Dare County, North Carolina

Dare County
County
County of Dare
Dare County Administration Building in Manteo
Flag Seal Official logo of Dare County Logo
Motto:  "Land of Beginnings"
Location within the U.S. state of North Carolina
North Carolina's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 35°41′N 75°44′W
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Founded	1870
Named for	Virginia Dare
Seat	Manteo
Largest town	Kill Devil Hills
Area
• Total	1,563 sq mi (4,050 km2)
• Land	383 sq mi (990 km2)
• Water	1,179 sq mi (3,050 km2)  75%
Population
• Estimate  (2021)	37,826
• Density	98.8/sq mi (38.1/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	3rd
Website	www.darenc.com

Dare County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 36,915. Its county seat is Manteo. Dare County is named after Virginia Dare, the first child born in the Americas to English parents, who was born within the county's current borders. Founded in 1870 from parts of Tyrrell, Currituck and Hyde counties, it consists of a large segment of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, along with Roanoke Island and a peninsula of land attached to the mainland. Most of the county consists of a string of resort communities along the Outer Banks. While lightly populated by year-round residents, the population swells during the summer with vacationers.

Dare County is included in the Kill Devil Hills, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area.

At one time, the now-abandoned town of Buffalo City was the largest community in the county. Because it includes much of Pamlico Sound, Dare County is the largest county in North Carolina by total area, although if one were to consider land area only, it drops down to 68th in size among the state's 100 counties.

Geography

Dare County welcome center

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,563 square miles (4,050 km²), of which 383 square miles (990 km²) is land and 1,179 square miles (3,050 km²) (75%) is water. It is the largest county in North Carolina by area.

Dare County includes the middle part of the Outer Banks and contains Roanoke Island.

National protected areas

• Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Cape Hatteras National Seashore (part)
• Fort Raleigh National Historic Site
• Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge
• Wright Brothers National Memorial

State and local protected areas/sites

• Bodie Island Lighthouse
• Buxton Woods Coastal Reserve Dedicated Nature Preserve
• Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
• Dare Game Lands (part)
• Hatteras Inlet Crab Spawning Sanctuary (part)
• Jockey's Ridge State Park
• Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve
• Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve
• Nags Head Woods Preserve Dedicated Nature Preserve
• Oregon Inlet Crab Spawning Sanctuary
• Pamlico Sound Mechanical Harvesting of Oysters Prohibited Area
• Roanoke Island Festival Park
• Roanoke Island Marshes Dedicated Nature Preserve
• Run Hill State Natural Area
• Run Hill State Natural Area Dedicated Nature Preserve
• Sandy Run Park

Major water bodies

• Albemarle Sound
• Alligator River
• Atlantic Ocean
• Broad Creek
• Croatan Sound
• Currituck Sound
• East lake
• Intracoastal Waterway
• Long Shoal River
• Pamlico Sound
• Roanoke Sound
• Shallowbag Bay
• South Lake

Adjacent counties

• Currituck County – north
• Hyde County – southwest
• Tyrrell County – west

Major highways

• US 64
• US 158
• US 264
• NC 12
• NC 345
• NC 400

Major Infrastructure

• Dare County Bombing Range, within Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.
• Dare County Regional Airport, a general aviation airport, is located in Dare County.
• First Flight Airport, inside Wright Brothers National Memorial
• Hatteras - Ocracoke Ferry, to Hyde County
• Stumpy Point - Rodanthe Ferry, emergency route to the mainland during evacuations.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	2,778		—
1880	3,243		16.7%
1890	3,768		16.2%
1900	4,757		26.2%
1910	4,841		1.8%
1920	5,115		5.7%
1930	5,202		1.7%
1940	6,401		23.0%
1950	5,405		−15.6%
1960	5,935		9.8%
1970	6,995		17.9%
1980	13,377		91.2%
1990	22,746		70.0%
2000	29,959		31.7%
2010	33,920		13.2%
2020	36,915		8.8%
2021 (est.)	37,826		2.5%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2013 2020

2020 census

Dare County racial composition

Race	Number	Percentage
White (non-Hispanic)	31,921	86.47%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic)	678	1.84%
Native American	99	0.27%
Asian	260	0.7%
Pacific Islander	10	0.03%
Other/Mixed	1,393	3.77%
Hispanic or Latino	2,554	6.92%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 36,915 people, 15,529 households, and 10,281 families residing in the county.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 33,920 people, 12,690 households, and 8,450 families residing in the county. The population density was 78 people per square mile (30/km²). There were 26,671 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile (27/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.3% White, 2.5% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 2.4% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. 6.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 12,690 households, out of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.4% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.4% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.2 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,411, and the median income for a family was $49,302. Males had a median income of $31,240 versus $24,318 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,614. About 5.5% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.9% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Ancestry

As of 2010, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Dare County were:

Largest ancestries (2010)	Percent
English	22.0%
German	18.4%
Irish	15.3%
"American"	8.7%
Italian	6.2%
Scottish	4.8%
Scots-Irish	4.0%
Polish	3.0%
Dutch	1.8%
Welsh	1.2%

Government and politics

Dare County is presently a Republican county, having voted Republican since the 1980 election, though the Republican margins of victory are significantly smaller than most Southern largely-white counties. No Democratic presidential nominee has carried Dare County since Jimmy Carter did so in 1976. Before the 1950s, it was mostly a typical “Solid South” Democratic county, that did not vote Republican between 1900 and 1952, albeit by significantly smaller margins than much of the rest of the Solid South. Dare County is governed by the Dare County Board of Commissioners. Dare County is a part of the Albemarle Commission regional council of governments.

Presidential elections results

Presidential elections results

Year	Republican	Democratic	Third parties
2020	57.5% 13,938	41.0% 9,936	1.5% 358
2016	58.4% 11,460	36.8% 7,222	4.7% 927
2012	57.0% 10,248	41.1% 7,393	1.9% 333
2008	54.0% 9,745	44.7% 8,074	1.3% 229
2004	60.1% 9,345	39.5% 6,136	0.4% 67
2000	56.2% 7,301	43.0% 5,589	0.9% 112
1996	46.0% 4,977	41.8% 4,522	12.2% 1,321
1992	40.7% 4,357	36.7% 3,925	22.6% 2,414
1988	64.9% 5,234	34.8% 2,806	0.4% 31
1984	71.8% 4,738	27.9% 1,839	0.3% 19
1980	49.8% 2,794	44.5% 2,497	5.8% 324
1976	43.2% 1,680	56.3% 2,191	0.5% 20
1972	75.2% 1,986	24.0% 634	0.8% 21
1968	40.1% 1,035	27.1% 700	32.7% 844
1964	37.0% 867	63.0% 1,476
1960	45.9% 1,058	54.1% 1,247
1956	55.1% 1,028	44.9% 839
1952	44.4% 767	55.6% 959
1948	30.7% 373	66.1% 802	3.2% 39
1944	21.1% 259	78.9% 966
1940	20.6% 315	79.4% 1,214
1936	28.1% 542	71.9% 1,389
1932	28.5% 497	71.2% 1,241	0.3% 6
1928	48.0% 814	52.0% 883
1924	43.2% 629	56.7% 826	0.1% 2
1920	43.4% 632	56.6% 825
1916	43.6% 363	56.4% 470
1912	33.3% 238	55.5% 397	11.2% 80

Education

Public education is run by Dare County Schools. There are three public high schools/secondary schools with high school components:

• Cape Hatteras Secondary School
• First Flight High School
• Manteo High School

College of The Albemarle is the local community college, with a Dare campus in Manteo.

Dare County Library has branches in Manteo, Kill Devil Hills, and Hatteras.

Lighthouses

Dare County is home to two popular lighthouses: The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Bodie Island Lighthouse. There is also a beacon atop the Wright Brothers Memorial. A third lighthouse was built by the Town of Manteo and dedicated on September 25, 2004. The Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse is an exterior recreation of the 1877 screwpile lighthouse of the same name and is located on the Manteo waterfront. It serves as exhibit space for the N.C. Maritime Museum on Roanoke Island.

Communities

Clickable map of the county. interactive map

Towns

• Duck
• Kill Devil Hills (Largest town)
• Kitty Hawk
• Manteo (county seat)
• Nags Head
• Southern Shores

Townships

• Atlantic Township
• Croatan Township
• East Lake Township
• Hatteras Township
• Kinnekeet Township
• Nags Head Township

Census-designated places

• Avon
• Buxton
• Frisco
• Hatteras
• Manns Harbor
• Rodanthe
• Salvo
• Wanchese
• Waves

Unincorporated communities

• Buffalo City (Abandoned)
• Colington
• East Lake
• Little Kinnekeet
• Martins Point
• Sanderling
• Scarborotown
• Stumpy Point

Ghost Towns

• Burptoe Village (Est: 1892)(Abandoned: 1950) Highest population: 616 (1942)
• Port Frenz (Est: 1862 as Fort Frent)(Abandoned: 1932) Highest population: 602 (1924)(Named as Fort Frent till 1865)

See also

• List of counties in North Carolina
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Dare County, North Carolina
• North Carolina Ferry System
• Hurricane Isabel, worst hurricane to hit Dare county to date causing widespread damage.
• Roanoke Colony, infamous first colony in the Americas.
• List of ghost towns in North Carolina
• North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
• North Carolina State Parks
• National Park Service