Decatur, AL, Alabama: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+55%. Democratic peak: D+80 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+55MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 157,7472024 5-year
- Median household income
- $68,2602024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 74.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 12.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 9.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+80 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+55 in 1964MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Decatur, AL, ALOne 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 | 15,375 | 53,473 | 69,665 | ||
| R | 16,796 | 51,986 | 69,753 | ||
| R | 14,881 | 48,319 | 64,618 | ||
| R | 18,508 | 44,265 | 63,435 | ||
| R | 19,059 | 45,291 | 65,222 | ||
| R | 20,286 | 40,207 | 61,008 | ||
| R | 22,356 | 31,445 | 54,866 | ||
| R | 19,870 | 25,658 | 50,156 | ||
| R | 21,455 | 24,649 | 55,567 | ||
| R | 15,240 | 22,295 | 37,814 | ||
| R | 16,190 | 28,767 | 45,235 | ||
| D | 20,815 | 15,670 | 38,013 | ||
| D | 23,357 | 10,473 | 34,270 | ||
| R | 6,420 | 22,533 | 29,416 | ||
| O | 2,528 | 3,623 | 29,806 | ||
| R | 0 | 8,822 | 15,998 | ||
| D | 10,751 | 5,722 | 16,501 | ||
| D | 10,632 | 4,171 | 15,057 | ||
| D | 9,680 | 3,144 | 12,846 | ||
| O | 0 | 869 | 6,188 | ||
| D | 6,017 | 1,229 | 7,301 | ||
| D | 7,622 | 980 | 8,647 | ||
| D | 7,810 | 876 | 8,721 | ||
| D | 6,816 | 955 | 7,871 | ||
| R | 4,401 | 5,093 | 9,506 | ||
| D | 3,237 | 987 | 4,611 | ||
| D | 4,992 | 2,032 | 7,111 | ||
| D | 3,115 | 407 | 3,724 | ||
| D | 2,329 | 439 | 3,505 | ||
| D | 2,150 | 841 | 3,199 | ||
| D | 2,346 | 826 | 3,331 | ||
| D | 3,009 | 2,496 | 5,655 | ||
| D | 3,376 | 3,147 | 6,846 | ||
| O | 3,676 | 6 | 7,801 | ||
| D | 3,156 | 1,964 | 5,152 | ||
| D | 2,980 | 2,435 | 5,737 | ||
| D | 2,975 | 2,058 | 5,866 | ||
| D | 3,091 | 2,257 | 5,348 |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
16.6%
English
12.8%
Irish
8.5%
German
6.4%
Scottish
2.2%
Italian
1.5%
French
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: 40.5 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
$68,260
Decatur, AL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Decatur, AL$68,260
Alabama$63,999
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.5%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.1%
Working age (18–64)12.3%
Seniors (65+)13.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.3%
speak English only
Spanish6.5%
Other languages0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 31.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Decatur's Lawrence and Morgan counties lean heavily Republican in federal contests, but the area's industrial workforce and proximity to Huntsville's tech corridor introduce demographic pressures that distinguish it from purely rural north Alabama.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Decatur, AL peaked at eighty points in 1936; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1984 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twenty-eight points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $68,260 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 14% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Decatur, AL, Alabama — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/19460/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Decatur, AL, Alabama vote in 2024?
In 2024, Decatur, AL, Alabama voted Republican by 54.7 points (R+55), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 69,665 votes cast, 15,375 went Democratic and 53,473 went Republican.
What is Decatur, AL, Alabama's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Decatur, AL, Alabama as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 21 times, Republican 14 times, and other 3 times.
When did Decatur, AL, Alabama last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Decatur, AL, Alabama voted Democratic was 1980.
How many people live in Decatur, AL, Alabama?
Decatur, AL, Alabama has a population of 157,747 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Decatur, AL, Alabama?
Median household income in Decatur, AL, Alabama is $68,260 — below the national median of $80,734. The Alabama state median is $63,999.
What is the political history of Decatur, AL, Alabama?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Decatur, AL, Alabama from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 21 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.