† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
20042024
Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupChapel HillNorth CarolinaUnited States
English15.4%12.7%9.5%
German11.0%9.4%12.5%
Irish9.9%8.4%9.4%
Italian4.7%3.3%4.8%
American4.0%8.3%5.3%
Scottish3.7%2.3%1.3%
Polish2.5%1.0%2.2%
Scotch-Irish2.3%1.4%—
Chinese4.1%0.4%1.3%
Asian Indian3.5%1.2%1.4%
Korean1.4%0.2%0.4%
Burmese0.9%——
Filipino0.7%0.2%0.9%
Vietnamese0.5%0.3%0.6%
Japanese0.5%—0.2%
Taiwanese0.4%——
African American†9.6%18.3%9.9%
African0.4%0.7%0.5%
Ghanaian0.3%——
Nigerian0.2%0.2%0.2%
Jamaican0.2%0.2%0.4%
South African0.2%——
Mexican3.7%5.6%11.3%
Honduran0.5%0.7%0.3%
Puerto Rican0.5%1.2%1.8%
Guatemalan0.4%0.4%0.5%
Salvadoran0.3%0.7%0.7%
Colombian0.3%0.3%0.4%
Spanish0.3%——
Cuban0.2%0.3%0.7%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Chapel Hill
North Carolina
United States
Median age
25.8
39.5
39.1
Age 18–24
33.5%
9.5%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
12.6%
17.2%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Chapel Hill
North Carolina
United States
Median household income
$85,989
$72,388
$84,427
Poverty rate
18.6%
13.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
76.6%
35.8%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Chapel Hill
North Carolina
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
20.0%
13.5%
22.3%
Spanish
6.3%
8.7%
13.6%
Other Indo-European
2.6%
1.1%
2.0%
Chinese (incl. Mandarin & Cantonese)
4.4%
0.4%
1.1%
Other Asian & Pacific Island
2.0%
0.9%
1.1%
Religious landscape
Measure
Chapel Hill
North Carolina
United States
Catholic
—
8.9%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
—
26.5%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
—
48.0%
51.5%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
presidential history
Presidential margin, 2004–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
2004
+49.0%
2008
+57.8%
2012
+54.7%
2016
+66.9%
2020
+71.4%
2024
+69.0%
DemocraticRepublican
6 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year. Third-party votes in 2012 are allocated from certified county totals by this place's share of each county's two-party vote — that cycle's precinct source records two-party splits. † 2004 sub-county results are estimated: the source's block-level detail for this cycle was unreliable — either county/municipality-level consolidated reporting (COVID-era) or a precinct-to-block allocation that misplaced votes — so the figures are allocated from the constituent county totals in proportion to the place and scaled to certified totals.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
83.5%Harris27,786
14.5%Trump4,827
2.0%
D+69.0
R+2.5
D+70.5
33,280
D
85.0%Biden26,735
13.5%Trump4,254
1.5%
D+71.4
D+4.6
D+67.0
31,466
D
80.9%Clinton28,713
14.0%Trump4,974
5.1%
D+66.9
D+12.2
D+64.8
35,494
D
76.5%Obama24,773
21.8%Romney7,069
1.7%
D+54.7
R+3.1
D+50.8
32,389
D
78.3%Obama25,918
20.5%McCain6,795
1.2%
D+57.8
D+8.7
D+50.5
33,104
D
74.3%Kerry20,576
25.2%Bush6,994
0.5%
D+49.0
—
D+51.5
27,703
Chapel Hill's voting patterns are defined by its role as a flagship research university hub: in recent statewide contests, Democratic margins here have routinely exceeded 40 percentage points, making it an outlier even among college towns.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 71.4 points in 2020. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 2.5 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 69.0 points.
A population of 61,607, a 64% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $85,989 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Corvallis and Ann Arbor.
Akashic
Political twins — cities
The cities whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
In 2024, Chapel Hill, North Carolina voted Democratic by 69.0 points (D+69.0), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 33,280 votes cast, 27,786 went Democratic and 4,827 went Republican.
How many people live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina?
Chapel Hill, North Carolina has a population of 61,607 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Chapel Hill, North Carolina?
Median household income in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is $85,989 — above the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Chapel Hill, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Chapel Hill, North Carolina from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 0 went Republican.
