Washington County, North Carolina: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted D+6%. Democratic peak: D+65 in 1940.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+6MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 10,8122024 5-year
- Median household income
- $41,8132024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 45.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 47.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+65 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+27 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Bertie County, NC · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Washington CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Washington 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 | −10.5% |
| 1896 | −27.1% |
| 1900 | +3.1% |
| 1904 | +2.5% |
| 1908 | −5.8% |
| 1912 | +11.5% |
| 1916 | +14.5% |
| 1920 | +6.9% |
| 1924 | +2.8% |
| 1928 | −13.7% |
| 1932 | +45.9% |
| 1936 | +55.6% |
| 1940 | +65.3% |
| 1944 | +56.4% |
| 1948 | +65.2% |
| 1952 | +43.7% |
| 1956 | +30.7% |
| 1960 | +40.3% |
| 1964 | +37.3% |
| 1968 | +18.5% |
| 1972 | −24.4% |
| 1976 | +31.0% |
| 1980 | +21.1% |
| 1984 | +6.5% |
| 1988 | +12.4% |
| 1992 | +21.4% |
| 1996 | +27.1% |
| 2000 | −10.9% |
| 2004 | +8.9% |
| 2008 | +16.7% |
| 2012 | +18.6% |
| 2016 | +15.3% |
| 2020 | +9.9% |
| 2024 | +6.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 3,138 | 2,768 | 5,944 | ||
| D | 3,396 | 2,781 | 6,205 | ||
| D | 3,510 | 2,564 | 6,165 | ||
| D | 3,833 | 2,622 | 6,499 | ||
| D | 3,748 | 2,670 | 6,454 | ||
| D | 2,969 | 2,484 | 5,471 | ||
| R | 2,169 | 2,704 | 4,890 | ||
| D | 2,790 | 1,562 | 4,532 | ||
| D | 2,902 | 1,780 | 5,253 | ||
| D | 2,806 | 2,186 | 5,004 | ||
| D | 3,114 | 2,731 | 5,852 | ||
| D | 3,008 | 1,943 | 5,037 | ||
| D | 2,840 | 1,486 | 4,361 | ||
| R | 1,546 | 2,559 | 4,151 | ||
| D | 1,898 | 1,016 | 4,780 | ||
| D | 2,505 | 1,144 | 3,649 | ||
| D | 2,415 | 1,027 | 3,442 | ||
| D | 1,947 | 1,033 | 2,980 | ||
| D | 1,974 | 774 | 2,748 | ||
| D | 1,675 | 333 | 2,057 | ||
| D | 1,782 | 497 | 2,279 | ||
| D | 1,724 | 362 | 2,086 | ||
| D | 1,875 | 535 | 2,410 | ||
| D | 1,681 | 619 | 2,312 | ||
| R | 898 | 1,183 | 2,081 | ||
| D | 883 | 834 | 1,723 | ||
| D | 1,116 | 971 | 2,087 | ||
| D | 651 | 486 | 1,137 | ||
| D | 503 | 384 | 1,036 | ||
| R | 495 | 556 | 1,051 | ||
| D | 450 | 428 | 878 | ||
| D | 834 | 784 | 1,618 | ||
| R | 739 | 1,289 | 2,028 | ||
| R | 533 | 692 | 1,512 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
12.2%
English
8.2%
Irish
2.4%
German
2.1%
Italian
2.1%
French
0.7%
Scottish
0.6%
African American
38.3%
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: 48.8 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
$41,813
Washington County ranks in the bottom 10% of US counties.
Washington County$41,813
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Washington County ranks in the bottom 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
24.1%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1831.6%
Working age (18–64)23.4%
Seniors (65+)15.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.1%
speak English only
Spanish2.8%
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 41.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Washington County sits along the Roanoke River in North Carolina's coastal plain and is one of the state's smallest counties by population. Its 2024 presidential margin of D+6.2 reflects a majority-Black electorate that has kept the county in the Democratic column.
The Democratic margin here reached sixty-five points in 1940. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was six points. The recent movement, modest against a deep Democratic baseline, mirrors a broader rightward drift across the Black Belt.
The economic context is part of the story: a median household income of $41,813 and a 24% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Bertie County and Northampton 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.
Washington County, North Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/37187/. 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 Washington County, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Washington County, North Carolina voted Democratic by 6.2 points (D+6), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 5,944 votes cast, 3,138 went Democratic and 2,768 went Republican.
What is Washington County, North Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Washington County, North Carolina in the "Black Belt" typology — Black-majority counties of the rural South — long the most Democratic ground in the region, now trending Republican at the margins. 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 28 times, Republican 6 times, and other 0 times.
When did Washington County, North Carolina last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Washington County, North Carolina voted Republican was 2000.
How many people live in Washington County, North Carolina?
Washington County, North Carolina has a population of 10,812 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Washington County, North Carolina?
Median household income in Washington County, North Carolina is $41,813 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Washington County, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Washington County, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 28 went Democratic and 6 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.