Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+43%. Republican peak: R+52 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+43MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 121,2772024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,3822024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+6 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 1904MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Altoona, PA, PAOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 18,127 | 46,352 | 65,140 | ||
| R | 17,636 | 45,306 | 63,595 | ||
| R | 13,958 | 39,135 | 55,341 | ||
| R | 16,276 | 33,319 | 50,365 | ||
| R | 19,813 | 32,708 | 53,102 | ||
| R | 18,105 | 35,751 | 54,178 | ||
| R | 15,774 | 28,376 | 45,140 | ||
| R | 15,036 | 21,282 | 40,691 | ||
| R | 14,857 | 21,447 | 44,758 | ||
| R | 15,588 | 25,623 | 41,662 | ||
| R | 15,651 | 30,104 | 45,945 | ||
| R | 15,014 | 28,931 | 46,359 | ||
| R | 18,397 | 28,290 | 47,366 | ||
| R | 10,023 | 33,126 | 44,110 | ||
| R | 15,803 | 28,780 | 48,296 | ||
| D | 26,157 | 24,301 | 50,531 | ||
| R | 19,445 | 35,297 | 54,809 | ||
| R | 17,503 | 33,623 | 51,191 | ||
| R | 16,851 | 32,113 | 49,070 | ||
| R | 14,050 | 22,382 | 36,886 | ||
| R | 18,003 | 24,925 | 43,106 | ||
| R | 21,573 | 26,639 | 48,337 | ||
| D | 27,038 | 24,711 | 52,597 | ||
| R | 13,709 | 19,553 | 34,335 | ||
| R | 12,104 | 34,356 | 46,726 | ||
| R | 4,244 | 20,313 | 30,808 | ||
| R | 5,668 | 15,035 | 26,392 | ||
| R | 7,002 | 9,893 | 17,935 | ||
| O | 4,108 | 3,138 | 17,276 | ||
| R | 4,981 | 10,583 | 16,796 | ||
| R | 3,675 | 12,482 | 16,992 | ||
| R | 4,528 | 9,749 | 14,814 | ||
| R | 4,840 | 10,382 | 15,851 | ||
| R | 5,265 | 7,407 | 13,052 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
34.8%
Irish
17.0%
Italian
9.6%
English
9.1%
American
6.0%
Polish
4.1%
Scottish
1.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 43.1 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$62,382
Altoona, PA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Altoona, PA$62,382
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.0%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.6%
Working age (18–64)11.6%
Seniors (65+)11.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.7%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.9%
Spanish0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 57.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Altoona anchors Blair County, one of Pennsylvania's most reliably Republican mid-size metros, where deindustrialization accelerated a political realignment that has only deepened since 2000.
The Democratic margin in Altoona, PA peaked at six points in 1912. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-three points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $62,382 sits well below state and national norms, and 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/11020/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 43.3 points (R+43), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 65,140 votes cast, 18,127 went Democratic and 46,352 went Republican.
What is Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 2 times, Republican 31 times, and other 1 times.
When did Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania?
Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania has a population of 121,277 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania is $62,382 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Altoona, PA, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 2 went Democratic and 31 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.