Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metro Area — Elections 1876–2024

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted D+23%. Democratic peak: D+83 in 1912.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: D+23MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: BellwetherAkashic typology
Population: 2,849,4362024 5-year
Median household income: $103,5252024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 53.5%2024 5-year
Black: 28.9%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 8.2%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+83 in 1912MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+24 in 1972MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

7 counties · 4 D · 3 R

R+60

D+60

One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.

38 presidential elections

Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	D	+23.3%	852,369	521,384	1,422,620
2020	D	+26.0%	878,185	507,676	1,423,875
2016	D	+18.3%	733,718	497,637	1,292,656
2012	D	+18.0%	746,052	513,164	1,290,428
2008	D	+16.8%	725,858	513,811	1,263,858
2004	D	+5.7%	602,806	536,565	1,154,390
2000	D	+11.3%	529,648	418,775	982,136
1996	D	+12.2%	449,711	344,488	865,311
1992	D	+13.0%	489,922	359,098	1,003,874
1988	R	−2.9%	417,858	443,183	867,309
1984	R	−4.8%	411,432	453,257	869,474
1980	D	+10.2%	418,928	335,428	820,916
1976	D	+7.2%	405,269	351,057	756,326
1972	R	−24.0%	263,239	432,723	706,822
1968	D	+6.2%	306,922	266,165	661,502
1964	D	+34.9%	430,088	207,772	637,910
1960	D	+11.6%	346,805	274,819	621,626
1956	R	−21.7%	222,012	345,148	567,160
1952	R	−7.5%	260,178	302,776	568,764
1948	D	+1.9%	190,316	183,020	383,507
1944	D	+9.3%	215,526	178,937	394,463
1940	D	+21.5%	262,062	168,611	435,032
1936	D	+30.9%	270,795	142,332	415,719
1932	D	+30.7%	215,095	111,909	336,583
1928	R	−8.3%	161,022	190,301	353,510
1924	R	−3.3%	87,810	95,132	221,266
1920	R	−15.3%	115,489	158,881	283,028
1916	D	+10.3%	91,043	73,635	168,263
1912	D	+82.5%	150,460	28,664	147,563
1908	—	No data	140,734	73,510	3,740
1904	—	No data	163,026	66,526	3,062
1900	—	No data	76,402	83,194	1,094
1896	R	−15.4%	62,617	86,525	154,863
1892	D	+15.2%	72,952	53,223	129,385
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

German

13.3%

Irish

11.0%

English

9.0%

Italian

5.4%

American

4.2%

Polish

3.4%

Scottish

1.0%

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: 39.1 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.7%

85+

1.2%

2.1%

75–84

2.8%

4.5%

65–74

5.4%

6.3%

55–64

6.9%

5.8%

45–54

6.3%

6.7%

35–44

7.1%

6.7%

25–34

7.0%

4.3%

18–24

4.2%

8.3%

5–17

8.0%

2.9%

2.8%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$103,525

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD ranks near the middle of US counties.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD$103,525

Maryland$103,678

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

9.8%

Child poverty is below the national average.

Children under 1811.8%

Working age (18–64)8.9%

Seniors (65+)12.5%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

85.3%

speak English only

Spanish5.4%

Other Indo-European3.8%

Asian & Pacific Islander3.3%

Other languages2.1%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Catholic & Orthodox

12.9%

Other Christian

8.7%

Non-Christian

5.2%

Methodist

4.5%

Mainline Protestant

3.4%

Baptist

3.1%

Pentecostal & Holiness

1.6%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Baltimore city's majority-Black electorate and its surrounding Anne Arundel and Howard County suburbs produce some of Maryland's sharpest intra-metro contrasts, with presidential margins swinging 40+ points between jurisdictions.

The Democratic margin in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD has rarely exceeded eighty-three points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded twenty-four points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Democratic candidate by twenty-three points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 54% non-Hispanic-white share, a 10% poverty rate, and a median household income of $103,525 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page

All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/12580/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland vote in 2024?

In 2024, Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland voted Democratic by 23.3 points (D+23), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 1,422,620 votes cast, 852,369 went Democratic and 521,384 went Republican.

What is Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 22 times, Republican 9 times, and other 0 times.

When did Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland last vote Republican?

The most recent presidential election in which Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland voted Republican was 1988.

How many people live in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland?

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland has a population of 2,849,436 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland?

Median household income in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland is $103,525 — above the national median of $80,734. The Maryland state median is $103,678.

What is the political history of Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD, Maryland from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 22 went Democratic and 9 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD delivered D+23 in 2024.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions