Ketchikan, AK, Alaska: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+19%. Republican peak: R+51 in 2000.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+19MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 13,7682024 5-year
- Median household income
- $92,8852024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 62.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+25 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 2000MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Ketchikan, AK, AKOne 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 | 2,525 | 3,755 | 6,605 | ||
| R | 2,604 | 4,049 | 6,940 | ||
| R | 2,076 | 3,537 | 6,500 | ||
| R | 2,263 | 3,267 | 5,906 | ||
| R | 2,494 | 3,832 | 6,526 | ||
| R | 1,871 | 4,231 | 6,360 | ||
| R | 1,284 | 4,681 | 6,656 | ||
| R | 1,471 | 4,180 | 6,610 | ||
| R | 2,050 | 2,468 | 6,707 | ||
| R | 2,217 | 2,994 | 5,405 | ||
| R | 2,036 | 3,510 | 5,697 | ||
| R | 1,323 | 2,825 | 4,828 | ||
| R | 1,423 | 2,437 | 4,022 | ||
| R | 1,362 | 2,264 | 3,874 | ||
| R | 1,345 | 1,764 | 3,562 | ||
| D | 2,275 | 1,367 | 3,642 | ||
| R | 1,729 | 1,911 | 3,640 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
14.0%
English
12.1%
Irish
10.9%
Scottish
3.8%
American
2.4%
French
2.1%
Italian
1.9%
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: 41.0 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
$92,885
Ketchikan, AK ranks near the middle of US counties.
Ketchikan, AK$92,885
Alaska$92,788
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
8.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.7%
Working age (18–64)9.5%
Seniors (65+)5.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.4%
speak English only
Asian & Pacific Islander6.3%
Spanish2.6%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 68.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Ketchikan anchors the island-dotted Panhandle, where the commercial fishing industry and a heavy cruise-ship economy shape voter priorities more than the oil-patch concerns that dominate Interior Alaska politics.
The Democratic margin in Ketchikan, AK peaked at twenty-five points in 1964. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was nineteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $92,885 sits well below state and national norms, and 9% 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.
Ketchikan, AK, Alaska — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/28540/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Ketchikan, AK, Alaska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Ketchikan, AK, Alaska voted Republican by 18.6 points (R+19), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 6,605 votes cast, 2,525 went Democratic and 3,755 went Republican.
What is Ketchikan, AK, Alaska's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Ketchikan, AK, Alaska as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 1 times, Republican 16 times, and other 0 times.
When did Ketchikan, AK, Alaska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Ketchikan, AK, Alaska voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Ketchikan, AK, Alaska?
Ketchikan, AK, Alaska has a population of 13,768 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ketchikan, AK, Alaska?
Median household income in Ketchikan, AK, Alaska is $92,885 — above the national median of $80,734. The Alaska state median is $92,788.
What is the political history of Ketchikan, AK, Alaska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Ketchikan, AK, Alaska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 1 went Democratic and 16 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.