akashic
1876–2024
Columbia, MO·Missouri

Columbia, MO votes the way the country votes.

College-town anchor in a rural-red region

1876 — 2024·38 elections
MO
Latest
D+2
in 2024
Archetype
Bellwether
since the recent cycles
Population
215,014
2024 ACS

Columbia, MO, Missouri: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted D+2%. Democratic peak: D+46 in 1932.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
D+2MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
BellwetherAkashic typology
Population
215,0142024 5-year
Median household income
$72,2692024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
78.3%2024 5-year
Black
9.2%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
4.2%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+46 in 1932MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+17 in 1972MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
3 counties · 1 D · 2 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).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
D
+2.4%
52,14049,600104,198
D
+5.0%
53,72648,471105,111
R
−0.8%
44,34045,10196,722
R
−1.4%
44,04445,30891,800
D
+7.8%
52,09444,45998,132
R
−4.2%
42,01545,77488,475
R
−2.2%
33,32234,91270,911
D
+5.2%
29,75126,49262,752
D
+10.7%
30,97023,52569,672
D
+1.3%
29,32628,55058,046
R
−17.4%
23,59733,56357,160
D
+1.9%
23,45722,48850,240
D
+3.8%
23,53021,75746,196
R
−16.7%
18,03925,27343,312
R
−2.5%
16,90217,85737,811
D
+28.3%
22,46612,56435,030
D
+4.1%
18,67417,20035,874
D
+6.4%
17,45715,36932,826
D
+6.8%
17,31615,09332,462
D
+29.3%
18,2089,92128,314
D
+22.1%
17,39111,07428,524
D
+23.7%
20,99112,92234,009
D
+35.4%
21,75510,34932,215
D
+45.7%
22,4018,27330,942
D
+18.3%
17,28711,92429,255
D
+25.9%
17,48610,17528,245
D
+20.2%
17,14011,35328,634
D
+28.2%
11,0046,13117,275
D
+35.1%
10,1434,51616,011
D
+27.2%
10,4805,96916,588
D
+23.8%
9,5345,82315,579
D
+29.8%
10,6835,70516,686
D
+32.7%
11,4205,76917,281
D
+30.0%
9,1084,76914,467
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
24.1%
English
14.6%
Irish
12.1%
American
5.9%
Italian
2.8%
Scottish
2.2%
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: 33.6 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.6%
85+
1.0%
1.7%
75–84
2.3%
4.0%
65–74
4.6%
5.3%
55–64
5.5%
5.1%
45–54
5.1%
6.2%
35–44
6.2%
7.0%
25–34
7.1%
8.4%
18–24
9.5%
7.7%
5–17
7.2%
2.7%
<5
2.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$72,269
Columbia, MO ranks near the middle of US counties.
Columbia, MO$72,269
Missouri$70,702
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.0%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.2%
Working age (18–64)16.9%
Seniors (65+)10.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.8%
speak English only
Asian & Pacific Islander2.7%
Spanish2.5%
Other Indo-European2.0%
Other languages0.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Other Christian
12.0%
Baptist
8.8%
Catholic & Orthodox
7.3%
Mainline Protestant
4.4%
Methodist
3.5%
Non-Christian
1.9%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.1%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Home to the University of Missouri, Columbia's Boone County posts notably higher Democratic margins than surrounding Ozark and agricultural counties, making it an isolated blue island in central Missouri's otherwise lopsided congressional map.

The Democratic margin in Columbia, MO has rarely exceeded forty-six points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded seventeen points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Democratic candidate by two points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 78% non-Hispanic-white share, a 16% poverty rate, and a median household income of $72,269 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Columbia, MO, Missouri — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/17860/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Columbia, MO, Missouri vote in 2024?
In 2024, Columbia, MO, Missouri voted Democratic by 2.4 points (D+2), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 104,198 votes cast, 52,140 went Democratic and 49,600 went Republican.
What is Columbia, MO, Missouri's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Columbia, MO, Missouri as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 27 times, Republican 7 times, and other 0 times.
When did Columbia, MO, Missouri last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Columbia, MO, Missouri voted Republican was 2016.
How many people live in Columbia, MO, Missouri?
Columbia, MO, Missouri has a population of 215,014 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Columbia, MO, Missouri?
Median household income in Columbia, MO, Missouri is $72,269 — below the national median of $80,734. The Missouri state median is $70,702.
What is the political history of Columbia, MO, Missouri?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Columbia, MO, Missouri from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 27 went Democratic and 7 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.