Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+35%. Democratic peak: D+69 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+35MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 100,9912024 5-year
- Median household income
- $58,5342024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 71.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 17.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+69 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+46 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Shelby-Kings Mountain, 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 | 16,603 | 34,654 | 51,706 | ||
| R | 16,955 | 33,798 | 51,308 | ||
| R | 14,964 | 28,479 | 44,673 | ||
| R | 17,062 | 25,793 | 43,340 | ||
| R | 17,363 | 26,078 | 43,835 | ||
| R | 14,215 | 22,750 | 37,079 | ||
| D | 19,064 | 13,455 | 32,746 | ||
| R | 12,728 | 13,474 | 28,241 | ||
| R | 13,037 | 13,650 | 30,522 | ||
| R | 10,321 | 14,039 | 24,397 | ||
| R | 10,288 | 17,095 | 27,472 | ||
| D | 12,219 | 10,828 | 23,498 | ||
| D | 14,406 | 8,106 | 22,588 | ||
| R | 4,994 | 13,726 | 19,048 | ||
| O | 5,661 | 7,298 | 22,608 | ||
| D | 10,836 | 7,874 | 18,710 | ||
| D | 10,545 | 8,257 | 18,802 | ||
| D | 8,408 | 7,076 | 15,484 | ||
| D | 9,709 | 7,606 | 17,315 | ||
| D | 6,039 | 1,905 | 9,261 | ||
| D | 8,170 | 2,636 | 10,806 | ||
| D | 9,346 | 1,970 | 11,316 | ||
| D | 11,393 | 2,116 | 13,509 | ||
| D | 8,016 | 1,904 | 9,945 | ||
| D | 4,914 | 4,766 | 9,680 | ||
| D | 3,749 | 1,743 | 5,529 | ||
| D | 5,181 | 2,953 | 8,134 | ||
| D | 2,764 | 1,497 | 4,261 | ||
| D | 2,351 | 81 | 3,375 | ||
| D | 2,282 | 1,459 | 3,742 | ||
| D | 2,162 | 1,036 | 3,202 | ||
| D | 2,228 | 1,311 | 3,579 | ||
| D | 2,664 | 1,216 | 3,924 | ||
| D | 1,788 | 722 | 3,483 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
20.9%
English
11.1%
German
8.2%
Irish
8.2%
Scottish
2.0%
Italian
1.3%
French
1.2%
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: 41.3 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
$58,534
Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC ranks near the middle of US counties.
Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC$58,534
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
16.6%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1825.0%
Working age (18–64)13.9%
Seniors (65+)16.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.9%
speak English only
Spanish3.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 39.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Shelby and Kings Mountain anchor a Cleveland County metro where working-class white voters and a growing Latino workforce have produced narrowing but consistently Republican margins in statewide races over the past decade.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC peaked at sixty-nine points in 1936; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2004 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twenty-three points. By 2024, the margin had settled into deep Republican territory.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $58,534 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 17% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/43140/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina voted Republican by 34.9 points (R+35), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 51,706 votes cast, 16,603 went Democratic and 34,654 went Republican.
What is Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 22 times, Republican 11 times, and other 1 times.
When did Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina?
Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina has a population of 100,991 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina?
Median household income in Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina is $58,534 — below the national median of $80,734. The North Carolina state median is $72,388.
What is the political history of Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC, North Carolina from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 22 went Democratic and 11 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.