Forest City, NC, North Carolina: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+48%. Democratic peak: D+55 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+48MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 64,9302024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,4102024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 81.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+55 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+48 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Forest City, NC, NCOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 8,914 | 25,456 | 34,670 | ||
| R | 9,135 | 24,891 | 34,429 | ||
| R | 7,512 | 21,871 | 30,307 | ||
| R | 9,374 | 18,954 | 28,702 | ||
| R | 9,641 | 18,769 | 28,720 | ||
| R | 8,184 | 16,343 | 24,658 | ||
| D | 13,755 | 7,697 | 21,716 | ||
| R | 7,162 | 9,792 | 18,571 | ||
| R | 7,855 | 9,748 | 20,329 | ||
| R | 6,926 | 10,337 | 17,306 | ||
| R | 6,862 | 11,369 | 18,268 | ||
| R | 8,315 | 8,363 | 16,966 | ||
| D | 10,361 | 6,718 | 17,121 | ||
| R | 4,140 | 9,506 | 13,816 | ||
| R | 4,622 | 7,785 | 16,883 | ||
| D | 9,541 | 7,115 | 16,656 | ||
| R | 8,554 | 8,993 | 17,547 | ||
| R | 7,208 | 8,200 | 15,408 | ||
| R | 7,755 | 8,387 | 16,142 | ||
| D | 5,992 | 4,342 | 11,750 | ||
| D | 7,379 | 4,698 | 12,077 | ||
| D | 8,869 | 4,204 | 13,073 | ||
| D | 9,911 | 4,830 | 14,741 | ||
| D | 8,336 | 4,448 | 12,838 | ||
| R | 4,146 | 5,762 | 9,908 | ||
| D | 5,101 | 3,897 | 9,027 | ||
| D | 5,101 | 4,015 | 9,116 | ||
| D | 2,445 | 1,871 | 4,316 | ||
| D | 2,180 | 82 | 3,829 | ||
| D | 1,978 | 1,766 | 3,747 | ||
| D | 1,860 | 1,322 | 3,182 | ||
| D | 2,081 | 1,981 | 4,063 | ||
| D | 2,146 | 1,953 | 4,115 | ||
| D | 1,794 | 1,452 | 3,508 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
13.9%
American
10.8%
Irish
10.7%
German
9.8%
Scottish
2.5%
Italian
2.3%
Polish
1.0%
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: 45.3 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.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$51,410
Forest City, NC ranks near the middle of US counties.
Forest City, NC$51,410
North Carolina$72,388
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1820.2%
Working age (18–64)16.0%
Seniors (65+)14.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.4%
speak English only
Spanish3.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 30.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Forest City, NC sits in the Carolinas. For most of the post-war period it was a Democratic metro — its working-class profile gave it the same political habits as much of its region. That identity has shifted decisively in the last twenty years.
The Democratic margin in Forest City, NC peaked at fifty-five points in 1912. By 2004 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-eight points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $51,410 sits well below state and national norms, and 17% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Forest City, NC, North Carolina — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/22580/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Forest City, NC, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Forest City, NC, North Carolina voted Republican by 47.7 points (R+48), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 34,670 votes cast, 8,914 went Democratic and 25,456 went Republican.
What is Forest City, NC, North Carolina's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Forest City, NC, North Carolina as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 17 times, Republican 17 times, and other 0 times.
When did Forest City, NC, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Forest City, NC, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Forest City, NC, North Carolina?
Forest City, NC, North Carolina has a population of 64,930 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Forest City, NC, North Carolina?
Median household income in Forest City, NC, North Carolina is $51,410 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Forest City, NC, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Forest City, NC, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.