Birmingham, AL Metro Area — Elections 1876–2024

Birmingham, AL, Alabama: Old Confederacy metro. In 2024, voted R+20%. Republican peak: R+72 in 1964.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: R+20MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: Old ConfederacyAkashic typology
Population: 1,184,6132024 5-year
Median household income: $72,4642024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 62.3%2024 5-year
Black: 28.4%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 6.0%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+68 in 1936MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+72 in 1964MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

7 counties · 1 D · 6 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	R	−19.8%	213,834	321,600	543,897
2020	R	−16.4%	235,233	329,032	572,902
2016	R	−21.6%	196,877	308,383	516,699
2012	R	−20.3%	200,854	304,622	509,982
2008	R	−18.8%	209,752	307,963	522,603
2004	R	−27.2%	171,413	300,469	475,198
2000	R	−16.5%	173,671	243,751	425,788
1996	R	−11.9%	163,794	210,672	393,013
1992	R	−12.8%	170,833	226,448	435,900
1988	R	−21.3%	141,126	217,946	361,161
1984	R	−23.9%	136,820	223,718	362,879
1980	R	−7.8%	152,776	180,057	349,085
1976	R	−0.6%	143,658	145,440	294,135
1972	R	−44.5%	68,184	183,185	258,591
1968	O	+4.4%	61,339	49,599	267,546
1964	R	−71.5%	0	132,455	185,153
1960	R	−8.5%	65,641	78,023	145,271
1956	R	−2.6%	57,757	60,987	124,640
1952	D	+12.3%	57,173	44,557	102,257
1948	O	−23.7%	0	13,575	57,164
1944	D	+51.3%	44,899	14,339	59,521
1940	D	+59.0%	55,640	14,222	70,158
1936	D	+67.5%	53,668	10,154	64,424
1932	D	+60.8%	45,674	10,723	57,474
1928	R	−7.5%	28,152	32,712	61,013
1924	D	+24.4%	25,453	14,673	44,181
1920	D	+25.7%	40,282	23,510	65,260
1916	D	+34.5%	18,905	9,000	28,710
1912	D	+49.9%	15,739	2,782	25,954
1908	D	+27.1%	13,725	7,564	22,740
1904	D	+39.9%	13,283	5,099	20,492
1900	D	+2.6%	10,051	9,508	20,774
1896	D	+29.3%	18,322	9,728	29,282
1892	D	+54.1%	18,216	886	32,014
1888	D	+30.8%	13,683	7,194	21,036
1884	D	+19.1%	8,096	5,478	13,688
1880	D	+43.7%	7,416	2,834	10,487
1876	D	+45.1%	8,530	3,230	11,760

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

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

English

12.8%

American

11.4%

Irish

7.3%

German

5.7%

Scottish

2.2%

Italian

2.0%

French

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: 38.9 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.6%

85+

1.2%

2.1%

75–84

2.9%

4.7%

65–74

5.7%

6.0%

55–64

6.6%

6.0%

45–54

6.3%

35–44

6.7%

6.5%

25–34

6.8%

4.3%

18–24

4.4%

8.7%

5–17

8.3%

3.0%

2.9%

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

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$72,464

Birmingham, AL ranks near the middle of US counties.

Birmingham, AL$72,464

Alabama$63,999

United States$80,734

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

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

13.8%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1818.9%

Working age (18–64)12.1%

Seniors (65+)13.3%

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

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

92.8%

speak English only

Spanish4.8%

Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%

Other Indo-European0.9%

Other languages0.5%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Baptist

31.7%

Other Christian

15.8%

Methodist

7.3%

Catholic & Orthodox

4.8%

Pentecostal & Holiness

3.6%

Mainline Protestant

3.5%

Non-Christian

1.4%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 31.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

The Birmingham metro blends a majority-Black urban center with heavily Republican suburban and exurban counties, producing a persistent split-ticket dynamic that makes Jefferson County a perennial bellwether for statewide margins.

The shift began with civil rights. 1956 marked the realignment in Birmingham, AL, by a three points margin. The Republican margin reached its widest at seventy-two points in 1964. The 2024 margin was twenty points.

The political shift has tracked, in Birmingham, AL, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 62% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $72,464, and a 14% poverty rate describe the demographic context.

Cite this page

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

Birmingham, AL, Alabama — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/13820/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Birmingham, AL, Alabama vote in 2024?

In 2024, Birmingham, AL, Alabama voted Republican by 19.8 points (R+20), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 543,897 votes cast, 213,834 went Democratic and 321,600 went Republican.

What is Birmingham, AL, Alabama's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Birmingham, AL, Alabama as a "Old Confederacy" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 18 times, Republican 18 times, and other 2 times.

When did Birmingham, AL, Alabama last vote Democratic?

The most recent presidential election in which Birmingham, AL, Alabama voted Democratic was 1952.

How many people live in Birmingham, AL, Alabama?

Birmingham, AL, Alabama has a population of 1,184,613 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Birmingham, AL, Alabama?

Median household income in Birmingham, AL, Alabama is $72,464 — below the national median of $80,734. The Alabama state median is $63,999.

What is the political history of Birmingham, AL, Alabama?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Birmingham, AL, Alabama from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Old Confederacy" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Birmingham, AL voted Democratic for a century; it now votes Republican by 20 points.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions