Cherokee County, South Carolina: Evangelical Deep South county. In 2024, voted R+51%. Democratic peak: D+99 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+51MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Evangelical Deep SouthAkashic typology
- Population
- 56,6472024 5-year
- Median household income
- $50,2882024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 70.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 18.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+99 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+56 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Calhoun County, MS · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Cherokee CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Cherokee 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 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | +93.1% |
| 1904 | +96.0% |
| 1908 | +91.6% |
| 1912 | +98.2% |
| 1916 | +95.4% |
| 1920 | +94.7% |
| 1924 | +95.6% |
| 1928 | +87.9% |
| 1932 | +98.4% |
| 1936 | +99.0% |
| 1940 | +96.6% |
| 1944 | +90.2% |
| 1948 | +30.0% |
| 1952 | +56.8% |
| 1956 | +56.7% |
| 1960 | +55.0% |
| 1964 | +8.0% |
| 1968 | −8.1% |
| 1972 | −55.7% |
| 1976 | +32.7% |
| 1980 | +12.2% |
| 1984 | −35.6% |
| 1988 | −28.3% |
| 1992 | −9.9% |
| 1996 | −6.4% |
| 2000 | −23.0% |
| 2004 | −30.1% |
| 2008 | −29.3% |
| 2012 | −29.3% |
| 2016 | −41.7% |
| 2020 | −43.8% |
| 2024 | −51.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,939 | 18,697 | 24,839 | ||
| R | 6,983 | 18,043 | 25,270 | ||
| R | 6,092 | 15,167 | 21,759 | ||
| R | 7,231 | 13,314 | 20,773 | ||
| R | 7,215 | 13,305 | 20,766 | ||
| R | 6,466 | 12,090 | 18,714 | ||
| R | 6,138 | 9,900 | 16,323 | ||
| R | 5,821 | 6,689 | 13,639 | ||
| R | 5,453 | 6,887 | 14,557 | ||
| R | 4,322 | 7,763 | 12,151 | ||
| R | 4,101 | 8,655 | 12,809 | ||
| D | 6,889 | 5,379 | 12,418 | ||
| D | 7,765 | 3,931 | 11,732 | ||
| R | 2,107 | 7,570 | 9,800 | ||
| O | 1,998 | 2,853 | 10,493 | ||
| D | 4,258 | 3,627 | 7,885 | ||
| D | 5,391 | 1,565 | 6,956 | ||
| D | 3,687 | 907 | 4,902 | ||
| D | 5,545 | 1,529 | 7,074 | ||
| O | 605 | 77 | 1,758 | ||
| D | 1,620 | 68 | 1,721 | ||
| D | 2,069 | 36 | 2,105 | ||
| D | 2,280 | 0 | 2,303 | ||
| D | 2,363 | 0 | 2,402 | ||
| D | 1,388 | 89 | 1,477 | ||
| D | 1,186 | 24 | 1,216 | ||
| D | 1,771 | 48 | 1,819 | ||
| D | 1,271 | 13 | 1,319 | ||
| D | 1,259 | 0 | 1,282 | ||
| D | 1,506 | 66 | 1,572 | ||
| D | 1,507 | 31 | 1,538 | ||
| D | 1,084 | 39 | 1,123 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
13.9%
English
9.8%
Irish
8.0%
German
5.7%
Scottish
1.8%
Italian
1.6%
French
0.5%
African American
15.0%
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: 40.4 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
$50,288
Cherokee County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Cherokee County$50,288
South Carolina$69,324
United States$80,734
Cherokee 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
18.4%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1828.3%
Working age (18–64)15.3%
Seniors (65+)17.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.7%
speak English only
Spanish4.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 37.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Cherokee County, anchored by Gaffney in South Carolina's Upstate, has delivered Republican presidential candidates margins exceeding 50 points in recent cycles, reflecting the region's predominantly white, rural, working-class electorate.
The Republican margin here reached its widest at fifty-six points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved eight points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-one points.
A median household income of $50,288, a 18% poverty rate, and a 70% non-Hispanic-white share describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Calhoun County and Clay 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.
Cherokee County, South Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/45021/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Carolina
More evangelical deep south counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Cherokee County, South Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Cherokee County, South Carolina voted Republican by 51.4 points (R+51), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 24,839 votes cast, 5,939 went Democratic and 18,697 went Republican.
What is Cherokee County, South Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Cherokee County, South Carolina in the "Evangelical Deep South" typology — Deeply Republican, heavily Baptist counties of the Deep South. 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 18 times, Republican 12 times, and other 2 times.
When did Cherokee County, South Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Cherokee County, South Carolina voted Democratic was 1980.
How many people live in Cherokee County, South Carolina?
Cherokee County, South Carolina has a population of 56,647 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Cherokee County, South Carolina?
Median household income in Cherokee County, South Carolina is $50,288 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Carolina state median is $69,324.
What is the political history of Cherokee County, South Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Cherokee County, South Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 12 went Republican. The county's typology — "Evangelical Deep South" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.