Athens, TN, Tennessee: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+65%. Republican peak: R+65 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+65MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 68,2272024 5-year
- Median household income
- $61,4512024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 88.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+18 in 1944MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+65 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Athens, TN, TNOne 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 | 5,175 | 24,758 | 30,171 | ||
| R | 5,369 | 22,665 | 28,376 | ||
| R | 4,366 | 18,033 | 23,075 | ||
| R | 5,772 | 15,701 | 21,798 | ||
| R | 6,913 | 15,786 | 23,026 | ||
| R | 7,486 | 14,480 | 22,135 | ||
| R | 7,697 | 11,952 | 19,990 | ||
| R | 7,463 | 8,883 | 17,752 | ||
| R | 8,355 | 8,808 | 19,474 | ||
| R | 5,616 | 9,969 | 15,646 | ||
| R | 6,153 | 11,179 | 17,415 | ||
| R | 6,459 | 9,103 | 15,863 | ||
| D | 8,274 | 7,613 | 15,974 | ||
| R | 3,377 | 8,475 | 12,155 | ||
| R | 3,382 | 6,827 | 13,186 | ||
| R | 6,023 | 6,448 | 12,471 | ||
| R | 4,802 | 7,486 | 12,371 | ||
| R | 4,709 | 6,922 | 11,784 | ||
| R | 4,194 | 6,628 | 10,886 | ||
| R | 3,804 | 5,180 | 9,252 | ||
| D | 5,162 | 3,623 | 8,785 | ||
| D | 6,081 | 4,474 | 10,583 | ||
| D | 5,071 | 5,050 | 10,179 | ||
| D | 3,470 | 3,354 | 6,903 | ||
| R | 2,600 | 5,140 | 7,754 | ||
| R | 2,191 | 3,311 | 5,755 | ||
| R | 2,348 | 3,715 | 6,098 | ||
| R | 1,629 | 2,334 | 3,964 | ||
| D | 1,429 | 1,004 | 3,171 | ||
| R | 1,390 | 1,777 | 3,189 | ||
| R | 1,564 | 2,150 | 3,740 | ||
| R | 1,990 | 2,676 | 4,728 | ||
| R | 2,109 | 2,876 | 5,037 | ||
| R | 1,900 | 2,403 | 4,593 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
14.7%
English
12.6%
German
12.5%
American
11.0%
Italian
3.0%
Scottish
1.8%
French
1.8%
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: 43.0 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
$61,451
Athens, TN ranks near the middle of US counties.
Athens, TN$61,451
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.3%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.1%
Working age (18–64)12.3%
Seniors (65+)13.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.5%
speak English only
Spanish1.9%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 35.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Athens anchors a small Tennessee metro where manufacturing employment has historically tracked closely with broader McMinn County voting patterns, and where population growth from retiree in-migration has gradually altered the electorate over the past two decades.
The Democratic margin in Athens, TN peaked at eighteen points in 1944. By 1980 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-five points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $61,451 sits well below state and national norms, and 13% 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.
Athens, TN, Tennessee — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/11940/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Athens, TN, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Athens, TN, Tennessee voted Republican by 64.9 points (R+65), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 30,171 votes cast, 5,175 went Democratic and 24,758 went Republican.
What is Athens, TN, Tennessee's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Athens, TN, Tennessee as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Athens, TN, Tennessee last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Athens, TN, Tennessee voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Athens, TN, Tennessee?
Athens, TN, Tennessee has a population of 68,227 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Athens, TN, Tennessee?
Median household income in Athens, TN, Tennessee is $61,451 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Athens, TN, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Athens, TN, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.