Henderson, KY, Kentucky: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+35%. Democratic peak: D+50 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+35MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 57,1222024 5-year
- Median household income
- $59,0262024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+50 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+35 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Henderson, KY, KYOne 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 | 7,990 | 16,931 | 25,244 | ||
| R | 9,051 | 17,236 | 26,690 | ||
| R | 7,947 | 16,556 | 25,515 | ||
| R | 9,856 | 13,903 | 24,092 | ||
| R | 12,439 | 12,560 | 25,401 | ||
| R | 10,405 | 13,674 | 24,248 | ||
| D | 10,442 | 10,297 | 21,111 | ||
| D | 10,903 | 6,660 | 19,908 | ||
| D | 11,650 | 6,533 | 21,791 | ||
| D | 10,667 | 9,070 | 19,822 | ||
| R | 9,837 | 9,893 | 19,822 | ||
| D | 11,588 | 7,013 | 19,194 | ||
| D | 11,439 | 5,455 | 17,088 | ||
| R | 5,601 | 8,627 | 14,431 | ||
| D | 7,176 | 4,958 | 15,631 | ||
| D | 11,763 | 3,951 | 15,749 | ||
| D | 8,744 | 7,800 | 16,544 | ||
| D | 8,551 | 7,033 | 16,091 | ||
| D | 9,429 | 6,787 | 16,279 | ||
| D | 8,787 | 2,991 | 12,105 | ||
| D | 9,211 | 4,523 | 13,784 | ||
| D | 10,924 | 4,562 | 15,532 | ||
| D | 11,623 | 3,794 | 15,625 | ||
| D | 10,933 | 4,742 | 16,019 | ||
| R | 7,659 | 8,970 | 16,671 | ||
| R | 7,495 | 8,033 | 15,785 | ||
| D | 12,103 | 7,715 | 20,133 | ||
| D | 6,372 | 4,300 | 10,894 | ||
| D | 4,096 | 2,062 | 9,408 | ||
| D | 6,226 | 4,356 | 10,935 | ||
| D | 5,582 | 3,753 | 9,753 | ||
| D | 6,418 | 4,714 | 11,304 | ||
| D | 6,475 | 4,234 | 10,861 | ||
| D | 3,556 | 2,585 | 8,046 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
13.6%
American
12.4%
German
9.1%
Irish
8.8%
Scottish
1.4%
French
1.2%
Polish
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: 40.6 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
$59,026
Henderson, KY ranks near the middle of US counties.
Henderson, KY$59,026
Kentucky$63,726
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 1817.9%
Working age (18–64)13.2%
Seniors (65+)14.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.1%
speak English only
Spanish3.1%
Other Indo-European0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 41.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Henderson sits along the Ohio River in far western Kentucky, where decades of tobacco and manufacturing employment shaped a working-class electorate that has moved sharply toward Republican margins over the past two cycles.
The Democratic margin in Henderson, KY peaked at fifty points in 1936. By 2004 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-five points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $59,026 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.
Henderson, KY, Kentucky — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/25775/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Henderson, KY, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Henderson, KY, Kentucky voted Republican by 35.4 points (R+35), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 25,244 votes cast, 7,990 went Democratic and 16,931 went Republican.
What is Henderson, KY, Kentucky's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Henderson, KY, Kentucky as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 24 times, Republican 10 times, and other 0 times.
When did Henderson, KY, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Henderson, KY, Kentucky voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Henderson, KY, Kentucky?
Henderson, KY, Kentucky has a population of 57,122 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Henderson, KY, Kentucky?
Median household income in Henderson, KY, Kentucky is $59,026 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Henderson, KY, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Henderson, KY, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.