Great Bend, KS, Kansas: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+56%. Republican peak: R+59 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+56MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 25,0972024 5-year
- Median household income
- $58,8512024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 81.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 16.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+34 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Great Bend, KS, KSOne 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 | 2,207 | 8,205 | 10,617 | ||
| R | 2,340 | 8,608 | 11,130 | ||
| R | 1,839 | 7,888 | 10,339 | ||
| R | 2,297 | 7,874 | 10,341 | ||
| R | 3,027 | 7,802 | 11,023 | ||
| R | 2,874 | 8,666 | 11,706 | ||
| R | 3,238 | 7,302 | 10,955 | ||
| R | 3,121 | 7,855 | 12,099 | ||
| R | 3,846 | 5,113 | 13,582 | ||
| R | 5,024 | 7,741 | 13,075 | ||
| R | 3,111 | 10,232 | 13,538 | ||
| R | 3,663 | 9,147 | 13,852 | ||
| R | 5,497 | 7,311 | 13,142 | ||
| R | 3,481 | 8,479 | 12,312 | ||
| R | 4,464 | 6,700 | 12,208 | ||
| D | 7,340 | 4,826 | 12,221 | ||
| R | 6,036 | 7,599 | 13,665 | ||
| R | 4,378 | 8,644 | 13,063 | ||
| R | 3,847 | 9,380 | 13,319 | ||
| R | 5,307 | 6,191 | 11,600 | ||
| R | 3,761 | 5,547 | 9,345 | ||
| R | 4,982 | 6,011 | 11,043 | ||
| D | 5,978 | 3,534 | 9,517 | ||
| D | 4,776 | 3,365 | 8,238 | ||
| R | 2,777 | 4,966 | 7,767 | ||
| R | 1,605 | 4,109 | 7,274 | ||
| R | 1,688 | 3,993 | 5,806 | ||
| D | 3,292 | 2,891 | 6,502 | ||
| D | 2,069 | 692 | 4,069 | ||
| D | 2,004 | 1,729 | 3,857 | ||
| R | 1,235 | 1,939 | 3,332 | ||
| D | 1,772 | 1,564 | 3,366 | ||
| D | 1,616 | 1,215 | 2,855 | ||
| R | 0 | 1,816 | 3,204 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
33.2%
English
10.3%
Irish
8.5%
American
4.3%
Scottish
1.7%
French
1.5%
Italian
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: 38.8 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
$58,851
Great Bend, KS ranks near the middle of US counties.
Great Bend, KS$58,851
Kansas$74,275
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
15.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.6%
Working age (18–64)13.7%
Seniors (65+)11.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
90.7%
speak English only
Spanish9.1%
Other Indo-European0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 41.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Great Bend, KS sits in the Great Plains. For most of the post-war period it was a Democratic metro — its working-class profile gave it the same political habits as much of its region. That identity has shifted decisively in the last twenty years.
The Democratic margin in Great Bend, KS peaked at thirty-four points in 1912. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifty-six points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $58,851 sits well below state and national norms, and 15% 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.
Great Bend, KS, Kansas — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/24460/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Great Bend, KS, Kansas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Great Bend, KS, Kansas voted Republican by 56.5 points (R+56), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,617 votes cast, 2,207 went Democratic and 8,205 went Republican.
What is Great Bend, KS, Kansas's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Great Bend, KS, Kansas as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 8 times, Republican 26 times, and other 0 times.
When did Great Bend, KS, Kansas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Great Bend, KS, Kansas voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Great Bend, KS, Kansas?
Great Bend, KS, Kansas has a population of 25,097 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Great Bend, KS, Kansas?
Median household income in Great Bend, KS, Kansas is $58,851 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kansas state median is $74,275.
What is the political history of Great Bend, KS, Kansas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Great Bend, KS, Kansas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.