Freeport, IL, Illinois: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+19%. Republican peak: R+53 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+19MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 43,7682024 5-year
- Median household income
- $64,0432024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 8.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+27 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+53 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Freeport, 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 | 8,278 | 12,347 | 20,995 | ||
| R | 9,055 | 12,521 | 22,111 | ||
| R | 7,768 | 11,083 | 20,343 | ||
| R | 10,165 | 10,512 | 21,128 | ||
| D | 11,349 | 9,909 | 21,605 | ||
| R | 8,913 | 12,212 | 21,320 | ||
| R | 8,062 | 10,715 | 19,378 | ||
| R | 7,145 | 8,871 | 18,125 | ||
| R | 7,899 | 9,005 | 21,656 | ||
| R | 7,460 | 11,342 | 18,945 | ||
| R | 6,723 | 14,237 | 21,131 | ||
| R | 6,195 | 10,779 | 20,388 | ||
| R | 7,192 | 11,678 | 19,137 | ||
| R | 6,404 | 13,584 | 20,019 | ||
| R | 7,040 | 11,821 | 19,928 | ||
| D | 10,854 | 9,252 | 20,106 | ||
| R | 8,055 | 13,872 | 21,995 | ||
| R | 6,349 | 14,245 | 20,614 | ||
| R | 6,605 | 14,446 | 21,086 | ||
| R | 7,409 | 10,564 | 18,122 | ||
| R | 7,755 | 11,948 | 19,821 | ||
| R | 8,911 | 14,040 | 23,045 | ||
| D | 10,567 | 9,943 | 21,342 | ||
| D | 10,728 | 8,963 | 20,198 | ||
| R | 5,579 | 11,992 | 17,643 | ||
| R | 2,452 | 8,638 | 16,216 | ||
| R | 2,772 | 9,570 | 12,821 | ||
| R | 5,463 | 8,620 | 14,744 | ||
| D | 3,850 | 1,367 | 9,060 | ||
| R | 4,076 | 4,605 | 9,041 | ||
| R | 3,275 | 4,876 | 8,611 | ||
| R | 3,983 | 4,677 | 8,910 | ||
| R | 3,776 | 4,728 | 8,729 | ||
| D | 3,717 | 3,574 | 7,643 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
36.8%
Irish
13.0%
English
10.1%
Italian
3.1%
American
3.1%
Polish
2.2%
French
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: 45.3 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
$64,043
Freeport, IL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Freeport, IL$64,043
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.9%
Working age (18–64)12.8%
Seniors (65+)9.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.2%
speak English only
Spanish2.0%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 39.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Freeport anchors Stephenson County, a historically industrial corner of northwest Illinois where a shrinking factory base has coincided with a long-term rightward shift in presidential margins over the past two decades.
The Democratic margin in Freeport, IL peaked at twenty-seven points in 1912. By 2012 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was nineteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $64,043 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% 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.
Freeport, IL, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/23300/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Freeport, IL, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Freeport, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 19.4 points (R+19), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 20,995 votes cast, 8,278 went Democratic and 12,347 went Republican.
What is Freeport, IL, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Freeport, 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 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Freeport, IL, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Freeport, IL, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Freeport, IL, Illinois?
Freeport, IL, Illinois has a population of 43,768 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Freeport, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Freeport, IL, Illinois is $64,043 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Freeport, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Freeport, IL, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.