Carter County, Tennessee: Republican loyalist county. In 2024, voted R+63%. Republican peak: R+81 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+63MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Republican loyalistAkashic typology
- Population
- 56,7122024 5-year
- Median household income
- $50,1352024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Republican margin
- R+81 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Johnson County, TN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Carter CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Carter County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 4,454 | 20,167 | 24,852 | ||
| R | 4,529 | 19,584 | 24,492 | ||
| R | 3,453 | 16,898 | 21,084 | ||
| R | 4,789 | 15,503 | 20,617 | ||
| R | 5,587 | 15,852 | 21,769 | ||
| R | 6,395 | 15,768 | 22,313 | ||
| R | 6,724 | 12,111 | 19,102 | ||
| R | 6,218 | 10,540 | 18,282 | ||
| R | 6,502 | 10,712 | 19,190 | ||
| R | 4,634 | 12,036 | 16,778 | ||
| R | 4,642 | 13,153 | 17,933 | ||
| R | 6,006 | 11,648 | 18,077 | ||
| R | 7,443 | 8,934 | 16,510 | ||
| R | 2,191 | 11,102 | 13,514 | ||
| R | 2,160 | 9,467 | 14,636 | ||
| R | 5,326 | 8,472 | 13,798 | ||
| R | 3,412 | 12,214 | 15,798 | ||
| R | 2,933 | 11,218 | 14,236 | ||
| R | 2,707 | 9,019 | 11,844 | ||
| R | 1,809 | 4,943 | 6,968 | ||
| R | 1,662 | 4,873 | 6,556 | ||
| R | 2,171 | 4,238 | 6,480 | ||
| R | 1,837 | 4,858 | 6,722 | ||
| R | 1,574 | 5,055 | 6,629 | ||
| R | 512 | 4,934 | 5,458 | ||
| R | 551 | 3,657 | 4,236 | ||
| R | 674 | 6,059 | 6,733 | ||
| R | 498 | 2,961 | 3,459 | ||
| O | 478 | 1,243 | 3,647 | ||
| R | 459 | 3,152 | 3,615 | ||
| R | 379 | 2,584 | 2,984 | ||
| R | 408 | 2,763 | 3,208 | ||
| R | 445 | 2,700 | 3,209 | ||
| R | 478 | 1,877 | 2,444 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
25.4%
English
14.8%
German
10.0%
Irish
8.4%
Scottish
2.8%
Italian
1.3%
Polish
0.7%
African American
1.5%
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.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 45.9 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.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$50,135
Carter County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Carter County$50,135
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
17.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1822.5%
Working age (18–64)16.9%
Seniors (65+)8.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.6%
speak English only
Spanish1.5%
Other languages0.6%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Anchored by Elizabethton in the upper Watauga River valley, Carter County has delivered lopsided Republican presidential margins for decades, with 2024's R+63.2 result reflecting the broader rural Appalachian realignment that accelerated through the 2010s.
The Republican margin in Carter County reached its widest at eighty-one points in 1928. The margin in 2024 was sixty-three points, in line with the county's deep historical pattern.
Its loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $50,135, a 94% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 56,712 together describe a community whose political habits are deeply settled. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Johnson County and Sevier County.
Most similar counties
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Carter County, Tennessee — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://akashic.app/county/47019/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Tennessee
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Frequently asked questions
How did Carter County, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Carter County, Tennessee voted Republican by 63.2 points (R+63), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 24,852 votes cast, 4,454 went Democratic and 20,167 went Republican.
What is Carter County, Tennessee's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Carter County, Tennessee as a "Republican loyalist" county based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 0 times, Republican 33 times, and other 1 times.
How many people live in Carter County, Tennessee?
Carter County, Tennessee has a population of 56,712 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Carter County, Tennessee?
Median household income in Carter County, Tennessee is $50,135 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Carter County, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Carter County, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 0 went Democratic and 33 went Republican. The county's archetype — "Republican loyalist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.