akashic
1876–2024
Columbus, NE·Nebraska

Columbus, NE has voted Republican in fifteen straight presidential cycles.

A university hub that tilts sharply left in a sea of rural red

1876 — 2024·38 elections
NE
Latest
R+57
in 2024
Archetype
Republican loyalist
since the recent cycles
Population
45,357
2024 ACS

Columbus, NE, Nebraska: Republican loyalist metro. In 2024, voted R+57%. Republican peak: R+62 in 1984.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+57MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
Republican loyalistAkashic typology
Population
45,3572024 5-year
Median household income
$74,1272024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
69.7%2024 5-year
Black
1.6%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
29.4%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+62 in 1932MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+62 in 1984MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
2 counties · 0 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
R
−56.7%
4,03614,96219,255
R
−54.2%
4,28514,82219,447
R
−54.6%
3,50513,13617,647
R
−48.3%
4,11712,11216,542
R
−38.9%
4,92111,39116,623
R
−57.2%
3,64713,71917,620
R
−53.9%
3,47512,19916,174
R
−36.6%
4,0759,90215,936
R
−34.5%
3,4359,65118,021
R
−40.1%
4,82711,36916,294
R
−61.7%
3,04213,06816,238
R
−53.4%
3,28212,06216,429
R
−27.6%
5,3599,58115,302
R
−45.8%
3,96210,67014,632
R
−31.7%
3,9318,08113,095
D
+4.9%
7,3676,67714,044
R
−15.1%
6,3628,63314,995
R
−35.8%
4,4489,41713,865
R
−41.9%
4,10310,02714,130
R
−4.8%
5,2145,74010,954
R
−9.6%
5,6266,82312,449
R
−9.4%
6,2237,51613,739
D
+34.0%
9,4594,49414,587
D
+61.6%
10,7672,51213,406
D
+21.2%
7,4944,86712,404
O
−0.9%
3,4663,55810,583
R
−43.8%
2,3246,0508,498
D
+17.5%
4,0402,8156,984
D
+30.2%
3,0131,2095,980
D
+15.3%
3,7542,7436,629
R
−14.3%
2,2793,1275,924
D
+13.4%
3,4742,6416,201
D
+20.8%
3,5192,2825,941
O
+5.3%
1,5091,2544,775
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
31.1%
Irish
7.6%
Polish
6.6%
English
5.7%
American
2.6%
French
1.1%
Italian
0.8%
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: 37.2 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.7%
85+
1.7%
2.4%
75–84
2.4%
5.1%
65–74
4.9%
6.6%
55–64
5.8%
5.7%
45–54
5.2%
6.8%
35–44
5.7%
5.9%
25–34
5.3%
4.7%
18–24
3.7%
10.4%
5–17
10.1%
3.3%
<5
3.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$74,127
Columbus, NE ranks near the middle of US counties.
Columbus, NE$74,127
Nebraska$76,475
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
9.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.1%
Working age (18–64)8.7%
Seniors (65+)12.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
74.8%
speak English only
Spanish23.6%
Other languages0.9%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
44.1%
Mainline Protestant
17.4%
Methodist
3.9%
Other Christian
3.3%
Baptist
0.9%
Pentecostal & Holiness
0.6%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 29.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Columbus anchors Platte County, where a growing Latino population tied to meatpacking and food-processing industries has reshaped the demographic mix — yet the metro still swung decisively toward Democrats by 43 points in 2024.

The Republican margin in Columbus, NE reached its widest at sixty-two points in 1984. The margin in 2024 was fifty-seven points, in line with the metro's deep historical pattern.

Its loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $74,127, a 70% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 45,357 together describe a metro whose political habits are deeply settled.

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Columbus, NE, Nebraska — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/18100/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Columbus, NE, Nebraska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Columbus, NE, Nebraska voted Republican by 56.7 points (R+57), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 19,255 votes cast, 4,036 went Democratic and 14,962 went Republican.
What is Columbus, NE, Nebraska's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Columbus, NE, Nebraska as a "Republican loyalist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 9 times, Republican 23 times, and other 2 times.
When did Columbus, NE, Nebraska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Columbus, NE, Nebraska voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Columbus, NE, Nebraska?
Columbus, NE, Nebraska has a population of 45,357 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Columbus, NE, Nebraska?
Median household income in Columbus, NE, Nebraska is $74,127 — below the national median of $80,734. The Nebraska state median is $76,475.
What is the political history of Columbus, NE, Nebraska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Columbus, NE, Nebraska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 23 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Republican loyalist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.