It was named for William Pitt the Elder, who was then Secretary of State for the Southern Department and Leader of the House of Commons.

Pitt led the young "Patriot" Whigs and in 1756 became secretary of state, where he was a pro-freedom speaker in British Colonial government.

Caucasians make up 58.9% of the population, followed by African-Americans at 34.1%, Asian persons at 1.6%, American Indian or Alaskan at 0.3%, Hispanic at 5.5%, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander at 0.1%.

The per capita money income, in terms of 2009 dollars, in the past twelve months from 2005 to 2009 in Pitt County was $21,622, about $3,000 less than the North Carolina average.

In the early twentieth century Pitt was a typical Democratic "Solid South" county, where there were large numbers of disenfranchised blacks and the small white electorate voted overwhelming majorities for the Democratic Party.

Pitt voted for the Democratic Party in every election from at least 1876 until American Independent candidate George Wallace gained a plurality in 1968.

Apart from Richard Nixon's overwhelming victory over George McGovern in 1972, Pitt has since been a closely contested swing county, with no major party candidate post-McGovern falling under forty percent.

After 1976, when Jimmy Carter carried it, and aside from a victory in 1992 by Bill Clinton, Pitt County tended to vote for Republicans until 2008.

Pitt County is a member of the Mid-East Commission regional council of governments.