North Carolina State Senate District 46

State Legislative District Profile (Upper Chamber)

Overview

District ID
nc-sd-046
State
North Carolina
Chamber
Upper chamber (state senate)
District Code
046
Land Area
1,316.6 sq mi
Water Area
14.5 sq mi

Boundary

Boundary of North Carolina State Senate District 46

Boundary as GeoJSON

Source: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line state legislative district boundaries.

Counties

CountyOverlapShare of district landShare of county land
Burke County506.24 sq mi38.4%100.0%
McDowell County439.95 sq mi33.4%100.0%
Buncombe County370.45 sq mi28.1%56.4%

Showing all 3 counties

Places

PlaceOverlapShare of district landShare of place land
Morganton city19.24 sq mi1.5%100.0%
Valdese town7.86 sq mi0.6%100.0%
Black Mountain town6.71 sq mi0.5%99.5%
Marion city5.92 sq mi0.4%87.2%
Nebo CDP5.30 sq mi0.4%100.0%
Connelly Springs town4.99 sq mi0.4%100.0%
Salem CDP4.29 sq mi0.3%100.0%
Icard CDP3.83 sq mi0.3%100.0%
Barnardsville CDP3.53 sq mi0.3%100.0%
Fairview CDP3.02 sq mi0.2%48.6%
Hildebran town2.83 sq mi0.2%100.0%
Montreat town2.73 sq mi0.2%99.9%
Rutherford College town2.26 sq mi0.2%98.0%
Glen Alpine town2.15 sq mi0.2%100.0%
Glenwood CDP1.61 sq mi0.1%100.0%
West Marion CDP1.48 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Drexel town1.38 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Old Fort town1.22 sq mi0.1%100.0%
Hickory city1.07 sq mi0.1%3.3%
Rhodhiss town0.79 sq mi0.1%66.9%
Swannanoa CDP0.68 sq mi0.1%10.7%
Long View town0.56 sq mi<0.1%14.0%
Woodfin town0.37 sq mi<0.1%3.9%
Asheville city0.00 sq mi<0.1%<0.1%

Showing all 24 places

Overlapping Congressional Districts

Congressional districtPopulation in bothShare of this district's populationShare of the congressional district's populationShare of this district's land
NC District 11112,28956.2%15.1%61.6%
NC District 1487,57043.8%11.7%38.4%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2020 blocks and 2025 block equivalency files (119th Congress, 2024 state legislative plans).

Voters

Registered Voters
141,524
Active Voters
122,882 (86.8%)

Party Registration

PartyVotersShare
Democratic28,88820.4%
Republican54,56038.6%
Unaffiliated57,11140.4%
Other parties9650.7%
No party recorded00.0%

Turnout by Cycle

CycleGeneralDemocratic PrimaryRepublican Primary
2025–20262,975 (2.1%)<10 (—)0 (0.0%)
2023–2024107,397 (75.9%)10,377 (7.3%)25,782 (18.2%)
2021–202272,423 (51.2%)8,205 (5.8%)20,491 (14.5%)
2019–202098,247 (69.4%)19,677 (13.9%)19,464 (13.8%)
2017–201863,982 (45.2%)6,455 (4.6%)6,157 (4.4%)
2015–201676,795 (54.3%)17,255 (12.2%)21,705 (15.3%)
2013–201445,339 (32.0%)6,061 (4.3%)7,458 (5.3%)
2011–201263,962 (45.2%)14,973 (10.6%)18,356 (13.0%)

Turnout counts today's registered voters with a counted ballot in the cycle's elections (the odd and even year), as a share of today's registered voters. Voters who have since left the rolls are not counted.

Browse the voter list for this district (premium access; sign-in required)

Source: Civitech voter file snapshot as of 01/20/2026. These are registered voters, separate from the Census population figures. Counts under 10 are suppressed and shown as "<10".

Demographics

Total Population
198,883 (± 2,462)
Median Age
44.7
Median Household Income
$61,470 (± $2,149)
High School Graduate or Higher (age 25+)
87.1%
Bachelor's Degree or Higher (age 25+)
24.8%

Population by Age

GroupPeopleShare
Under 1837,94119.1%
18 to 64117,62659.1%
65 and over43,31621.8%

Population by Race and Hispanic Origin

GroupPeopleShare
Hispanic or Latino (any race)15,6307.9%
White, not Hispanic163,56182.2%
Black, not Hispanic8,1764.1%
Asian, not Hispanic3,8621.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native, not Hispanic3240.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, not Hispanic230.0%
Some other race, not Hispanic4600.2%
Two or more races, not Hispanic6,8473.4%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 ACS 5-year estimates (tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B03002, B15003, B19013) for this state legislative district. Estimates are survey-based; ± figures are 90% margins of error.

Citizen Voting Age Population

Total Citizen Population
193,533
Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP)
156,280

Citizen Population by Race/Ethnicity

GroupCitizensShare
Non-Hispanic181,94094.0%
Hispanic11,5906.0%
White164,25084.9%
Black8,2394.3%
Asian3,2151.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native3250.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander210.0%
Two or More Races2470.1%

Citizen Voting Age Population by Race/Ethnicity

GroupCVAPShare
Non-Hispanic149,93395.9%
Hispanic6,3474.1%
White137,46788.0%
Black8,0415.1%
Asian2,9691.9%
American Indian / Alaska Native1,5071.0%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander230.0%
Two or More Races1070.1%

Source: Redistricting Data Hub / U.S. Census Bureau CVAP Special Tabulation (2020-2024 ACS 5-year).