Hastings, NE, Nebraska: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+47%. Republican peak: R+51 in 1984.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+47MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 40,5072024 5-year
- Median household income
- $69,6302024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+39 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 1984MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Hastings, NE, NEOne 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 | 4,973 | 14,203 | 19,496 | ||
| R | 5,180 | 14,444 | 20,099 | ||
| R | 4,085 | 13,039 | 18,286 | ||
| R | 5,171 | 11,806 | 17,359 | ||
| R | 6,017 | 11,662 | 18,060 | ||
| R | 5,091 | 13,179 | 18,625 | ||
| R | 5,044 | 11,790 | 17,598 | ||
| R | 5,436 | 10,000 | 17,762 | ||
| R | 4,887 | 9,162 | 19,015 | ||
| R | 6,144 | 11,739 | 18,004 | ||
| R | 4,401 | 13,741 | 18,266 | ||
| R | 4,759 | 12,915 | 19,200 | ||
| R | 7,458 | 11,144 | 18,983 | ||
| R | 4,916 | 13,014 | 17,930 | ||
| R | 5,240 | 10,985 | 17,264 | ||
| D | 10,099 | 8,656 | 18,755 | ||
| R | 6,798 | 12,963 | 19,761 | ||
| R | 6,241 | 13,583 | 19,824 | ||
| R | 5,785 | 15,311 | 21,096 | ||
| R | 7,606 | 10,035 | 17,641 | ||
| R | 7,236 | 13,063 | 20,299 | ||
| R | 7,403 | 13,053 | 20,456 | ||
| D | 11,466 | 8,862 | 20,907 | ||
| D | 12,121 | 7,862 | 20,699 | ||
| R | 6,035 | 14,223 | 20,398 | ||
| R | 5,276 | 9,776 | 18,050 | ||
| R | 4,311 | 10,840 | 15,691 | ||
| D | 6,101 | 4,969 | 11,460 | ||
| D | 4,979 | 1,885 | 10,590 | ||
| D | 5,630 | 5,286 | 11,389 | ||
| R | 2,023 | 6,018 | 9,981 | ||
| R | 5,262 | 5,279 | 10,763 | ||
| D | 5,073 | 4,596 | 9,917 | ||
| D | 4,267 | 721 | 9,154 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
38.1%
Irish
10.4%
English
9.2%
American
3.2%
Polish
2.0%
Italian
1.7%
French
1.4%
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: 39.2 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
$69,630
Hastings, NE ranks near the middle of US counties.
Hastings, NE$69,630
Nebraska$76,475
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.9%
Working age (18–64)11.4%
Seniors (65+)8.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
90.9%
speak English only
Spanish7.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 51.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Hastings anchors Adams County, a reliably Republican corner of south-central Nebraska where presidential margins have exceeded 40 points in recent cycles, driven by a rural-leaning electorate with deep ties to commodity agriculture.
The Democratic margin in Hastings, NE peaked at thirty-nine points in 1892. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-seven points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $69,630 sits well below state and national norms, and 12% 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.
Hastings, NE, Nebraska — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/25580/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Hastings, NE, Nebraska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Hastings, NE, Nebraska voted Republican by 47.3 points (R+47), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 19,496 votes cast, 4,973 went Democratic and 14,203 went Republican.
What is Hastings, NE, Nebraska's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Hastings, NE, Nebraska 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 Hastings, NE, Nebraska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Hastings, NE, Nebraska voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Hastings, NE, Nebraska?
Hastings, NE, Nebraska has a population of 40,507 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Hastings, NE, Nebraska?
Median household income in Hastings, NE, Nebraska is $69,630 — below the national median of $80,734. The Nebraska state median is $76,475.
What is the political history of Hastings, NE, Nebraska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Hastings, NE, Nebraska 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.