# Dare County, North Carolina

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 included in the Kill Devil Hills, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area.
Because it includes much of Pamlico Sound, Dare County is the largest county in North Carolina by total area, although if considering land area only, it drops down to 68th in size among the state's 100 counties.

## History

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.
At one time, the now-abandoned town of Buffalo City was the largest community in the county.

## Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,541.74 square miles (3,993.1 km$^2$), of which 383.23 square miles (992.6 km$^2$) is land and 1,158.51 square miles (3,000.5 km$^2$) (75.14%) is water. It is the largest county in North Carolina by total 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
* Monitor National Marine Sanctuary
* 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
* Buxton Woods Game Land
* Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
* Dare Game Land (part)
* Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum
* Hatteras Inlet Crab Spawning Sanctuary (part)
* Jennette's Pier
* Jockey's Ridge State Park
* Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve
* Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve
* Nags Head Woods Preserve Dedicated Nature Preserve
* North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
* Oregon Inlet Crab Spawning Sanctuary
* Pamlico Sound Mechanical Harvesting of Oysters Prohibited Area
* Roanoke Island Festival Park
* Roanoke Island Maritime Museum
* Roanoke Island Marshes Dedicated Nature Preserve
* Roanoke Island Marshes Game Land
* 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 (North Atlantic Ocean)
* Broad Creek
* Croatan Sound
* Currituck Sound
* East Lake
* Hatteras Bight
* Hatteras Inlet
* Intracoastal Waterway
* Long Shoal River
* Milltail Creek
* Oregon Inlet
* Pamlico Sound
* Raleigh Bay
* Roanoke Sound
* Sawyer Lake
* Shallowbag Bay
* South Lake

### Adjacent counties

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

### Major highways

* US 64
* US 64 Byp.
* 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, general aviation airport
* First Flight Airport, inside Wright Brothers National Memorial
* Hatteras–Ocracoke Ferry (to Hyde County)
* Stumpy Point–Rodanthe Ferry, emergency ferry service typically used for hurricane evacuations or when NC 12 is damaged after a storm

## Demographics
### 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 census, there were 36,915 people, 15,529 households, and 10,281 families residing in the county.

### 2010 census

At the 2010 census, 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 people/km$^2$). There were 26,671 housing units at an average density of 70 units per square mile (27 units/km$^2$). 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:
| Ancestry | Percent (2010) |
| English | 22.0% |
| German | 18.4% |
| Irish | 15.3% |
| American | 8.7% |
| Italian | 6.2% |
| Scottish | 4.8% |
| Scotch-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.
United States presidential election results for Dare County, North Carolina :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 14,792 | 58.71% | 10,074 | 39.98% | 330 | 1.31% |
| 2020 | 13,938 | 57.52% | 9,936 | 41.00% | 358 | 1.48% |
| 2016 | 11,460 | 58.44% | 7,222 | 36.83% | 927 | 4.73% |
| 2012 | 10,248 | 57.02% | 7,393 | 41.13% | 333 | 1.85% |
| 2008 | 9,745 | 53.99% | 8,074 | 44.74% | 229 | 1.27% |
| 2004 | 9,345 | 60.10% | 6,136 | 39.46% | 67 | 0.43% |
| 2000 | 7,301 | 56.15% | 5,589 | 42.99% | 112 | 0.86% |
| 1996 | 4,977 | 46.00% | 4,522 | 41.79% | 1,321 | 12.21% |
| 1992 | 4,357 | 40.73% | 3,925 | 36.70% | 2,414 | 22.57% |
| 1988 | 5,234 | 64.85% | 2,806 | 34.77% | 31 | 0.38% |
| 1984 | 4,738 | 71.83% | 1,839 | 27.88% | 19 | 0.29% |
| 1980 | 2,794 | 49.76% | 2,497 | 44.47% | 324 | 5.77% |
| 1976 | 1,680 | 43.18% | 2,191 | 56.31% | 20 | 0.51% |
| 1972 | 1,986 | 75.20% | 634 | 24.01% | 21 | 0.80% |
| 1968 | 1,035 | 40.13% | 700 | 27.14% | 844 | 32.73% |
| 1964 | 867 | 37.00% | 1,476 | 63.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 1,058 | 45.90% | 1,247 | 54.10% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 1,028 | 55.06% | 839 | 44.94% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1952 | 767 | 44.44% | 959 | 55.56% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 373 | 30.72% | 802 | 66.06% | 39 | 3.21% |
| 1944 | 259 | 21.14% | 966 | 78.86% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 315 | 20.60% | 1,214 | 79.40% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 542 | 28.07% | 1,389 | 71.93% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 497 | 28.50% | 1,241 | 71.16% | 6 | 0.34% |
| 1928 | 814 | 47.97% | 883 | 52.03% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 629 | 43.17% | 826 | 56.69% | 2 | 0.14% |
| 1920 | 632 | 43.38% | 825 | 56.62% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1916 | 363 | 43.58% | 470 | 56.42% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1912 | 238 | 33.29% | 397 | 55.52% | 80 | 11.19% |
| 1908 | 370 | 47.07% | 416 | 52.93% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1904 | 350 | 45.75% | 415 | 54.25% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1900 | 331 | 45.03% | 404 | 54.97% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1896 | 471 | 53.58% | 408 | 46.42% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1892 | 356 | 51.52% | 335 | 48.48% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1888 | 337 | 51.22% | 321 | 48.78% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1884 | 291 | 53.30% | 255 | 46.70% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1880 | 274 | 48.75% | 288 | 51.25% | 0 | 0.00% |

## 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
### Towns

* Duck
* Kill Devil Hills (largest municipality)
* Kitty Hawk
* Manteo (county seat)
* Nags Head
* Southern Shores

### Census-designated places

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

### Unincorporated communities

* Colington Island
* East Lake
* Little Kinnakeet
* Martins Point
* Stumpy Point

### Townships

* Atlantic
* Croatan
* East Lake
* Hatteras
* Kinnekeet
* Nags Head

### Ghost towns

* Buffalo City (est: 1870s) (abandoned: 1950s), highest population: 3,000 (early 20th century)
* 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 until 1865)