Kankakee, IL, Illinois: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+21%. Republican peak: R+62 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+21MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 106,6352024 5-year
- Median household income
- $71,2812024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 73.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 14.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 12.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+13 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+62 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Kankakee, 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 | 18,399 | 28,285 | 47,569 | ||
| R | 20,271 | 28,532 | 50,040 | ||
| R | 18,971 | 25,129 | 47,305 | ||
| R | 21,595 | 23,136 | 45,654 | ||
| D | 24,750 | 22,527 | 48,016 | ||
| R | 20,003 | 24,739 | 45,036 | ||
| R | 19,180 | 20,049 | 40,183 | ||
| D | 16,820 | 14,595 | 35,241 | ||
| D | 17,229 | 15,411 | 40,071 | ||
| R | 15,147 | 20,316 | 35,755 | ||
| R | 15,246 | 23,807 | 39,665 | ||
| R | 14,626 | 23,810 | 40,873 | ||
| R | 18,394 | 23,003 | 42,108 | ||
| R | 13,434 | 26,866 | 40,373 | ||
| R | 14,460 | 20,025 | 38,250 | ||
| D | 20,792 | 16,082 | 36,874 | ||
| R | 17,115 | 20,311 | 37,452 | ||
| R | 11,088 | 21,993 | 33,128 | ||
| R | 12,636 | 20,279 | 33,005 | ||
| R | 11,305 | 15,699 | 27,201 | ||
| R | 11,342 | 15,256 | 26,688 | ||
| R | 13,716 | 15,998 | 29,838 | ||
| D | 13,162 | 10,935 | 26,538 | ||
| D | 13,555 | 10,873 | 24,792 | ||
| R | 10,247 | 11,905 | 22,279 | ||
| R | 2,488 | 12,462 | 18,471 | ||
| R | 2,828 | 12,853 | 16,201 | ||
| R | 6,096 | 10,594 | 16,993 | ||
| R | 2,532 | 3,178 | 8,728 | ||
| R | 2,461 | 5,999 | 8,763 | ||
| R | 1,652 | 6,162 | 8,224 | ||
| R | 2,674 | 5,798 | 8,597 | ||
| R | 2,370 | 5,471 | 8,022 | ||
| R | 2,763 | 3,577 | 6,573 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
19.6%
Irish
11.3%
English
7.1%
Polish
5.6%
French
5.5%
Italian
4.8%
American
3.2%
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: 39.0 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
$71,281
Kankakee, IL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Kankakee, IL$71,281
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.5%
Working age (18–64)11.4%
Seniors (65+)9.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.1%
speak English only
Spanish9.5%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 52.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Kankakee's small industrial metro on the Kankakee River has shifted decisively Republican over successive cycles, posting a nearly 49-point margin in 2024 that places it among the state's most one-sided presidential results.
The Democratic margin in Kankakee, IL peaked at thirteen points in 1964. By 2012 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $71,281 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.
Kankakee, IL, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/28100/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Kankakee, IL, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Kankakee, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 20.8 points (R+21), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 47,569 votes cast, 18,399 went Democratic and 28,285 went Republican.
What is Kankakee, IL, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Kankakee, 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 Kankakee, IL, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Kankakee, IL, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Kankakee, IL, Illinois?
Kankakee, IL, Illinois has a population of 106,635 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Kankakee, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Kankakee, IL, Illinois is $71,281 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Kankakee, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Kankakee, 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.