Beckley, WV, West Virginia: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+50%. Democratic peak: D+60 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+50MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 112,7142024 5-year
- Median household income
- $52,5162024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 88.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 6.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+60 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Beckley, WV, WVOne 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 | 11,203 | 34,554 | 46,586 | ||
| R | 13,045 | 36,253 | 49,984 | ||
| R | 10,733 | 32,405 | 45,370 | ||
| R | 13,158 | 28,964 | 42,907 | ||
| R | 17,479 | 25,206 | 43,449 | ||
| R | 20,786 | 26,400 | 47,492 | ||
| D | 19,418 | 18,484 | 38,680 | ||
| D | 22,018 | 12,297 | 38,380 | ||
| D | 22,745 | 12,691 | 40,822 | ||
| D | 25,311 | 15,538 | 40,987 | ||
| D | 26,092 | 21,931 | 48,208 | ||
| D | 30,130 | 16,497 | 48,605 | ||
| D | 35,264 | 16,096 | 51,360 | ||
| R | 20,552 | 31,026 | 51,578 | ||
| D | 32,290 | 14,021 | 51,229 | ||
| D | 43,596 | 11,003 | 54,599 | ||
| D | 38,557 | 19,625 | 58,182 | ||
| D | 32,550 | 26,536 | 59,086 | ||
| D | 45,011 | 23,195 | 68,206 | ||
| D | 41,404 | 17,865 | 59,537 | ||
| D | 35,517 | 18,255 | 53,772 | ||
| D | 45,361 | 22,059 | 67,420 | ||
| D | 46,704 | 17,943 | 64,771 | ||
| D | 32,583 | 23,611 | 56,587 | ||
| R | 22,717 | 24,542 | 47,363 | ||
| R | 17,339 | 19,198 | 40,044 | ||
| R | 14,919 | 18,229 | 33,580 | ||
| R | 8,696 | 9,302 | 18,510 | ||
| O | 6,100 | 3,594 | 17,550 | ||
| R | 5,710 | 8,404 | 15,026 | ||
| R | 4,689 | 8,358 | 13,655 | ||
| D | 6,789 | 4,356 | 11,232 | ||
| R | 3,886 | 5,693 | 9,649 | ||
| R | 3,197 | 3,536 | 7,042 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
30.6%
Irish
9.6%
German
8.8%
American
8.4%
Italian
2.8%
Scottish
2.3%
French
0.7%
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: 43.5 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
$52,516
Beckley, WV ranks near the middle of US counties.
Beckley, WV$52,516
West Virginia$59,608
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
21.5%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1830.8%
Working age (18–64)19.7%
Seniors (65+)14.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.1%
speak English only
Spanish1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.4%
Other Indo-European0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 66.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Beckley anchors Raleigh County in the heart of West Virginia's southern coalfields, a region that swung sharply toward Republicans over roughly two decades as coal employment declined and cultural realignment accelerated across Appalachian communities.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Beckley, WV peaked at sixty points in 1964; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2004 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twelve points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $52,516 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 22% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Beckley, WV, West Virginia — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/13220/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Beckley, WV, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Beckley, WV, West Virginia voted Republican by 50.1 points (R+50), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 46,586 votes cast, 11,203 went Democratic and 34,554 went Republican.
What is Beckley, WV, West Virginia's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Beckley, WV, West Virginia as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 18 times, Republican 15 times, and other 1 times.
When did Beckley, WV, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Beckley, WV, West Virginia voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Beckley, WV, West Virginia?
Beckley, WV, West Virginia has a population of 112,714 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Beckley, WV, West Virginia?
Median household income in Beckley, WV, West Virginia is $52,516 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Beckley, WV, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Beckley, WV, West Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 15 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.