Cocke County, Tennessee: Evangelical Deep South county. In 2024, voted R+68%. Republican peak: R+73 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+68MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Evangelical Deep SouthAkashic typology
- Population
- 36,8132024 5-year
- Median household income
- $48,0162024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Republican margin
- R+73 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Henderson County, TN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Cocke CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Cocke 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 | −35.0% |
| 1896 | −44.9% |
| 1900 | −40.3% |
| 1904 | −46.6% |
| 1908 | −43.1% |
| 1912 | −8.4% |
| 1916 | −42.3% |
| 1920 | −55.5% |
| 1924 | −46.8% |
| 1928 | −60.1% |
| 1932 | −19.6% |
| 1936 | −50.7% |
| 1940 | −51.9% |
| 1944 | −56.4% |
| 1948 | −57.2% |
| 1952 | −64.0% |
| 1956 | −65.6% |
| 1960 | −63.5% |
| 1964 | −41.4% |
| 1968 | −60.5% |
| 1972 | −72.5% |
| 1976 | −22.7% |
| 1980 | −51.0% |
| 1984 | −52.1% |
| 1988 | −43.7% |
| 1992 | −18.0% |
| 1996 | −13.3% |
| 2000 | −22.6% |
| 2004 | −35.4% |
| 2008 | −44.9% |
| 2012 | −49.4% |
| 2016 | −64.4% |
| 2020 | −64.8% |
| 2024 | −68.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,415 | 13,105 | 15,663 | ||
| R | 2,533 | 12,162 | 14,859 | ||
| R | 1,981 | 9,791 | 12,126 | ||
| R | 2,804 | 8,459 | 11,454 | ||
| R | 3,340 | 8,945 | 12,481 | ||
| R | 3,935 | 8,297 | 12,311 | ||
| R | 3,872 | 6,185 | 10,239 | ||
| R | 3,326 | 4,481 | 8,691 | ||
| R | 3,495 | 5,298 | 10,000 | ||
| R | 2,115 | 5,430 | 7,579 | ||
| R | 2,068 | 6,665 | 8,828 | ||
| R | 2,139 | 6,802 | 9,144 | ||
| R | 3,141 | 5,004 | 8,219 | ||
| R | 805 | 5,268 | 6,153 | ||
| R | 950 | 5,645 | 7,754 | ||
| R | 2,109 | 5,084 | 7,193 | ||
| R | 1,442 | 6,581 | 8,095 | ||
| R | 1,121 | 5,526 | 6,715 | ||
| R | 1,247 | 5,688 | 6,935 | ||
| R | 939 | 3,576 | 4,614 | ||
| R | 989 | 3,554 | 4,548 | ||
| R | 1,098 | 3,521 | 4,673 | ||
| R | 1,217 | 3,731 | 4,954 | ||
| R | 1,557 | 2,324 | 3,915 | ||
| R | 722 | 2,908 | 3,635 | ||
| R | 921 | 2,556 | 3,495 | ||
| R | 929 | 3,283 | 4,244 | ||
| R | 595 | 1,478 | 2,086 | ||
| R | 597 | 757 | 1,913 | ||
| R | 688 | 1,749 | 2,463 | ||
| R | 626 | 1,726 | 2,358 | ||
| R | 1,001 | 2,360 | 3,371 | ||
| R | 980 | 2,582 | 3,567 | ||
| R | 874 | 1,831 | 2,735 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
16.0%
English
13.9%
Irish
10.7%
German
7.7%
Scottish
1.9%
Italian
1.1%
Polish
1.0%
African American
1.8%
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: 45.3 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
$48,016
Cocke County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Cocke County$48,016
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Cocke 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
21.9%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1837.8%
Working age (18–64)18.5%
Seniors (65+)13.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.8%
speak English only
Spanish1.6%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Tucked against the North Carolina border in the Smoky Mountain foothills, Cocke County delivered a 68-point Republican presidential margin in 2024, reflecting the deep rural conservatism that defines much of Appalachian East Tennessee.
The Republican margin here reached its widest at seventy-three points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-eight points.
A median household income of $48,016, a 22% poverty rate, and a 93% non-Hispanic-white share describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Henderson County and Greene 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.
Cocke County, Tennessee. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/47029/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Tennessee
More evangelical deep south counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Cocke County, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Cocke County, Tennessee voted Republican by 68.3 points (R+68), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 15,663 votes cast, 2,415 went Democratic and 13,105 went Republican.
What is Cocke County, Tennessee's political typology?
Akashic places Cocke County, Tennessee 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 0 times, Republican 34 times, and other 0 times.
How many people live in Cocke County, Tennessee?
Cocke County, Tennessee has a population of 36,813 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Cocke County, Tennessee?
Median household income in Cocke County, Tennessee is $48,016 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Cocke County, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Cocke County, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 0 went Democratic and 34 went Republican. The county's typology — "Evangelical Deep South" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.