Saluda County, South Carolina: Florida Surge county. In 2024, voted R+44%. Democratic peak: D+99 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+44MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Florida SurgeAkashic typology
- Population
- 19,1312024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,0092024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 58.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 21.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 17.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+99 in 1900MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+49 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Tate County, MS · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Saluda CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Saluda 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 | No data |
| 1896 | +90.8% |
| 1900 | +98.9% |
| 1904 | +98.5% |
| 1908 | +98.7% |
| 1912 | +98.0% |
| 1916 | +99.4% |
| 1920 | +99.3% |
| 1924 | +99.3% |
| 1928 | +98.8% |
| 1932 | +99.5% |
| 1936 | +99.3% |
| 1940 | +97.3% |
| 1944 | +84.3% |
| 1948 | +9.0% |
| 1952 | +6.6% |
| 1956 | +32.3% |
| 1960 | +3.2% |
| 1964 | −28.3% |
| 1968 | −5.5% |
| 1972 | −49.5% |
| 1976 | +13.0% |
| 1980 | +3.9% |
| 1984 | −28.2% |
| 1988 | −23.7% |
| 1992 | −9.3% |
| 1996 | −5.9% |
| 2000 | −20.5% |
| 2004 | −20.3% |
| 2008 | −21.7% |
| 2012 | −21.1% |
| 2016 | −31.7% |
| 2020 | −35.0% |
| 2024 | −44.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,454 | 6,452 | 9,014 | ||
| R | 2,963 | 6,210 | 9,274 | ||
| R | 2,813 | 5,526 | 8,564 | ||
| R | 3,328 | 5,135 | 8,564 | ||
| R | 3,323 | 5,191 | 8,603 | ||
| R | 3,001 | 4,537 | 7,578 | ||
| R | 2,682 | 4,098 | 6,891 | ||
| R | 2,486 | 2,825 | 5,700 | ||
| R | 2,393 | 2,968 | 6,209 | ||
| R | 1,984 | 3,225 | 5,232 | ||
| R | 1,962 | 3,515 | 5,501 | ||
| D | 2,651 | 2,450 | 5,169 | ||
| D | 2,715 | 2,085 | 4,839 | ||
| R | 1,022 | 3,095 | 4,191 | ||
| O | 1,200 | 1,466 | 4,802 | ||
| R | 1,409 | 2,524 | 3,933 | ||
| D | 1,353 | 1,268 | 2,621 | ||
| D | 1,080 | 341 | 2,286 | ||
| D | 1,592 | 1,396 | 2,988 | ||
| O | 187 | 15 | 1,914 | ||
| D | 924 | 14 | 1,080 | ||
| D | 1,115 | 15 | 1,130 | ||
| D | 1,324 | 0 | 1,334 | ||
| D | 1,307 | 0 | 1,314 | ||
| D | 796 | 5 | 801 | ||
| D | 1,094 | 3 | 1,099 | ||
| D | 1,111 | 3 | 1,116 | ||
| D | 1,227 | 1 | 1,233 | ||
| D | 850 | 0 | 867 | ||
| D | 1,385 | 8 | 1,395 | ||
| D | 938 | 7 | 945 | ||
| D | 1,269 | 7 | 1,276 | ||
| D | 1,241 | 60 | 1,301 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
11.0%
English
10.3%
German
6.8%
Irish
6.1%
Italian
1.9%
Scottish
1.5%
African American
17.0%
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: 42.6 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
$51,009
Saluda County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Saluda County$51,009
South Carolina$69,324
United States$80,734
Saluda 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
18.7%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1825.8%
Working age (18–64)16.3%
Seniors (65+)19.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
82.9%
speak English only
Spanish15.2%
Other Indo-European1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 50.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Saluda is a small Piedmont county where agriculture and textile manufacturing have historically defined the economy. In 2024, Republican presidential candidates carried it by more than 44 points, reflecting its pattern of deep-red consistency across recent election cycles.
The Democratic margin here once reached ninety-nine points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved nine points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-four points.
A population of 19,131, a 59% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $51,009 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Tate County and Laurens 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.
Saluda County, South Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/45081/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in South Carolina
More florida surge counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Saluda County, South Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Saluda County, South Carolina voted Republican by 44.4 points (R+44), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,014 votes cast, 2,454 went Democratic and 6,452 went Republican.
What is Saluda County, South Carolina's political typology?
Akashic places Saluda County, South Carolina in the "Florida Surge" typology — Florida coastal and retiree counties that moved sharply Republican across the Trump era. 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 13 times, and other 2 times.
When did Saluda County, South Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Saluda County, South Carolina voted Democratic was 1980.
How many people live in Saluda County, South Carolina?
Saluda County, South Carolina has a population of 19,131 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Saluda County, South Carolina?
Median household income in Saluda County, South Carolina is $51,009 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Carolina state median is $69,324.
What is the political history of Saluda County, South Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Saluda County, South Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Florida Surge" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.