Gadsden, AL, Alabama: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+56%. Democratic peak: D+69 in 1940.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+56MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 103,1052024 5-year
- Median household income
- $54,5632024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 77.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 14.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+69 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 1964MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Gadsden, 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 | 10,027 | 35,653 | 46,137 | ||
| R | 11,567 | 35,528 | 47,728 | ||
| R | 10,442 | 32,353 | 43,630 | ||
| R | 12,803 | 29,130 | 42,530 | ||
| R | 13,497 | 30,595 | 44,737 | ||
| R | 15,328 | 26,999 | 42,680 | ||
| R | 17,433 | 21,087 | 39,348 | ||
| D | 17,976 | 16,835 | 37,561 | ||
| D | 20,558 | 17,467 | 42,451 | ||
| R | 17,762 | 17,828 | 35,891 | ||
| R | 19,074 | 19,243 | 38,781 | ||
| D | 20,790 | 16,177 | 37,806 | ||
| D | 25,020 | 10,333 | 35,750 | ||
| R | 7,372 | 20,851 | 28,581 | ||
| O | 4,613 | 4,351 | 31,186 | ||
| R | 0 | 12,894 | 21,833 | ||
| D | 14,372 | 7,128 | 21,685 | ||
| D | 12,374 | 7,198 | 19,886 | ||
| D | 10,997 | 4,634 | 15,697 | ||
| O | 0 | 1,615 | 7,661 | ||
| D | 5,895 | 1,525 | 7,521 | ||
| D | 7,012 | 1,270 | 8,315 | ||
| D | 5,739 | 1,207 | 6,978 | ||
| D | 5,167 | 1,066 | 6,295 | ||
| R | 2,484 | 3,162 | 5,684 | ||
| D | 3,081 | 1,664 | 5,017 | ||
| D | 5,917 | 3,218 | 9,238 | ||
| D | 1,883 | 862 | 2,825 | ||
| D | 1,511 | 354 | 2,896 | ||
| D | 1,309 | 996 | 2,411 | ||
| D | 1,431 | 823 | 2,516 | ||
| D | 1,734 | 1,629 | 3,564 | ||
| D | 1,782 | 873 | 2,800 | ||
| D | 2,225 | 269 | 3,781 | ||
| D | 1,912 | 841 | 2,808 | ||
| D | 1,313 | 813 | 2,153 | ||
| D | 1,217 | 347 | 1,568 | ||
| D | 1,198 | 273 | 1,471 |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
13.4%
English
11.6%
Irish
8.2%
German
4.5%
Scottish
1.8%
Italian
1.5%
French
0.7%
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: 41.7 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
$54,563
Gadsden, AL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Gadsden, AL$54,563
Alabama$63,999
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1823.0%
Working age (18–64)15.6%
Seniors (65+)11.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.7%
speak English only
Spanish3.3%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 18.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Gadsden anchors a small metro where manufacturing decline and demographic shifts have redrawn voter coalitions over the past two decades, making it a useful bellwether for working-class white realignment across the rural South.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Gadsden, AL peaked at sixty-nine points in 1940; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2000 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of nine points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $54,563 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 17% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Gadsden, AL, Alabama — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/23460/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Gadsden, AL, Alabama vote in 2024?
In 2024, Gadsden, AL, Alabama voted Republican by 55.5 points (R+56), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 46,137 votes cast, 10,027 went Democratic and 35,653 went Republican.
What is Gadsden, AL, Alabama's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Gadsden, 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 24 times, Republican 12 times, and other 2 times.
When did Gadsden, AL, Alabama last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Gadsden, AL, Alabama voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Gadsden, AL, Alabama?
Gadsden, AL, Alabama has a population of 103,105 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Gadsden, AL, Alabama?
Median household income in Gadsden, AL, Alabama is $54,563 — below the national median of $80,734. The Alabama state median is $63,999.
What is the political history of Gadsden, AL, Alabama?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Gadsden, AL, Alabama from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 12 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.