Boulder, CO, Colorado: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted D+56%. Democratic peak: D+70 in 1896.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+56MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 328,9612024 5-year
- Median household income
- $103,9942024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 77.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 14.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+70 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+36 in 1892MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Boulder, CO, COOne 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 150,149 | 40,758 | 196,304 | ||
| D | 159,089 | 42,501 | 206,111 | ||
| D | 132,334 | 41,396 | 188,145 | ||
| D | 125,091 | 49,981 | 179,499 | ||
| D | 124,159 | 44,904 | 171,763 | ||
| D | 105,564 | 51,586 | 159,259 | ||
| D | 69,983 | 50,873 | 139,626 | ||
| D | 63,316 | 41,922 | 121,354 | ||
| D | 64,567 | 33,553 | 126,771 | ||
| D | 57,265 | 48,174 | 107,223 | ||
| R | 42,195 | 53,535 | 97,223 | ||
| R | 28,422 | 40,698 | 87,069 | ||
| R | 33,284 | 42,830 | 81,253 | ||
| R | 29,484 | 40,766 | 71,770 | ||
| R | 17,422 | 27,671 | 47,988 | ||
| D | 22,737 | 17,373 | 40,330 | ||
| R | 12,276 | 19,791 | 32,197 | ||
| R | 8,149 | 16,748 | 25,039 | ||
| R | 7,767 | 15,069 | 23,079 | ||
| R | 8,792 | 10,335 | 19,839 | ||
| R | 7,442 | 10,054 | 17,610 | ||
| R | 9,039 | 10,525 | 19,776 | ||
| D | 9,788 | 7,244 | 17,501 | ||
| D | 8,412 | 7,487 | 16,707 | ||
| R | 4,363 | 9,457 | 14,015 | ||
| R | 3,273 | 7,595 | 12,927 | ||
| R | 4,200 | 6,456 | 11,148 | ||
| D | 7,419 | 3,986 | 12,071 | ||
| D | 4,330 | 2,445 | 10,620 | ||
| D | 5,772 | 4,856 | 11,629 | ||
| R | 4,030 | 5,483 | 10,172 | ||
| D | 5,117 | 3,719 | 9,168 | ||
| D | 6,046 | 1,033 | 7,209 | ||
| O | 0 | 1,338 | 3,674 | ||
| R | 1,176 | 1,639 | 2,981 | ||
| R | 954 | 1,445 | 2,801 | ||
| R | 796 | 1,313 | 2,402 | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
18.1%
English
15.1%
Irish
12.6%
Italian
5.3%
Polish
3.1%
American
3.0%
French
2.9%
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: 37.7 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
$103,994
Boulder, CO ranks near the middle of US counties.
Boulder, CO$103,994
Colorado$95,470
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 187.0%
Working age (18–64)12.2%
Seniors (65+)10.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
84.9%
speak English only
Spanish8.2%
Other Indo-European3.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.6%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 63.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Boulder's electorate skews younger and more degree-holding than any other Colorado metro, a demographic profile that has made it among the most consistently lopsided jurisdictions on the Front Range for two decades.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Boulder, CO peaked at seventy points in 1896; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1988 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of eight points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $103,994 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Boulder, CO, Colorado — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/14500/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Boulder, CO, Colorado vote in 2024?
In 2024, Boulder, CO, Colorado voted Democratic by 55.7 points (D+56), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 196,304 votes cast, 150,149 went Democratic and 40,758 went Republican.
What is Boulder, CO, Colorado's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Boulder, CO, Colorado 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 18 times, and other 1 times.
When did Boulder, CO, Colorado last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Boulder, CO, Colorado voted Republican was 1984.
How many people live in Boulder, CO, Colorado?
Boulder, CO, Colorado has a population of 328,961 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Boulder, CO, Colorado?
Median household income in Boulder, CO, Colorado is $103,994 — above the national median of $80,734. The Colorado state median is $95,470.
What is the political history of Boulder, CO, Colorado?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Boulder, CO, Colorado from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.