La Grande, OR, Oregon: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+40%. Democratic peak: D+47 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+40MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 26,1442024 5-year
- Median household income
- $65,6612024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 87.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+47 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+40 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for La Grande, OR, OROne 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 | 4,107 | 9,942 | 14,574 | ||
| R | 4,254 | 10,298 | 14,944 | ||
| R | 3,249 | 8,431 | 12,968 | ||
| R | 3,973 | 7,636 | 12,070 | ||
| R | 4,613 | 7,581 | 12,594 | ||
| R | 4,428 | 8,879 | 13,519 | ||
| R | 3,577 | 7,836 | 12,076 | ||
| R | 4,379 | 5,414 | 11,345 | ||
| R | 3,990 | 4,223 | 11,588 | ||
| R | 4,682 | 5,061 | 10,090 | ||
| R | 4,134 | 6,645 | 10,829 | ||
| R | 3,677 | 6,514 | 11,272 | ||
| R | 4,280 | 5,111 | 9,829 | ||
| R | 3,272 | 5,073 | 8,985 | ||
| R | 3,409 | 3,796 | 7,747 | ||
| D | 4,929 | 2,553 | 7,489 | ||
| D | 4,081 | 3,689 | 7,770 | ||
| D | 4,389 | 3,749 | 8,138 | ||
| R | 3,526 | 4,114 | 7,663 | ||
| D | 3,808 | 2,668 | 6,698 | ||
| D | 3,951 | 2,413 | 6,424 | ||
| D | 4,500 | 2,642 | 7,196 | ||
| D | 4,643 | 1,517 | 6,712 | ||
| D | 4,450 | 1,705 | 6,350 | ||
| R | 2,154 | 3,219 | 5,444 | ||
| R | 1,816 | 2,428 | 5,663 | ||
| R | 1,899 | 2,844 | 5,020 | ||
| D | 3,086 | 2,253 | 5,665 | ||
| O | 1,090 | 671 | 3,134 | ||
| R | 1,191 | 1,510 | 2,980 | ||
| R | 775 | 1,884 | 2,996 | ||
| D | 1,646 | 1,512 | 3,292 | ||
| D | 2,155 | 1,303 | 3,487 | ||
| O | 586 | 1,008 | 2,915 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
16.7%
English
15.1%
Irish
9.1%
American
5.8%
Scottish
2.6%
Italian
2.1%
French
1.6%
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: 40.0 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
$65,661
La Grande, OR ranks near the middle of US counties.
La Grande, OR$65,661
Oregon$83,011
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.3%
Working age (18–64)16.3%
Seniors (65+)11.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.1%
speak English only
Spanish2.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.8%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 65.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Anchored by Union County in the Blue Mountains corridor, La Grande leans Republican by wide margins in statewide races, reflecting the rural, agriculture-dependent economy that defines much of Oregon east of the Cascades.
The Democratic margin in La Grande, OR peaked at forty-seven points in 1936. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $65,661 sits well below state and national norms, and 16% 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.
La Grande, OR, Oregon — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/29260/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did La Grande, OR, Oregon vote in 2024?
In 2024, La Grande, OR, Oregon voted Republican by 40.0 points (R+40), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 14,574 votes cast, 4,107 went Democratic and 9,942 went Republican.
What is La Grande, OR, Oregon's political archetype?
Akashic classifies La Grande, OR, Oregon as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 11 times, Republican 21 times, and other 2 times.
When did La Grande, OR, Oregon last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which La Grande, OR, Oregon voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in La Grande, OR, Oregon?
La Grande, OR, Oregon has a population of 26,144 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in La Grande, OR, Oregon?
Median household income in La Grande, OR, Oregon is $65,661 — below the national median of $80,734. The Oregon state median is $83,011.
What is the political history of La Grande, OR, Oregon?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in La Grande, OR, Oregon from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.