Orangeburg County, South Carolina: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted D+25%. Democratic peak: D+98 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+25MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 83,2532024 5-year
- Median household income
- $45,6752024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 34.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 60.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+98 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+30 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Williamsburg County, SC · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Orangeburg CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Orangeburg 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 | +53.7% |
| 1896 | +81.3% |
| 1900 | +87.3% |
| 1904 | +85.0% |
| 1908 | +73.8% |
| 1912 | +92.0% |
| 1916 | +87.7% |
| 1920 | +78.5% |
| 1924 | +91.9% |
| 1928 | +88.8% |
| 1932 | +95.9% |
| 1936 | +98.0% |
| 1940 | +95.4% |
| 1944 | +87.4% |
| 1948 | +7.2% |
| 1952 | −24.8% |
| 1956 | +15.1% |
| 1960 | −14.7% |
| 1964 | −30.2% |
| 1968 | +18.0% |
| 1972 | −20.6% |
| 1976 | +21.5% |
| 1980 | +17.5% |
| 1984 | +2.8% |
| 1988 | +4.9% |
| 1992 | +22.1% |
| 1996 | +26.8% |
| 2000 | +21.8% |
| 2004 | +32.0% |
| 2008 | +38.1% |
| 2012 | +43.4% |
| 2016 | +37.0% |
| 2020 | +33.2% |
| 2024 | +24.6% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 22,832 | 13,750 | 36,970 | ||
| D | 27,295 | 13,603 | 41,205 | ||
| D | 26,318 | 11,931 | 38,910 | ||
| D | 30,720 | 12,022 | 43,041 | ||
| D | 27,263 | 12,115 | 39,754 | ||
| D | 24,698 | 12,695 | 37,564 | ||
| D | 19,802 | 12,657 | 32,734 | ||
| D | 18,610 | 10,494 | 30,315 | ||
| D | 18,440 | 11,328 | 32,234 | ||
| D | 14,655 | 13,281 | 28,049 | ||
| D | 15,121 | 14,286 | 29,636 | ||
| D | 16,178 | 11,313 | 27,733 | ||
| D | 13,652 | 8,794 | 22,604 | ||
| R | 7,652 | 11,711 | 19,745 | ||
| D | 8,971 | 5,144 | 21,259 | ||
| R | 5,607 | 10,456 | 16,063 | ||
| R | 3,890 | 5,233 | 9,123 | ||
| O | 2,511 | 1,467 | 6,921 | ||
| R | 2,829 | 4,695 | 7,524 | ||
| O | 435 | 164 | 3,763 | ||
| D | 2,440 | 87 | 2,693 | ||
| D | 2,356 | 56 | 2,412 | ||
| D | 2,947 | 0 | 3,006 | ||
| D | 2,643 | 0 | 2,757 | ||
| D | 1,545 | 92 | 1,637 | ||
| D | 1,727 | 67 | 1,807 | ||
| D | 2,526 | 304 | 2,831 | ||
| D | 2,641 | 159 | 2,831 | ||
| D | 1,550 | 0 | 1,685 | ||
| D | 2,687 | 405 | 3,093 | ||
| D | 2,941 | 238 | 3,179 | ||
| D | 2,457 | 167 | 2,624 | ||
| D | 2,729 | 282 | 3,011 | ||
| D | 2,792 | 838 | 3,637 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
7.3%
German
4.3%
English
4.1%
Irish
3.2%
Italian
0.8%
French
0.7%
Scottish
0.7%
African American
48.6%
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: 40.7 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
$45,675
Orangeburg County ranks in the bottom 10% of US counties.
Orangeburg County$45,675
South Carolina$69,324
United States$80,734
Orangeburg 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
22.4%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1830.2%
Working age (18–64)20.1%
Seniors (65+)21.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.2%
speak English only
Spanish2.0%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Other languages0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 35.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Orangeburg's electorate is majority Black, anchoring consistent Democratic margins that have exceeded 20 points in recent presidential cycles. The county seat hosts South Carolina State University, adding a student population to its historically rural demographic base.
The Democratic margin here reached ninety-eight points in 1936. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved nine points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-five 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 $45,675 and a 22% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Williamsburg County and Lee 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.
Orangeburg County, South Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/45075/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Carolina
More black belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Orangeburg County, South Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Orangeburg County, South Carolina voted Democratic by 24.6 points (D+25), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 36,970 votes cast, 22,832 went Democratic and 13,750 went Republican.
What is Orangeburg County, South Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Orangeburg County, South 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 4 times, and other 2 times.
When did Orangeburg County, South Carolina last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Orangeburg County, South Carolina voted Republican was 1972.
How many people live in Orangeburg County, South Carolina?
Orangeburg County, South Carolina has a population of 83,253 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Orangeburg County, South Carolina?
Median household income in Orangeburg County, South Carolina is $45,675 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Carolina state median is $69,324.
What is the political history of Orangeburg County, South Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Orangeburg County, South Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 28 went Democratic and 4 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.