Wake County, North Carolina: Diversifying Metro county. In 2024, voted D+25%. Democratic peak: D+78 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+25MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Diversifying MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 1,178,6532024 5-year
- Median household income
- $105,7682024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 57.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 18.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+78 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Buncombe County, NC · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Wake CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Wake County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | +20.1% |
| 1896 | +7.1% |
| 1900 | +9.5% |
| 1904 | +45.6% |
| 1908 | +11.3% |
| 1912 | +64.0% |
| 1916 | +30.5% |
| 1920 | +37.4% |
| 1924 | +45.6% |
| 1928 | +16.3% |
| 1932 | +73.5% |
| 1936 | +78.0% |
| 1940 | +74.3% |
| 1944 | +63.7% |
| 1948 | +53.6% |
| 1952 | +21.7% |
| 1956 | +19.2% |
| 1960 | +17.1% |
| 1964 | +16.8% |
| 1968 | −11.8% |
| 1972 | −42.1% |
| 1976 | −0.3% |
| 1980 | −0.7% |
| 1984 | −23.5% |
| 1988 | −14.1% |
| 1992 | +1.1% |
| 1996 | −2.3% |
| 2000 | +7.1% |
| 2004 | −2.1% |
| 2008 | +14.4% |
| 2012 | +11.4% |
| 2016 | +20.2% |
| 2020 | +26.5% |
| 2024 | +25.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 402,984 | 236,735 | 653,580 | ||
| D | 393,336 | 226,197 | 631,830 | ||
| D | 302,736 | 196,082 | 527,624 | ||
| D | 267,262 | 211,596 | 486,427 | ||
| D | 250,891 | 187,001 | 442,245 | ||
| R | 169,909 | 177,324 | 348,844 | ||
| D | 142,494 | 123,466 | 268,220 | ||
| R | 103,574 | 108,780 | 225,755 | ||
| D | 88,979 | 86,798 | 207,467 | ||
| R | 61,352 | 81,613 | 143,504 | ||
| R | 50,323 | 81,251 | 131,871 | ||
| R | 49,003 | 49,768 | 105,193 | ||
| R | 44,005 | 44,291 | 88,775 | ||
| R | 22,807 | 56,808 | 80,789 | ||
| R | 20,979 | 28,928 | 67,157 | ||
| D | 31,653 | 22,542 | 54,195 | ||
| D | 26,050 | 18,436 | 44,486 | ||
| D | 22,427 | 15,194 | 37,621 | ||
| D | 23,393 | 15,057 | 38,450 | ||
| D | 17,939 | 4,850 | 24,423 | ||
| D | 18,050 | 3,996 | 22,046 | ||
| D | 18,083 | 2,665 | 20,748 | ||
| D | 19,850 | 2,456 | 22,306 | ||
| D | 14,863 | 2,170 | 17,279 | ||
| D | 9,341 | 6,720 | 16,061 | ||
| D | 8,376 | 2,975 | 11,836 | ||
| D | 8,020 | 3,653 | 11,673 | ||
| D | 4,627 | 2,461 | 7,093 | ||
| D | 3,996 | 282 | 5,807 | ||
| D | 3,713 | 2,961 | 6,684 | ||
| D | 3,410 | 1,267 | 4,700 | ||
| D | 4,774 | 3,947 | 8,736 | ||
| D | 5,396 | 4,675 | 10,121 | ||
| D | 3,724 | 1,987 | 8,646 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
13.7%
German
10.4%
Irish
9.2%
American
5.9%
Italian
4.8%
Scottish
2.6%
Polish
2.0%
African American
15.0%
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: 37.3 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
$105,768
Wake County ranks in the top 5% of US counties.
Wake County$105,768
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Wake County ranks in the top 5% 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
8.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.6%
Working age (18–64)7.6%
Seniors (65+)8.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
80.6%
speak English only
Spanish8.5%
Other Indo-European4.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander4.4%
Other languages1.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to North Carolina's capital and a Research Triangle anchor, Wake County has shifted from a perennial swing county to a reliable Democratic stronghold, posting its largest presidential margin yet in 2024 as tech and university employment reshape its electorate.
The Democratic margin here reached seventy-eight points in 1936. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-five points.
A population of 1,178,653, a 58% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $105,768 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Buncombe County and Mecklenburg 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.
Wake County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37183/. 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 Wake County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wake County, North Carolina voted Democratic by 25.4 points (D+25), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 653,580 votes cast, 402,984 went Democratic and 236,735 went Republican.
What is Wake County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Wake 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 26 times, Republican 8 times, and other 0 times.
When did Wake County, North Carolina last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Wake County, North Carolina voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in Wake County, North Carolina?
Wake County, North Carolina has a population of 1,178,653 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wake County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Wake County, North Carolina is $105,768 — above the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Wake County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wake County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 26 went Democratic and 8 went Republican. The county's typology — "Diversifying Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.