By the numbers: Explore Wilmington-area voter demographics

Sarah Gleason, Wilmington StarNews
·2 min read

Ever wondered who's voting in your county?

Maybe you’ve lived here your whole life, or you just moved to the area this year. Either way, when you head to the polls on Election Day, you are part of the thousands of voters in the area who contribute to the selection of the Tar Heel state’s elected officials.

The StarNews covers Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties. Registered voters in these three counties make up about 4.9% of the entire registered voting population in the state. Registration numbers have grown in all three counties since the last presidential election in 2020.

Here’s who is registered to vote in New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties with information on race, gender, average age and political affiliation, according to data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections from March 2024.

More: The Wilmington area has more unaffiliated voters than ever before. How do parties reach them?

Brunswick

In total, Brunswick County is home to 131,766 registered voters with the majority of voters identifying with either the Republican party or as an unaffiliated voter. This county is also predominately made up of white voters. The average age of voters in this county is 60.

Gender

  • Male: 56,052

  • Female: 64,873

Party affiliation

  • Democratic: 27,202

  • Republican: 53,258

  • Unaffiliated: 50,496

  • Green: 18

  • Libertarian: 714

  • No Labels: 78

Race/ethnicity

  • White: 109,663

  • Black: 8,991

  • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 384

  • Asian: 521

  • Native Hawaiian: 9

  • Multiracial: 254

  • Other: 2,215

  • Undesignated: 9,729

  • Hispanic: 2,110

New Hanover

There are 180,682 registered voters in New Hanover County. Many of these voters are white although there is a sizeable Black population and thousands who consider themselves “undesignated.” The most popular party affiliation for voters in this area is unaffiliated. The average age of registered voters in New Hanover County is 52.

Gender

  • Male: 74,963

  • Female: 88,206

Party affiliation

  • Democratic: 50,339

  • Republican: 53,827

  • Unaffiliated: 74,837

  • Green: 57

  • Libertarian: 1,470

  • No Labels: 152

Race/ethnicity

  • White: 138,630

  • Black: 19,071

  • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 395

  • Asian: 1,464

  • Native Hawaiian: 14

  • Multiracial: 836

  • Other: 4,423

  • Undesignated: 15,849

  • Hispanic: 4,228

Pender

In total, there are 49,476 registered voters in this county with the majority being Republican or unaffiliated voters. Registered voters in Pender County are, on average, 53 and most are white voters.

Gender

  • Male: 21,630

  • Female: 23,957

Party affiliation

  • Democratic: 10,836

  • Republican: 19,914

  • Unaffiliated: 18,224

  • Green: 14

  • Libertarian: 430

  • No Labels: 58

Race/ethnicity

  • White: 38,082

  • Black: 5,802

  • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 125

  • Asian: 225

  • Native Hawaiian: 4

  • Multiracial: 150

  • Other: 1,253

  • Undesignated: 3,835

  • Hispanic: 1,362

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Explore New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick voter demographics