Appleton, WI, Wisconsin: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+12%. Republican peak: R+57 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+12MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 245,7682024 5-year
- Median household income
- $85,8752024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+37 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Appleton, WI, WIOne 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 | 62,365 | 80,315 | 144,848 | ||
| R | 59,783 | 76,541 | 138,796 | ||
| R | 47,710 | 65,246 | 120,528 | ||
| R | 57,148 | 61,911 | 121,016 | ||
| D | 63,589 | 52,399 | 118,037 | ||
| R | 50,459 | 63,624 | 115,326 | ||
| R | 40,937 | 50,297 | 95,689 | ||
| D | 35,755 | 34,807 | 81,188 | ||
| R | 29,436 | 37,911 | 91,312 | ||
| R | 34,252 | 41,220 | 75,986 | ||
| R | 24,526 | 45,743 | 70,871 | ||
| R | 26,320 | 39,385 | 73,734 | ||
| R | 29,320 | 34,952 | 65,639 | ||
| R | 22,251 | 33,979 | 57,550 | ||
| R | 17,833 | 30,872 | 52,504 | ||
| D | 26,912 | 22,500 | 49,472 | ||
| R | 21,599 | 29,312 | 51,008 | ||
| R | 9,824 | 32,256 | 42,385 | ||
| R | 11,343 | 33,243 | 44,635 | ||
| R | 13,895 | 20,346 | 34,581 | ||
| R | 11,921 | 23,905 | 36,015 | ||
| R | 14,492 | 23,060 | 37,792 | ||
| D | 20,857 | 11,457 | 34,477 | ||
| D | 21,671 | 9,730 | 31,903 | ||
| D | 16,345 | 14,783 | 31,287 | ||
| O | 1,824 | 7,364 | 23,206 | ||
| R | 3,707 | 14,870 | 19,681 | ||
| R | 5,824 | 7,281 | 13,470 | ||
| D | 5,505 | 3,315 | 11,131 | ||
| R | 5,997 | 6,655 | 13,106 | ||
| R | 4,401 | 7,685 | 12,504 | ||
| R | 5,918 | 6,876 | 13,127 | ||
| R | 5,965 | 6,980 | 13,278 | ||
| D | 6,408 | 3,642 | 10,492 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
43.4%
Irish
9.8%
Polish
6.4%
English
5.5%
American
3.5%
French
2.9%
Italian
2.1%
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: 39.5 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
$85,875
Appleton, WI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Appleton, WI$85,875
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
6.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.9%
Working age (18–64)5.7%
Seniors (65+)8.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.7%
speak English only
Spanish3.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.3%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 39.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Appleton metro anchors Wisconsin's Fox Valley, a historically paper-and-packaging economy whose blue-collar workforce has shifted ticket-splitting patterns noticeably over the past three federal election cycles.
The Democratic margin in Appleton, WI peaked at thirty-seven points in 1932. By 2012 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twelve points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $85,875 sits well below state and national norms, and 6% 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.
Appleton, WI, Wisconsin — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/11540/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Appleton, WI, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Appleton, WI, Wisconsin voted Republican by 12.4 points (R+12), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 144,848 votes cast, 62,365 went Democratic and 80,315 went Republican.
What is Appleton, WI, Wisconsin's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Appleton, WI, Wisconsin as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 8 times, Republican 25 times, and other 1 times.
When did Appleton, WI, Wisconsin last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Appleton, WI, Wisconsin voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Appleton, WI, Wisconsin?
Appleton, WI, Wisconsin has a population of 245,768 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Appleton, WI, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Appleton, WI, Wisconsin is $85,875 — above the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Appleton, WI, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Appleton, WI, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 25 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.