| D | 2,224 | 2,097 | 4,370 | ||
| D | 1,869 | 1,444 | 3,722 | ||
| D | 2,117 | 1,640 | 4,330 | ||
| D | 1,821 | 1,795 | 3,625 | ||
| R | 2,000 | 2,012 | 4,022 | ||
| D | 1,987 | 1,457 | 3,520 | ||
| D | 2,151 | 1,608 | 3,771 | ||
| R | 1,101 | 2,052 | 3,184 | ||
| R | 1,227 | 1,494 | 3,258 | ||
| D | 2,294 | 1,534 | 3,828 | ||
| D | 2,171 | 2,112 | 4,283 | ||
| R | 1,794 | 2,026 | 3,820 | ||
| D | 1,949 | 1,680 | 3,629 | ||
| D | 1,908 | 1,389 | 3,367 | ||
| D | 2,110 | 1,505 | 3,615 | ||
| D | 2,422 | 1,425 | 3,847 | ||
| D | 2,619 | 2,084 | 4,703 | ||
| D | 2,412 | 1,893 | 4,324 | ||
| R | 1,723 | 2,484 | 4,207 | ||
| R | 1,769 | 2,178 | 3,971 | ||
| R | 1,434 | 2,239 | 3,673 | ||
| R | 829 | 1,128 | 1,957 | ||
| O | 766 | 220 | 1,844 | ||
| R | 602 | 931 | 1,533 | ||
| R | 499 | 828 | 1,327 | ||
| R | 590 | 782 | 1,372 | ||
| D | 808 | 531 | 1,341 | ||
| D | 558 | 403 | 1,212 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
24.1%
English
12.1%
Irish
7.8%
German
3.5%
Scottish
1.1%
Italian
0.5%
African American
2.1%
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: 42.6 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
$52,349
Swain County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Swain County$52,349
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Swain 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
19.1%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1828.8%
Working age (18–64)16.7%
Seniors (65+)16.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.3%
speak English only
Other languages3.9%
Spanish3.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other Indo-European0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Swain County's unusual land profile — roughly 80% federally owned — shapes both its tax base and its economy, with Cherokee tourism and timber history defining a rural electorate that has leaned Republican by widening margins over the past decade.
The Republican margin here reached thirty points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-four points.
A median household income of $52,349, a 60% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 14,013 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Perry County and Saline 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.
Swain County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37173/. 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 Swain County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Swain County, North Carolina voted Republican by 23.7 points (R+24), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 7,052 votes cast, 2,643 went Democratic and 4,311 went Republican.
What is Swain County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Swain 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 17 times, and other 1 times.
When did Swain County, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Swain County, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Swain County, North Carolina?
Swain County, North Carolina has a population of 14,013 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Swain County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Swain County, North Carolina is $52,349 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Swain County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Swain County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.