Abbeville County, South Carolina: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+42%. Democratic peak: D+99 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 24,4202024 5-year
- Median household income
- $52,9352024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 69.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 25.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+99 in 1900MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Wayne County, MO · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Abbeville CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Abbeville 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 | +88.9% |
| 1896 | +76.0% |
| 1900 | +98.8% |
| 1904 | +93.9% |
| 1908 | +98.5% |
| 1912 | +98.8% |
| 1916 | +97.9% |
| 1920 | +97.0% |
| 1924 | +89.8% |
| 1928 | +88.0% |
| 1932 | +99.2% |
| 1936 | +98.2% |
| 1940 | +93.8% |
| 1944 | +94.0% |
| 1948 | +21.7% |
| 1952 | +48.2% |
| 1956 | +73.9% |
| 1960 | +56.8% |
| 1964 | +30.0% |
| 1968 | +3.6% |
| 1972 | −40.5% |
| 1976 | +44.6% |
| 1980 | +25.5% |
| 1984 | −10.9% |
| 1988 | −1.5% |
| 1992 | +7.8% |
| 1996 | +6.2% |
| 2000 | −8.2% |
| 2004 | −10.5% |
| 2008 | −15.2% |
| 2012 | −13.5% |
| 2016 | −28.0% |
| 2020 | −33.1% |
| 2024 | −42.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,399 | 8,509 | 12,048 | ||
| R | 4,101 | 8,215 | 12,433 | ||
| R | 3,741 | 6,763 | 10,775 | ||
| R | 4,543 | 5,981 | 10,671 | ||
| R | 4,593 | 6,264 | 11,001 | ||
| R | 4,389 | 5,436 | 9,925 | ||
| R | 3,766 | 4,450 | 8,374 | ||
| D | 3,493 | 3,054 | 7,100 | ||
| D | 3,968 | 3,317 | 8,343 | ||
| R | 3,629 | 3,738 | 7,401 | ||
| R | 3,051 | 3,798 | 6,875 | ||
| D | 4,049 | 2,361 | 6,632 | ||
| D | 4,700 | 1,791 | 6,522 | ||
| R | 1,349 | 3,266 | 4,737 | ||
| O | 1,425 | 1,213 | 5,839 | ||
| D | 2,689 | 1,448 | 4,137 | ||
| D | 3,064 | 845 | 3,909 | ||
| D | 2,985 | 339 | 3,581 | ||
| D | 2,776 | 970 | 3,746 | ||
| O | 254 | 23 | 1,064 | ||
| D | 789 | 19 | 819 | ||
| D | 1,007 | 32 | 1,039 | ||
| D | 1,265 | 0 | 1,288 | ||
| D | 1,184 | 0 | 1,194 | ||
| D | 1,020 | 65 | 1,085 | ||
| D | 681 | 19 | 737 | ||
| D | 868 | 13 | 881 | ||
| D | 900 | 8 | 911 | ||
| D | 1,095 | 0 | 1,108 | ||
| D | 1,481 | 9 | 1,494 | ||
| D | 665 | 21 | 686 | ||
| D | 1,366 | 8 | 1,374 | ||
| D | 2,473 | 337 | 2,811 | ||
| D | 2,359 | 138 | 2,498 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
9.9%
Irish
6.8%
English
6.7%
German
4.9%
Scottish
1.7%
French
1.3%
Italian
1.0%
African American
20.3%
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: 44.0 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
$52,935
Abbeville County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Abbeville County$52,935
South Carolina$69,324
United States$80,734
Abbeville 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
15.7%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.2%
Working age (18–64)13.9%
Seniors (65+)10.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.4%
speak English only
Spanish1.4%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 37.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Abbeville's electorate has shifted steadily rightward over the past two decades, with the 2024 presidential margin exceeding 42 points — a pattern common to rural Piedmont counties as white working-class realignment deepened across upstate South Carolina.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at ninety-nine points in 1932 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by eight points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved nine points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-two points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $52,935 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 16% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Wayne County and Lawrence 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.
Abbeville County, South Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/45001/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Carolina
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Frequently asked questions
How did Abbeville County, South Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Abbeville County, South Carolina voted Republican by 42.4 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 12,048 votes cast, 3,399 went Democratic and 8,509 went Republican.
What is Abbeville County, South Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Abbeville County, South Carolina in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to 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 22 times, Republican 10 times, and other 2 times.
When did Abbeville County, South Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Abbeville County, South Carolina voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Abbeville County, South Carolina?
Abbeville County, South Carolina has a population of 24,420 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Abbeville County, South Carolina?
Median household income in Abbeville County, South Carolina is $52,935 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Carolina state median is $69,324.
What is the political history of Abbeville County, South Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Abbeville County, South Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 22 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.