Columbus, IN, Indiana: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+27%. Republican peak: R+42 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+27MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 83,5362024 5-year
- Median household income
- $79,9012024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 9.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+28 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Columbus, IN, INOne 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 | 12,525 | 22,220 | 35,588 | ||
| R | 12,934 | 22,410 | 36,235 | ||
| R | 9,841 | 20,639 | 32,716 | ||
| R | 10,625 | 18,083 | 29,392 | ||
| R | 13,567 | 17,067 | 31,043 | ||
| R | 9,191 | 19,093 | 28,515 | ||
| R | 9,015 | 16,200 | 25,769 | ||
| R | 9,301 | 13,188 | 25,558 | ||
| R | 8,284 | 13,146 | 27,440 | ||
| R | 8,804 | 17,364 | 26,291 | ||
| R | 8,075 | 18,704 | 26,970 | ||
| R | 9,260 | 15,801 | 26,974 | ||
| R | 11,203 | 14,771 | 26,187 | ||
| R | 6,974 | 17,365 | 24,502 | ||
| R | 8,268 | 13,628 | 24,424 | ||
| D | 12,940 | 11,026 | 24,090 | ||
| R | 9,290 | 13,606 | 23,026 | ||
| R | 8,134 | 12,227 | 20,453 | ||
| R | 7,844 | 11,462 | 19,502 | ||
| D | 7,960 | 7,804 | 16,012 | ||
| R | 7,139 | 7,689 | 15,080 | ||
| D | 8,180 | 7,890 | 16,156 | ||
| D | 8,536 | 6,484 | 15,107 | ||
| D | 7,533 | 6,015 | 13,938 | ||
| R | 4,881 | 6,788 | 11,752 | ||
| R | 4,760 | 6,606 | 11,668 | ||
| R | 5,420 | 6,585 | 12,210 | ||
| D | 3,441 | 3,287 | 6,981 | ||
| D | 3,147 | 1,321 | 6,521 | ||
| D | 3,637 | 3,306 | 7,167 | ||
| R | 3,038 | 3,510 | 6,802 | ||
| D | 3,300 | 2,375 | 5,782 | ||
| R | 3,198 | 3,264 | 6,524 | ||
| D | 3,217 | 2,297 | 5,688 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
16.2%
English
13.9%
American
7.9%
Irish
7.6%
Scottish
1.8%
Italian
1.6%
Polish
0.9%
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: 37.5 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
$79,901
Columbus, IN ranks near the middle of US counties.
Columbus, IN$79,901
Indiana$71,957
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.5%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.3%
Working age (18–64)10.4%
Seniors (65+)8.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
85.4%
speak English only
Spanish7.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.9%
Other Indo-European3.3%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 52.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Anchored by Cummins Inc.'s global headquarters, Columbus punches above its weight economically for a city of roughly 50,000, yet its Bartholomew County core has delivered Republican presidential margins above 25 points in each of the last three cycles.
The Democratic margin in Columbus, IN peaked at twenty-eight points in 1912. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-seven points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $79,901 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Columbus, IN, Indiana — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/18020/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Columbus, IN, Indiana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Columbus, IN, Indiana voted Republican by 27.2 points (R+27), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 35,588 votes cast, 12,525 went Democratic and 22,220 went Republican.
What is Columbus, IN, Indiana's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Columbus, IN, Indiana as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 10 times, Republican 24 times, and other 0 times.
When did Columbus, IN, Indiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Columbus, IN, Indiana voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Columbus, IN, Indiana?
Columbus, IN, Indiana has a population of 83,536 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Columbus, IN, Indiana?
Median household income in Columbus, IN, Indiana is $79,901 — below the national median of $80,734. The Indiana state median is $71,957.
What is the political history of Columbus, IN, Indiana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Columbus, IN, Indiana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.