Columbus, OH, Ohio: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted D+5%. Republican peak: R+36 in 1984.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+5MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- BellwetherAkashic typology
- Population
- 2,175,7882024 5-year
- Median household income
- $84,3002024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 69.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 16.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+15 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+36 in 1984MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Columbus, OH, OHOne 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 | 544,350 | 492,312 | 1,055,796 | ||
| D | 567,327 | 480,172 | 1,064,695 | ||
| D | 475,027 | 429,930 | 975,446 | ||
| D | 492,213 | 427,173 | 940,802 | ||
| D | 478,611 | 426,492 | 920,474 | ||
| R | 408,339 | 448,541 | 861,182 | ||
| R | 293,236 | 356,299 | 671,891 | ||
| R | 279,898 | 295,766 | 631,584 | ||
| R | 245,108 | 292,646 | 677,587 | ||
| R | 208,160 | 357,809 | 571,089 | ||
| R | 180,812 | 389,805 | 580,722 | ||
| R | 203,743 | 308,732 | 551,335 | ||
| R | 212,723 | 282,344 | 508,072 | ||
| R | 159,258 | 328,131 | 499,674 | ||
| R | 149,514 | 225,012 | 433,024 | ||
| D | 237,480 | 193,029 | 430,509 | ||
| R | 161,727 | 256,157 | 417,884 | ||
| R | 121,600 | 239,177 | 360,777 | ||
| R | 139,438 | 224,138 | 363,576 | ||
| R | 135,059 | 160,566 | 297,402 | ||
| R | 138,036 | 172,192 | 310,228 | ||
| R | 161,032 | 167,745 | 328,777 | ||
| D | 165,087 | 121,522 | 292,516 | ||
| R | 120,978 | 124,980 | 252,078 | ||
| R | 81,447 | 167,388 | 250,210 | ||
| R | 62,090 | 120,536 | 210,564 | ||
| R | 98,539 | 120,605 | 222,259 | ||
| D | 70,558 | 53,875 | 127,601 | ||
| D | 50,019 | 32,471 | 115,120 | ||
| R | 58,143 | 62,990 | 125,245 | ||
| R | 43,256 | 62,695 | 109,930 | ||
| R | 53,076 | 55,261 | 110,144 | ||
| D | 53,251 | 52,467 | 106,927 | ||
| D | 44,909 | 41,469 | 90,629 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
19.7%
Irish
12.0%
English
11.5%
American
5.3%
Italian
5.0%
Scottish
2.1%
Polish
2.0%
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: 36.9 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
$84,300
Columbus, OH ranks near the middle of US counties.
Columbus, OH$84,300
Ohio$71,389
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.3%
Working age (18–64)11.1%
Seniors (65+)9.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.0%
speak English only
Spanish3.8%
Other Indo-European3.6%
Other languages3.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Columbus anchors Ohio's fastest-growing metro, where Franklin County's leftward shift since 2016 has made the area a genuine swing zone — driven largely by demographic change around Ohio State and a booming professional class.
The Democratic margin in Columbus, OH has rarely exceeded fifteen points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded thirty-six points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Democratic candidate by five points.
Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 69% non-Hispanic-white share, a 12% poverty rate, and a median household income of $84,300 — all within the broad national range.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Columbus, OH, Ohio — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/18140/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Columbus, OH, Ohio vote in 2024?
In 2024, Columbus, OH, Ohio voted Democratic by 4.9 points (D+5), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 1,055,796 votes cast, 544,350 went Democratic and 492,312 went Republican.
What is Columbus, OH, Ohio's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Columbus, OH, Ohio as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 11 times, Republican 23 times, and other 0 times.
When did Columbus, OH, Ohio last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Columbus, OH, Ohio voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in Columbus, OH, Ohio?
Columbus, OH, Ohio has a population of 2,175,788 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Columbus, OH, Ohio?
Median household income in Columbus, OH, Ohio is $84,300 — above the national median of $80,734. The Ohio state median is $71,389.
What is the political history of Columbus, OH, Ohio?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Columbus, OH, Ohio from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 23 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.