Effingham, IL, Illinois: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+61%. Republican peak: R+61 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+61MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 44,8562024 5-year
- Median household income
- $78,7742024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 95.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+30 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+61 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Effingham, IL, ILOne 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 | 4,676 | 19,751 | 24,853 | ||
| R | 4,858 | 19,607 | 24,932 | ||
| R | 4,114 | 17,841 | 23,180 | ||
| R | 5,502 | 16,010 | 21,908 | ||
| R | 7,317 | 14,479 | 22,156 | ||
| R | 6,250 | 15,271 | 21,694 | ||
| R | 6,095 | 12,819 | 19,460 | ||
| R | 6,601 | 9,698 | 18,673 | ||
| R | 7,332 | 8,189 | 20,183 | ||
| R | 6,457 | 11,098 | 17,666 | ||
| R | 5,574 | 12,619 | 18,266 | ||
| R | 6,121 | 12,263 | 19,097 | ||
| R | 8,704 | 9,712 | 18,735 | ||
| R | 6,514 | 12,009 | 18,551 | ||
| R | 6,324 | 9,369 | 17,000 | ||
| D | 9,838 | 7,295 | 17,133 | ||
| R | 8,151 | 9,430 | 17,592 | ||
| R | 6,727 | 10,139 | 16,892 | ||
| R | 6,945 | 9,832 | 16,814 | ||
| D | 7,293 | 7,274 | 14,691 | ||
| R | 6,978 | 8,141 | 15,225 | ||
| R | 9,079 | 9,271 | 18,457 | ||
| D | 9,320 | 7,309 | 16,939 | ||
| D | 9,631 | 5,099 | 14,893 | ||
| R | 6,112 | 7,124 | 13,357 | ||
| D | 6,198 | 5,857 | 13,344 | ||
| R | 5,147 | 7,271 | 12,587 | ||
| D | 7,489 | 6,086 | 13,904 | ||
| D | 4,248 | 1,992 | 7,749 | ||
| D | 4,636 | 3,616 | 8,479 | ||
| D | 3,947 | 3,720 | 8,050 | ||
| D | 4,972 | 3,723 | 8,811 | ||
| D | 5,051 | 3,751 | 8,903 | ||
| D | 4,529 | 2,942 | 8,041 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
40.9%
English
10.7%
Irish
9.1%
American
9.0%
French
2.0%
Italian
1.9%
Scottish
1.2%
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: 40.7 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
$78,774
Effingham, IL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Effingham, IL$78,774
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
9.9%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1813.7%
Working age (18–64)8.7%
Seniors (65+)8.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.4%
speak English only
Spanish1.5%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Effingham anchors a predominantly agricultural corridor in south-central Illinois, where Republican margins in federal races have consistently exceeded 40 points over the past decade, reflecting the region's deep rural conservative lean.
The Democratic margin in Effingham, IL peaked at thirty points in 1932. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $78,774 sits well below state and national norms, and 10% 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.
Effingham, IL, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/20820/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Effingham, IL, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Effingham, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 60.7 points (R+61), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 24,853 votes cast, 4,676 went Democratic and 19,751 went Republican.
What is Effingham, IL, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Effingham, IL, Illinois as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 12 times, Republican 22 times, and other 0 times.
When did Effingham, IL, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Effingham, IL, Illinois voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Effingham, IL, Illinois?
Effingham, IL, Illinois has a population of 44,856 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Effingham, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Effingham, IL, Illinois is $78,774 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Effingham, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Effingham, IL, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.