Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · MIT Election Lab
The precinct map shows the 2024 presidential vote; the timeline scrubs the city’s overall result across 2004–2024, on current city boundaries.
President results by year
Vote totals, margins, and source status
HarrisDemocratic17.2%281TrumpRepublican81.8%1,336OtherAll other candidates1.0%16
R+64.6
Lead
1,055
Total
1,633
vs nation
R+63.1
BidenDemocratic16.0%253TrumpRepublican82.8%1,308OtherAll other candidates1.2%19
R+66.8
Lead
1,055
Total
1,580
vs nation
R+71.2
ClintonDemocratic14.8%196TrumpRepublican81.7%1,083OtherAll other candidates3.5%46
R+66.9
Lead
887
Total
1,325
vs nation
R+69.0
ObamaDemocratic19.7%260RomneyRepublican78.3%1,034OtherAll other candidates2.0%27
R+58.6
Lead
774
Total
1,321
vs nation
R+62.4
ObamaDemocratic20.8%268McCainRepublican76.8%991OtherAll other candidates2.4%31
R+56.0
Lead
723
Total
1,290
vs nation
R+63.3
KerryDemocratic20.7%244BushRepublican76.9%908OtherAll other candidates2.4%28
R+56.3
Lead
664
Total
1,180
vs nation
R+53.8
Key facts
2024 presidential margin
R+64.6MIT Election Lab
Population
3,1552024 5-year
Population density
1,127 / sq mi2024 5-year · TIGER/Line
Land area
2.8 sq miTIGER/Line
Median household income
$55,0002024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
72.7%2024 5-year
Black
13.4%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
4.6%2024 5-year
Peak Republican margin
R+66.9 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Participation
Turnout and midterm durability
Participation measured against the same-year citizen voting-age population. Audited cycles count total general-election participants — ballots or participating voters, not presidential candidate votes. Cycles before 2016 predate that series and are derived from the certified presidential returns instead; they are marked everywhere they appear and are excluded from the figures below.
2004–20248 cycles · 5 audited
2024 turnout
66.6%1,647 participants ÷ 2,473 CVAP
2020→2022 drop-off
+21.7 ptsPresidential-dependent
Drop-off vs state
+0.2 ptsPositive means a larger decline than the statewide pattern
Mechanical 2026
44.9%–49.7%Recent-cycle and two-cycle persistence scenarios; not a forecast
Participation by cycle
Presidential Midterm Derived, pre-2016
0%20%40%60%80%
44.0%
46.1%
20042008201220162018202020222024
Select a presidential cycle to show it on the map and results ledger above.
Cycle
Participants
CVAP
Turnout
Series
Quality
1,647
2,473 ± 248
66.6%
Audited
E/D
2022Mid
1,116
2,423 ± 256
46.1%
Audited
E/D
1,581
2,332 ± 247
67.8%
Audited
E/D
2018Mid
1,059
2,409 ± 187
44.0%
Audited
E/A
1,331
2,378 ± 222
56.0%
Audited
E/A
1,321
2,405
54.9%
Derived
—
1,290
2,113
61.1%
Derived
—
1,180
1,821 extrapolated
64.8%
Derived
—
Sources and methods
Audited cycles (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024) count total general-election participants against the same-year CVAP special tabulation, each cell carrying its own numerator and denominator quality grade. Derived cycles (2004, 2008, 2012) come from the certified presidential returns on this page over the ACS 5-year CVAP series, so they measure presidential votes cast rather than ballots — a floor on participation. Where a derived cycle predates the ACS its denominator is extrapolated rather than read, and says so on its own line below. They are shown for the longer arc and are excluded from the drop-off, excess-drop-off, and 2026 scenario figures above.
2024: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 323/229.
2022: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 322/184.
2020: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 321/4.
2018: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 320/139.
2016: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 319/133.
2012 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2008 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2004 (derived): Certified presidential returns · extrapolated CVAP denominator; presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count; 2004 predates the ACS, so the denominator is a linear back-extrapolation from the 2008 and 2012 CVAP values, not a read figure.
presidential history
Party record book
Pickens, SC · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
2004–2024 · 6 presidential cycles
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2008
20.8%
268 votes · R+56.0
Runner-up · John Kerry, 2004 · 20.7%
Republican
Donald Trump2020
82.8%
1,308 votes · R+66.8
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2024 · 81.8%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Kamala Harris2024
281votes
17.2% of the vote · R+64.6
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2008 · 268 votes
Republican
Donald Trump2024
1,336votes
81.8% of the vote · R+64.6
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2020 · 1,308 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
John Kerry2004
−53.8pts D vs U.S.
Place R+56.3 · U.S. R+2.5
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2012 · −62.4 pts
Republican
Donald Trump2020
+71.2pts R vs U.S.
Place R+66.8 · U.S. D+4.5
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2016 · +69.0 pts
U.S. House elections · 1 House
U.S. House
Each row shows U.S. House votes counted inside this Place. “Vote lead” is the local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
Pickens · which candidate this place backed in each party’s presidential nominating contest, cycle by cycle. A primary is a contest inside one party, so it has no Democratic–Republican margin and is not part of the general-election record above.
Akashic reports votes cast, not delegates awarded. The two can disagree: Clinton led the 2008 national primary popular vote by less than half a point and did not win the nomination.
Primary returns are published at county grain. The figures below are Pickens County, South Carolina, the county containing Pickens — Pickens’s own primary vote sits inside those totals and is not separately reported.
Presidential nominating contests in Pickens, by party and cycle.
○no contest record — Akashic holds no result for that party and cycle here. It is not a claim that no contest was held. Telling apart a contest that was cancelled, one that went uncontested, and one simply not yet ingested needs a nominating-contest calendar, which is a separate ingest from results and does not exist yet.
Republican presidential primaries are not yet ingested — the Republican series runs from 1856 and is in scope. The row is kept so its absence is visible: a Democratic-only panel would otherwise read as though no one else held a contest.
Akashic carries 10 states for 2012 and 3 states for 2024. Cycles in which an incumbent president seeks renomination are thin by nature — few states run a contested primary — so a sparse column is politics, not a hole in the record.
County returns carry a leader and a lead over the runner-up, and nothing more. The full candidate field with vote shares is published at state grain — follow a cycle above to the state contest for it.
Pickens City anchors its namesake county in the Blue Ridge foothills, a region that has delivered some of South Carolina's widest statewide Republican margins over the past decade.
Across the recorded series it reached a Republican high of 66.9 points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 2.2 points toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was 64.6 points.
A population of 3,155, a 73% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $55,000 describe the city.
In 2024, Pickens, South Carolina voted Republican by 64.6 points (R+64.6), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,633 votes cast, 281 went Democratic and 1,336 went Republican.
How many people live in Pickens, South Carolina?
Pickens, South Carolina has a population of 3,155 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Pickens, South Carolina?
Median household income in Pickens, South Carolina is $55,000 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Carolina state median is $69,324.
What is the political history of Pickens, South Carolina?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Pickens, South Carolina from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 0 went Democratic and 6 went Republican.
