Lawrence, KS, Kansas: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted D+38%. Republican peak: R+58 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+38MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- BellwetherAkashic typology
- Population
- 120,3022024 5-year
- Median household income
- $69,7462024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 78.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+39 in 2020MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+58 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Lawrence, KS, KSOne 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 39,582 | 17,523 | 58,707 | ||
| D | 40,785 | 17,286 | 59,495 | ||
| D | 31,195 | 14,688 | 51,031 | ||
| D | 29,267 | 17,401 | 48,464 | ||
| D | 34,398 | 17,929 | 53,398 | ||
| D | 28,634 | 20,544 | 50,111 | ||
| D | 18,249 | 17,062 | 39,838 | ||
| D | 18,116 | 16,116 | 37,800 | ||
| D | 19,439 | 12,949 | 42,265 | ||
| R | 15,752 | 16,149 | 32,361 | ||
| R | 12,880 | 18,975 | 32,233 | ||
| R | 9,360 | 14,106 | 28,784 | ||
| R | 11,922 | 14,277 | 27,842 | ||
| R | 11,646 | 15,316 | 27,527 | ||
| R | 6,936 | 10,533 | 19,583 | ||
| D | 9,416 | 7,825 | 17,353 | ||
| R | 5,690 | 11,337 | 17,065 | ||
| R | 4,283 | 11,029 | 15,351 | ||
| R | 3,765 | 11,095 | 14,924 | ||
| R | 4,778 | 9,287 | 14,454 | ||
| R | 3,886 | 8,224 | 12,189 | ||
| R | 3,727 | 9,146 | 13,014 | ||
| R | 4,961 | 8,324 | 13,381 | ||
| R | 4,833 | 7,346 | 12,521 | ||
| R | 2,297 | 8,887 | 11,292 | ||
| R | 1,922 | 8,052 | 10,700 | ||
| R | 2,197 | 6,266 | 8,557 | ||
| R | 3,834 | 4,975 | 9,235 | ||
| O | 1,888 | 1,133 | 5,203 | ||
| R | 2,010 | 3,279 | 5,408 | ||
| R | 989 | 3,574 | 4,812 | ||
| R | 2,333 | 3,453 | 5,897 | ||
| R | 2,573 | 3,582 | 6,240 | ||
| O | 0 | 2,174 | 5,434 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
28.2%
English
15.3%
Irish
14.3%
American
3.6%
Italian
3.1%
Scottish
3.0%
French
2.6%
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: 31.6 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
$69,746
Lawrence, KS ranks near the middle of US counties.
Lawrence, KS$69,746
Kansas$74,275
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 188.4%
Working age (18–64)17.0%
Seniors (65+)4.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.2%
speak English only
Asian & Pacific Islander3.0%
Spanish2.8%
Other Indo-European1.8%
Other languages1.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 70.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Lawrence's electorate skews younger and more educated than the Kansas median, driven by the University of Kansas enrollment, which pushes Douglas County toward margins that diverge sharply from surrounding rural counties.
The Democratic margin in Lawrence, KS has rarely exceeded thirty-nine points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded fifty-eight points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Democratic candidate by thirty-eight points.
Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 78% non-Hispanic-white share, a 15% poverty rate, and a median household income of $69,746 — all within the broad national range.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Lawrence, KS, Kansas — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/29940/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Lawrence, KS, Kansas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Lawrence, KS, Kansas voted Democratic by 37.6 points (D+38), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 58,707 votes cast, 39,582 went Democratic and 17,523 went Republican.
What is Lawrence, KS, Kansas's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Lawrence, KS, Kansas as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 10 times, Republican 22 times, and other 2 times.
When did Lawrence, KS, Kansas last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Lawrence, KS, Kansas voted Republican was 1988.
How many people live in Lawrence, KS, Kansas?
Lawrence, KS, Kansas has a population of 120,302 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lawrence, KS, Kansas?
Median household income in Lawrence, KS, Kansas is $69,746 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kansas state median is $74,275.
What is the political history of Lawrence, KS, Kansas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Lawrence, KS, Kansas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.