Laurel, MS, Mississippi: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+38%. Democratic peak: D+93 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+38MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 82,5312024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,5242024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 60.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 33.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+93 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+74 in 1964MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Laurel, MS, MSOne 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 | 10,994 | 24,383 | 35,645 | ||
| R | 12,858 | 25,528 | 38,827 | ||
| R | 12,159 | 24,171 | 36,827 | ||
| R | 14,308 | 24,880 | 39,499 | ||
| R | 13,871 | 24,292 | 38,483 | ||
| R | 11,515 | 22,980 | 34,675 | ||
| R | 10,817 | 19,635 | 30,787 | ||
| R | 10,530 | 15,635 | 27,990 | ||
| R | 11,094 | 16,613 | 30,858 | ||
| R | 10,567 | 20,132 | 30,844 | ||
| R | 10,402 | 21,313 | 31,856 | ||
| R | 14,930 | 15,681 | 30,962 | ||
| R | 13,248 | 13,454 | 27,065 | ||
| R | 3,725 | 20,086 | 24,263 | ||
| O | 3,463 | 3,615 | 22,454 | ||
| R | 2,217 | 15,117 | 17,334 | ||
| D | 6,018 | 3,091 | 12,963 | ||
| D | 7,095 | 2,750 | 10,708 | ||
| D | 7,756 | 4,707 | 12,463 | ||
| O | 720 | 219 | 8,470 | ||
| D | 6,449 | 384 | 6,833 | ||
| D | 6,230 | 277 | 6,507 | ||
| D | 6,465 | 206 | 6,722 | ||
| D | 5,342 | 211 | 5,751 | ||
| D | 3,263 | 2,429 | 5,692 | ||
| D | 3,630 | 379 | 4,474 | ||
| D | 1,633 | 517 | 2,405 | ||
| D | 2,704 | 234 | 3,195 | ||
| D | 1,918 | 46 | 2,374 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| D | 1,371 | 227 | 1,673 | ||
| D | 1,805 | 55 | 1,900 | ||
| D | 1,065 | 11 | 1,245 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
17.2%
English
9.9%
Irish
6.0%
German
4.0%
Scottish
1.6%
French
1.2%
Italian
1.1%
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: 38.7 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
$51,524
Laurel, MS ranks near the middle of US counties.
Laurel, MS$51,524
Mississippi$56,447
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
18.8%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1827.7%
Working age (18–64)16.1%
Seniors (65+)15.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.6%
speak English only
Spanish3.8%
Other Indo-European0.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 30.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Laurel metro, anchored by Jones County, has posted some of Mississippi's wider Republican margins in recent cycles, reflecting a working-class white majority in a historically timber-and-oil economy along the Piney Woods corridor.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Laurel, MS peaked at ninety-three points in 1936; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1964 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of seventy-four points. By 2024, the margin had settled into deep Republican territory.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $51,524 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 19% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Laurel, MS, Mississippi — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/29860/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Laurel, MS, Mississippi vote in 2024?
In 2024, Laurel, MS, Mississippi voted Republican by 37.6 points (R+38), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 35,645 votes cast, 10,994 went Democratic and 24,383 went Republican.
What is Laurel, MS, Mississippi's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Laurel, MS, Mississippi as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 15 times, Republican 15 times, and other 2 times.
When did Laurel, MS, Mississippi last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Laurel, MS, Mississippi voted Democratic was 1960.
How many people live in Laurel, MS, Mississippi?
Laurel, MS, Mississippi has a population of 82,531 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Laurel, MS, Mississippi?
Median household income in Laurel, MS, Mississippi is $51,524 — below the national median of $80,734. The Mississippi state median is $56,447.
What is the political history of Laurel, MS, Mississippi?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Laurel, MS, Mississippi from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 15 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.