According to the latest estimates, North Carolina has about 8 million citizen-voting-age residents, and as of October 25th, 2026, 7.8 million registered voters. Their partisan affiliation was roughly split between three groups: unaffiliated, Democrat, and Republican, with a 10% lead in unaffiliated. Specifically:
Who are these voters? And how do demographic characteristics vary among the largest affiliation groups (Democratic, Republican, and unaffiliated)?
Statewide, only 16% of voters first registered to vote earlier than 2000 whereas 45% of voters registered for the first time after 2020.
Around one-fifth of all Democrat (20%) and Republican (22%) voters registered to vote before 2000. Comparatively, just 10% of unaffiliated voters registered before the turn of the millennium.
Over three fourths of unaffiliated voters (78%) registered to vote after 2010 compared to 64% of Republican and 63% of Democrat voters registered in 2010 or later. This reflects two factors: first, age group differences in partisan affiliation, and second, the continuing rise of unaffiliated voters in recent years.
Young voters are the most likely to register as unaffiliated than any other age group: 54% of 18-25 year-old are registered as unaffiliated versus 47% of 26-40 year olds, 38% of 41-65 year olds and 29% of voters 66 and older.
By contrast, voters ages 18–25 are the least likely age group to register as Republican (21%), while voters ages 66 and older are the most likely to do so (36%), followed by voters ages 41–65 (32%). Voters ages 66 and older are also the most likely age group to register as Democrats (35%), followed by voters ages 41–65 (29%).
The youngest voters make up smallest share of the electorate this year (13%) with the largest share being voters ages 41-65 (38%). Within each party’s voter base, young voter make up only 9% of Republican voters, 10% of Democrat voters, and 17% of Unaffiliated voters. Meanwhile, voters ages 41-65 make up 41% of Republican voters, 37% of Democrat Voters and 36% of unaffiliated voters. The Republican party has a larger share of voters age 41-60 and 66 and older than the electorate overall.
There are significant differences in party registration by race and ethnicity. Voters identifying as Black (70%) are most likely to be registered Democrat and the least likely to be registered as Republican (3%) or unaffiliated (27%). Voters identifying as white are the most likely to be registered as Republican (41%). Asian voters (55%) and voters in the undesignated racial category (60%) are most likely to be registered as unaffiliated followed by the other category, Hispanic (49%) and American Indian voters (41%).
As a result of these differing registration patterns, North Carolina’s registered Republicans are overwhelmingly white (87%) even though Republican voters make up just 30% of the overall electorate.
Democratic voters are the only party where white voters are not the majority of registered voters: 39% of registered democratic voters identify as white. Black voters comprise the majority share of registered Democrats (45%).
Unaffiliated voters are more diverse, with higher shares of voters with undesignated race (14%), Latino (6%), and Asian (3%) than the other parties and the electorate overall.
Among voters in North Carolina, 35% were born in the state. New York (5%), other countries (3%) and Virginia (3%) were the next most common places of birth. In terms of regional variation, nearly half of North Carolina voters are from the south (49%), followed by 11% from the Northeast, 6% from the Midwest, and 3% from the West.
North Carolina born-voters were more common among registered Democrats (38%) and Republicans (40%); unaffiliated voters were less likely to be born in North Carolina (30%) than the average registered voter.
Many registered voters are missing their birth place. Nearly one-third (30%) of unaffiliated voters are missing their birth place, followed by 25% of Democrats and 22% of Republicans. For the entire electorate, 26% did not report a place of birth and 29% didn’t report or are from countries outside of the US regions.
Party preferences vary by place of birth with some regional patterns evident. Forty-nine percent of voters born in Virginia registered as Democrats, the highest of any state, followed by DC (46%), South Carolina (36%), New York (34%), and a four-way tie between Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and North Carolina born voters (32%). Voters born in West Virginia were the most likely to register as Republican (42%) followed by South Dakota (40%) and Kentucky (37%).
Unaffiliated registration was the most common affiliation among voters born in every U.S. region. The share was highest among Midwestern and Western-born voters (44%), followed by Northeastern-born voters (41% each), and lowest among Southern-born voters (36%).
One-fifth of voters originally from another country register to vote Republican, nearly half register unaffiliated (47%), and another 32% register Democrat.
Of voters ages 18-25 that were born outside of NC, 59% are unaffiliated compared to 50% of those age 18-25 born within North Carolina were unaffiliated. The second largest group of voters born outside North Carolina ages 18-25 were registered Democrat (24%), then Republican (17%), and finally a third party (1%). For voters aged 18-25 born within NC, the largest group registered were Republicans (26%), then Democrats (23%) and third parties (1%).
Across North Carolina’s 100 counties, the partisan affiliation of voters varies widely, reflecting county differences in composition by age, race/ethnicity, and place of birth. As mentioned, the number of unaffiliated voters is rising, so the presence of concentrated one-party pockets is becoming less frequent.
In Yadkin, Mitchell and Avery county, 57% of active voters were registered Republican, the highest county-specific shares statewide. Mitchell county also has the smallest county-specific share of Democrat voters in the state (8%), followed by Avery county (9%).
Meanwhile, in Hertford county, 57% of voters are registered Democrats, the highest county-specific share statewide. The county with the smallest share of republican voters is Durham county (9%) followed by Orange county (12%).
Regional patterns in unaffiliated registrations are less clear. The top 10 counties for unaffiliated voters include:
Note: Analysis presented is of the 10/25/2026 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 older than 100 years were excluded from the age analysis.
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