This is part of our series looking at the demographics of North Carolina’s registered voters. Other stories include an in-depth look at North Carolina’s Republican voters and an in-depth look at North Carolina’s Democrat voters. This is an update of our story from Sept. 2023.
As of Sept. 28, 2024, North Carolina had 7.6 million registered voters. Of these, 2,886,573 million, or 38%, were registered unaffiliated. This post examines the characteristics of North Carolina’s unaffiliated voters.
Younger voters are the most likely to register as unaffiliated. Over half (51%) of voters ages 18-25 are registered unaffiliated compared to 44% of voters ages 26-40, 35% of voters ages 41-65, and 27% of voters 66 and older. As a result, younger adults, especially those ages 18-25, comprise a larger share of unaffiliated voters than the overall electorate.
Five percent of North Carolina's unaffiliated voters first registered to vote in the state before 1990; 7% registered in the 1990s; 14% in the 2000s; 34% in 2010; and 41% in the 2020s or later.
Compared to the state population overall, unaffiliated voters are more likely to identify as White (65 versus 63%). Asian (2%) and Hispanic (5%) voters also are more represented among unaffiliated voters in comparison to the electorate, while Black voters (12%) are less common.
Voters who did not report a race or ethnic identification were the most likely to register unaffiliated (57%), followed by Asian (53%), other race (48%), Hispanic (47%), White (38%), and American Indian (37%) voters. Black voters were the least likely to register unaffiliated (23%).
Besides North Carolina-born voters, Midwestern-born voters are the most likely to be registered as unaffiliated and account for over 43% of all unaffiliated voters. Fifty percent of voters born in Rhode Island, 49% of voters born in Massachusetts, and 49% of voters born in New Hampshire are registered unaffiliated, followed by Vermont (47%). Outside of the Northeast, 38% of unaffiliated voters hail from a southern state that is not North Carolina, followed by 19% from the Midwest, and 10% from the West. Over two-fifths of all unaffiliated voters don’t report their place of birth (42%).
Just over 795,000 unaffiliated voters — 32% of the state’s unaffiliated voter population—were born in North Carolina. New York (132,000), another country (102,000), Virginia (78,000), New Jersey (54,000), and Florida (53,000) were the next most common birthplaces outside of North Carolina.
Unaffiliated voters are mostly from the South (66%) followed by the Northeast (18%). Excluding North Carolina, the plurality of unaffiliated voters were born in the South (38%). Of those born in the Northeast, 40% are unaffiliated, 32% are registered Democrats and 27% are registered Republicans. Less than 1% of those born in the Northeast are registered as another third party.
There are less clear regional patterns in unaffiliated registrations across North Carolina's 100 counties. The top 10 counties for unaffiliated voters include:
The top counties for unaffiliated voters include one of the most populous counties (Wake) and one of the least populous counties (Camden) in the state.
Counties with the lowest rates of unaffiliated voter registrations were in the Northeast. Warren County (24%) had the fewest voters registered unaffiliated, followed by Hertford County (26%), and Edgecombe County (24%).
Note: Analysis presented is of the 9/23/2023 voter registration file from NC’s State Board of Elections. Analysis is limited to individuals who are active, inactive, or temporary registered voters. Voters with a reported birth age of 116 years or older were excluded from the age analysis. Thus, those born before 1909 were excluded. Likewise, voters with registration dates prior to 1930 were excluded from the registration date analysis.
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