As of the census of 2010, there were 78,265 people, 30,343 households, and 22,221 families residing in the county. The population density was 261.76 people per square mile. There were 33,641 housing units at an average density of 112.51 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 89.4% White, 5.5% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.7% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. 6.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 30,343 households out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couplesliving together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.97. In the county, the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 29.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.4 years. For every 100 females there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males. The median income for a household in the county was $42,456, and the median income for a family was $48,298. Males had a median income of $41,441 versus $30,480 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,861. About 10.4% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, as well as 25.3% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over.
In February 2020, the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department received media attention when surveillance video was released showing first a pair of Atrium Health security guards assaulting a sixteen year old boy brought to the hospital's emergency room. When another pair of sheriff's deputies arrived, video shows one of the deputies hitting the boy, now handcuffed, in the face twice as the boy spit blood pooling in his mouth after being tackled from behind by security guards. The deputy then aggressively approached the mother, yelling at her before being pulled to the ground by a second deputy, In an interview with WBTV, Lincoln County SheriffBill Beam defended his deputies saying they did nothing wrong, denying that the officer struck the boy or that the officer was physically restrained by two additional sheriff's deputies. They boy was arrested and charged with felony assault on a police officer.
