akashic
1876–2024
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN·Indiana

Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN delivered R+11 in 2024.

Twin college towns anchored by Purdue's engineering and agriculture legacy

1876 — 2024·38 elections
IN
Latest
R+11
in 2024
Archetype
Bellwether
since the recent cycles
Population
226,805
2024 ACS

Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted R+11%. Republican peak: R+39 in 1952.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+11MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
BellwetherAkashic typology
Population
226,8052024 5-year
Median household income
$62,1042024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
77.3%2024 5-year
Black
5.3%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
9.3%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+11 in 1912MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+39 in 1952MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
4 counties · 0 D · 4 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
R
−10.9%
36,71145,96084,702
R
−9.9%
39,22448,07589,529
R
−14.7%
30,79742,46179,551
R
−9.2%
31,82938,46272,251
D
+6.8%
44,83539,02984,984
R
−23.4%
25,99842,12768,950
R
−19.1%
23,98435,86762,205
R
−12.4%
22,68430,24361,164
R
−11.9%
22,49230,48167,222
R
−26.1%
22,09937,81960,196
R
−31.6%
21,22941,04062,764
R
−27.6%
20,40938,70566,289
R
−21.4%
25,43339,45365,626
R
−38.2%
19,54243,89963,717
R
−24.2%
20,57334,94959,431
D
+3.9%
30,24727,97258,342
R
−26.2%
21,31336,47957,908
R
−37.2%
16,67636,50753,309
R
−39.0%
16,03336,66552,929
R
−19.4%
18,37827,29946,060
R
−21.9%
17,42727,25144,864
R
−14.0%
20,95927,83448,947
R
−0.9%
22,86123,27646,665
D
+8.7%
24,22720,32744,989
R
−25.2%
15,45825,94941,618
R
−21.5%
14,53322,98939,259
R
−24.1%
15,15724,97340,711
R
−11.8%
9,83212,54923,109
D
+10.7%
9,0146,68621,671
R
−10.8%
10,18512,73823,738
R
−20.0%
8,88513,55823,360
R
−12.9%
10,04313,10123,705
R
−11.8%
10,08512,82823,163
R
−7.0%
9,11710,55220,626
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
19.8%
English
10.8%
Irish
10.1%
American
5.0%
Italian
2.7%
Polish
2.5%
Scottish
2.0%
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: 31.1 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.6%
85+
1.1%
1.7%
75–84
2.1%
3.9%
65–74
4.3%
5.0%
55–64
5.1%
5.0%
45–54
4.9%
5.6%
35–44
5.4%
7.0%
25–34
6.5%
11.8%
18–24
9.2%
7.8%
5–17
7.4%
2.8%
<5
2.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$62,104
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN ranks near the middle of US counties.
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN$62,104
Indiana$71,957
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
17.7%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.8%
Working age (18–64)18.8%
Seniors (65+)10.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.2%
speak English only
Spanish5.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander3.9%
Other Indo-European3.1%
Other languages0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
9.0%
Other Christian
8.3%
Methodist
3.7%
Mainline Protestant
2.9%
Pentecostal & Holiness
2.8%
Baptist
2.0%
Non-Christian
0.8%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 70.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Tippecanoe County leans Republican in statewide races but has trended more competitive as Purdue's enrollment growth diversifies the local electorate with students, faculty, and research-sector workers.

The Democratic margin in Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN has rarely exceeded eleven points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded thirty-nine points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Republican candidate by eleven points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 77% non-Hispanic-white share, a 18% poverty rate, and a median household income of $62,104 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/29200/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana voted Republican by 10.9 points (R+11), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 84,702 votes cast, 36,711 went Democratic and 45,960 went Republican.
What is Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 4 times, Republican 30 times, and other 0 times.
When did Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana?
Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana has a population of 226,805 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana?
Median household income in Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana is $62,104 — below the national median of $80,734. The Indiana state median is $71,957.
What is the political history of Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN, Indiana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 4 went Democratic and 30 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.