akashic
1876–2024
Roanoke Rapids, NC·North Carolina

Roanoke Rapids, NC has voted Republican for as long as anyone now living can remember.

A mill-town corridor where manufacturing's decline reshaped the electorate

1876 — 2024·38 elections
NC
Latest
D+17
in 2024
Archetype
Republican loyalist
since the recent cycles
Population
64,606
2024 ACS

Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina: Republican loyalist metro. In 2024, voted D+17%. Democratic peak: D+93 in 1936.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
D+17MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
Republican loyalistAkashic typology
Population
64,6062024 5-year
Median household income
$46,7682024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
37.9%2024 5-year
Black
52.5%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
3.1%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+93 in 1936MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+25 in 2000MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
2 counties · 2 D · 0 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
D
+16.8%
19,25313,68333,180
D
+21.0%
21,61414,06935,869
D
+26.5%
21,89212,61335,015
D
+33.0%
24,40812,24636,835
D
+28.9%
22,95012,63235,709
D
+20.6%
17,11211,26428,417
R
−25.3%
9,36515,73525,170
D
+30.4%
14,7587,58123,602
D
+29.3%
15,1557,61425,771
D
+14.8%
13,3259,87723,244
D
+8.8%
14,37212,03026,483
D
+25.2%
13,2977,88021,509
D
+33.2%
13,0106,49519,633
R
−22.5%
7,47411,90519,657
O
+21.6%
8,9994,00823,109
D
+40.4%
13,9985,94419,942
D
+63.7%
13,6283,02116,649
D
+59.3%
12,1023,09315,195
D
+64.9%
13,1412,79315,934
D
+82.5%
9,76368411,005
D
+88.9%
10,45961211,071
D
+92.4%
11,80846612,274
D
+93.3%
12,01541712,432
D
+90.7%
9,65645310,149
D
+66.1%
6,6051,3467,951
D
+82.9%
4,8944125,406
D
+78.5%
5,7346896,423
D
+83.5%
3,8303444,175
D
+90.8%
3,925994,212
D
+74.6%
3,8915664,457
D
+86.0%
3,9362974,233
D
+22.8%
5,9823,7619,743
R
−20.5%
4,1616,31310,481
D
+21.8%
4,4442,6828,079
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
11.1%
English
8.2%
Irish
4.3%
German
3.2%
Scottish
1.0%
Italian
0.8%
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: 45.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
1.0%
85+
1.8%
2.9%
75–84
4.2%
6.5%
65–74
7.6%
7.3%
55–64
8.1%
5.5%
45–54
5.7%
5.2%
35–44
5.3%
5.9%
25–34
5.5%
3.6%
18–24
3.5%
7.9%
5–17
7.0%
2.5%
<5
2.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$46,768
Roanoke Rapids, NC ranks near the middle of US counties.
Roanoke Rapids, NC$46,768
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
22.4%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1832.3%
Working age (18–64)19.7%
Seniors (65+)20.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.0%
speak English only
Spanish2.7%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Baptist
24.5%
Other Christian
11.8%
Methodist
9.0%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.2%
Catholic & Orthodox
0.9%
Mainline Protestant
0.9%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 51.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Roanoke Rapids anchors a small Halifax County metro where deindustrialization hollowed out textile employment over decades, producing one of North Carolina's most economically distressed micropolitan areas and a consistently high share of Black residents approaching 40%.

The Republican margin in Roanoke Rapids, NC reached its widest at twenty-five points in 2000. The margin in 2024 was seventeen points, in line with the metro's deep historical pattern.

Its loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $46,768, a 38% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 64,606 together describe a metro whose political habits are deeply settled.

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/40260/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina voted Democratic by 16.8 points (D+17), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 33,180 votes cast, 19,253 went Democratic and 13,683 went Republican.
What is Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina as a "Republican loyalist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 30 times, Republican 3 times, and other 1 times.
When did Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina voted Republican was 2000.
How many people live in Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina?
Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina has a population of 64,606 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina?
Median household income in Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina is $46,768 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Roanoke Rapids, NC, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 30 went Democratic and 3 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Republican loyalist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.