akashic
1876–2024
Ellensburg, WA·Washington

Ellensburg, WA delivered R+14 in 2024.

A college town anchored in ranching country at the Kittitas Valley's core

1876 — 2024·38 elections
WA
Latest
R+14
in 2024
Archetype
Bellwether
since the recent cycles
Population
47,172
2024 ACS

Ellensburg, WA, Washington: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted R+14%. Republican peak: R+46 in 1904.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+14MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
BellwetherAkashic typology
Population
47,1722024 5-year
Median household income
$73,8042024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
82.1%2024 5-year
Black
1.1%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
10.5%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+43 in 1936MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+46 in 1904MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
1 counties · 0 D · 1 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
−14.5%
10,81014,64526,499
R
−10.2%
11,42114,10526,364
R
−13.3%
7,48910,10019,615
R
−10.0%
7,9499,78218,293
R
−8.1%
8,0309,47117,868
R
−14.4%
6,7319,05216,114
R
−15.7%
5,5167,72714,086
D
+3.8%
5,7075,22412,564
D
+10.9%
5,4324,07812,385
D
+2.6%
5,3185,04810,496
R
−15.2%
4,8306,58011,531
R
−11.9%
4,0755,35910,748
D
+0.9%
4,8584,76510,017
R
−11.5%
4,2995,46410,126
R
−3.3%
3,9214,2128,729
D
+25.4%
5,3833,2008,592
R
−3.8%
4,3034,6408,953
R
−15.5%
3,7265,0978,830
R
−13.8%
3,9375,2019,174
D
+13.7%
4,5883,4468,348
D
+10.5%
4,2273,4237,686
D
+20.8%
5,2033,4018,660
D
+43.0%
5,0441,9417,218
D
+34.5%
4,2661,9636,684
R
−19.9%
2,1363,2075,392
R
−38.1%
4552,3604,998
R
−33.0%
1,1192,8375,202
D
+5.7%
2,6092,3105,281
O
+4.8%
1,4071,1575,156
R
−24.6%
9851,7523,116
R
−45.9%
5231,7872,755
R
−9.5%
9341,1392,154
D
+12.1%
1,3361,0442,406
R
−2.4%
8008552,260
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.1%
English
14.0%
Irish
13.1%
Italian
3.2%
Scottish
3.2%
American
3.0%
Polish
2.3%
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: 35.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.6%
85+
0.7%
2.5%
75–84
2.7%
5.2%
65–74
5.3%
6.1%
55–64
6.6%
5.6%
45–54
5.2%
5.6%
35–44
5.0%
6.8%
25–34
5.5%
9.5%
18–24
10.5%
6.4%
5–17
6.1%
1.9%
<5
2.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$73,804
Ellensburg, WA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Ellensburg, WA$73,804
Washington$98,141
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.1%
Working age (18–64)15.1%
Seniors (65+)4.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.2%
speak English only
Spanish5.1%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
10.5%
Other Christian
10.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.3%
Baptist
1.3%
Mainline Protestant
1.3%
Methodist
0.3%
Non-Christian
0.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 74.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Central Washington University's enrollment shapes Ellensburg's demographics and turns out younger voters in a county that otherwise trends conservative, producing split-ticket patterns uncommon in surrounding rural precincts.

The Democratic margin in Ellensburg, WA has rarely exceeded forty-three points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded forty-six points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Republican candidate by fourteen points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 82% non-Hispanic-white share, a 14% poverty rate, and a median household income of $73,804 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Ellensburg, WA, Washington — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/21260/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Ellensburg, WA, Washington vote in 2024?
In 2024, Ellensburg, WA, Washington voted Republican by 14.5 points (R+14), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 26,499 votes cast, 10,810 went Democratic and 14,645 went Republican.
What is Ellensburg, WA, Washington's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Ellensburg, WA, Washington as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 12 times, Republican 21 times, and other 1 times.
When did Ellensburg, WA, Washington last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Ellensburg, WA, Washington voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Ellensburg, WA, Washington?
Ellensburg, WA, Washington has a population of 47,172 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ellensburg, WA, Washington?
Median household income in Ellensburg, WA, Washington is $73,804 — below the national median of $80,734. The Washington state median is $98,141.
What is the political history of Ellensburg, WA, Washington?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Ellensburg, WA, Washington from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.