# Lee County, North Carolina

Lee County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 63,285. The county seat is Sanford.
Lee County comprises the Sanford, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 2,368,947 in 2023.

## History

The nature of Native American habitation of the land eventually comprising Lee County is not well known. People of European and African descent settled in the area in the 1740s and 1750s. In the 1850s, the state's first commercial coal mine opened in the community of Egypt. During the American Civil War, the area supplied coal and iron to the forces of the Confederate States of America.
In 1907, residents of the city of Sanford of Moore County beginning pushing for the creation of a new county to ease the burden of their travel to Moore's seat of Carthage. The North Carolina General Assembly passed a law creating Lee County from portions of Moore and Chatham counties effective April 1, 1908 pending ratification in a plebiscite by the people living in the proposed county. The referendum was held on July 1, with voters approving the new county 875 to 40. County officials were installed on February 17, 1908. The county courthouse was erected on a site between Sanford and Jonesboro and occupied by county officers in early March 1909.
Lee County's population and economy steadily grew after its creation, fueled by the success of tobacco, furniture, quarrying, brickmaking, and textile industries. In 1947, the cities of Sanford and Jonesboro merged.

## Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 259.20 square miles (671.3 km$^2$), of which 255.06 square miles (660.6 km$^2$) is land and 4.14 square miles (10.7 km$^2$) (1.60%) is water.

### State and local protected areas

* Lee Game Land (part)
* White Pines Nature Preserve (part)

### Major water bodies

* Big Governors Creek
* Cape Fear River
* Cypress Creek
* Deep River
* Juniper Creek
* Lake Trace
* Lake Villanow
* Lick Creek
* Little Buffalo Creek
* Little Governors Creek
* Little Pocket Creek
* Pocket Creek
* Roberts Creek

### Adjacent counties

* Chatham County – north
* Harnett County – southeast
* Moore County – southwest

### Major highways

* Future I-685
* US 1
* US 15
* US 421
* US 421 Bus.
* US 501
* NC 42
* NC 78
* NC 87
* NC 87 Byp.

### Major infrastructure

* Raleigh Executive Jetport

## Demographics
### 2020 census

Lee County racial composition :
| Race | Number | Percentage |
| White (non-Hispanic) | 36,055 | 56.97% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 10,701 | 16.91% |
| Native American | 231 | 0.37% |
| Asian | 643 | 1.02% |
| Pacific Islander | 43 | 0.07% |
| Other/Mixed | 2,490 | 3.93% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 13,122 | 20.73% |
As of the 2020 census, there were 63,285 people, 21,894 households, and 15,223 families residing in the county.

### 2000 census

At the 2000 census, there were 49,040 people, 18,466 households, and 13,369 families residing in the county. The population density was 191 people per square mile (74 people/km$^2$). There were 19,909 housing units at an average density of 77 units per square mile (30 units/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the county was 70.03% White, 20.46% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 7.33% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. 11.65% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. By 2005 14.2% of the County population was Latino. 20.2% of the population was African-American. 64.2% of the population was non-Hispanic whites.
In 2000 there were 18,466 households, out of which 33.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.30% were married couples living together, 13.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.05. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.70% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 29.70% from 25 to 44, 22.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,900, and the median income for a family was $45,373. Males had a median income of $32,780 versus $23,660 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,147. About 9.80% of families and 12.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.50% of those under age 18 and 12.20% of those age 65 or over.

## Government and politics

Lee is a typical "Solid South" county in terms of voting patterns. From its first election in 1908 it voted Democratic by large margins until 1968, except in the 1928 election when anti-Prohibition Catholic Al Smith held the county by single digits. In 1968, Lee's Democratic streak was broken when its electorate chose the American Independent candidate George Wallace. After 1972, Lee has voted Republican in every election except for Jimmy Carter's two elections in 1976 and 1980. As of 2022, 60.4 percent of the population is registered to vote.
United States presidential election results for Lee County, North Carolina :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 17,489 | 58.14% | 12,245 | 40.71% | 347 | 1.15% |
| 2020 | 16,469 | 56.77% | 12,143 | 41.86% | 396 | 1.37% |
| 2016 | 13,712 | 54.66% | 10,469 | 41.74% | 903 | 3.60% |
| 2012 | 13,158 | 54.28% | 10,801 | 44.56% | 280 | 1.16% |
| 2008 | 12,775 | 53.70% | 10,784 | 45.33% | 229 | 0.96% |
| 2004 | 11,834 | 60.55% | 7,657 | 39.18% | 52 | 0.27% |
| 2000 | 9,406 | 57.77% | 6,785 | 41.67% | 92 | 0.57% |
| 1996 | 7,321 | 50.04% | 6,290 | 42.99% | 1,019 | 6.97% |
| 1992 | 6,658 | 45.42% | 5,852 | 39.92% | 2,149 | 14.66% |
| 1988 | 7,104 | 62.47% | 4,231 | 37.21% | 36 | 0.32% |
| 1984 | 8,198 | 67.47% | 3,925 | 32.30% | 28 | 0.23% |
| 1980 | 4,847 | 45.84% | 5,426 | 51.31% | 301 | 2.85% |
| 1976 | 3,691 | 41.80% | 5,104 | 57.80% | 36 | 0.41% |
| 1972 | 5,836 | 72.71% | 2,024 | 25.22% | 166 | 2.07% |
| 1968 | 2,586 | 29.32% | 2,524 | 28.61% | 3,711 | 42.07% |
| 1964 | 2,753 | 36.79% | 4,730 | 63.21% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1960 | 2,563 | 35.42% | 4,673 | 64.58% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1956 | 1,948 | 31.88% | 4,163 | 68.12% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1952 | 2,105 | 30.99% | 4,688 | 69.01% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1948 | 871 | 20.03% | 3,234 | 74.38% | 243 | 5.59% |
| 1944 | 808 | 18.98% | 3,448 | 81.02% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1940 | 527 | 12.52% | 3,682 | 87.48% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1936 | 670 | 15.25% | 3,723 | 84.75% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1932 | 681 | 18.15% | 3,058 | 81.50% | 13 | 0.35% |
| 1928 | 1,416 | 45.23% | 1,715 | 54.77% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 710 | 27.80% | 1,834 | 71.81% | 10 | 0.39% |
| 1920 | 1,143 | 32.94% | 2,327 | 67.06% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1916 | 573 | 35.22% | 1,054 | 64.78% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1912 | 451 | 32.85% | 862 | 62.78% | 60 | 4.37% |
Lee County is a member of the regional Triangle J Council of Governments. The county is governed by a seven-member board of County Commissioners, elected at large to serve four-year terms. Terms are staggered so that, every two years, three or four Commissioners are up for election. The Commissioners enact policies such as establishment of the property tax rate, regulation of land use and zoning outside municipal jurisdictions, and adoption of the annual budget. Commissioners usually meet on the first and third Mondays of each month. The commissioners appoint a county manager to oversee regular administrative activity of the county government. The commissioners also appoint a county attorney to advise the board on legal matters.
Lee County lies within the bounds of North Carolina's 12th Prosecutorial District, the 12th Superior Court District, and the 12th District Court District.

## Communities
### City

* Sanford (county seat and largest community)

### Town

* Broadway

### Unincorporated communities

* Blacknel
* Colon
* Cumnock
* Lemon Springs
* Murchisontown
* Osgood
* Pocket
* Swann Station
* Tramway
* White Hill

### Townships

The county is divided into seven townships, which are both numbered and named:
* 1 (Greenwood)
* 2 (Jonesboro)
* 3 (Cape Fear)
* 4 (Deep River)
* 5 (East Sanford)
* 6 (West Sanford)
* 7 (Pocket)

## Education

There is one school district, Lee County Schools.

## Trivia

* The area has historically been one of the leading brick manufacturing areas in the United States.
* Cotton and tobacco are leading crops in the county.
* The county is divided between the Piedmont in the northern part of the county and the Sandhills in the south.
* Lee County sits in the middle of the Triassic Basin and has the state's most concentrated reserves of oil and natural gas.
* Lee County is also home to the longest covered bridge in North Carolina found along NC 42 near Ole Gilliam Mill Park.