As of the census of 2000, 87,420 people, 33,644 households, and 23,920 families resided in the county. The population density was 162 people per square mile. The 37,051 housing units averaged 69 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 61.94% White, 33.93% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.06% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. About 3.36% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 33,644 households, 32.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were married couplesliving together, 14.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were not families. About 25% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.02. In the county, the population was distributed as 25.40% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 30.10% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $37,147, and for a family was $44,769. Males had a median income of $32,459 versus $24,438 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,863. About 10.30% of families and 13.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 15.20% of those age 65 or over.
Nash County was originally a typically overwhelmingly Democratic "Solid South" county with a large and completely disfranchised black population. Although it gave a plurality to Populist candidate James B. Weaver in 1892, it did not like Sampson County or Alabama's Chilton County subsequently turn to the Republican Party. Nash County would vote Democratic in every election from 1896 to 1964 – in Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman's five elections the Republicans never received eleven percent of the county's limited electorate's ballots – before supporting George Wallace's American Independent candidacy in 1968, and voting Republican for the first time in 1972. After turning like most Wallace counties to Southern DemocratJimmy Carter in 1976, Nash would become solidly Republican from 1980 to 2004 before turning into one of the nation's most closely contested counties in the past three elections. Mitt Romney became the first Republican to lose the county since Gerald Ford, but Donald Trump narrowly reclaimed Nash in 2016. Nash County is a member of the regional Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments.
Sheriff
The Sheriff's Office provides police services for the unincorporated areas of the County.
