Lincoln, IL, Illinois: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+41%. Republican peak: R+42 in 1984.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+41MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 27,7132024 5-year
- Median household income
- $66,3582024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 87.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+27 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 1984MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Lincoln, IL, ILOne 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 | 3,543 | 8,757 | 12,564 | ||
| R | 3,840 | 9,136 | 13,327 | ||
| R | 3,313 | 8,181 | 12,401 | ||
| R | 3,978 | 7,844 | 12,088 | ||
| R | 5,250 | 7,429 | 12,896 | ||
| R | 4,273 | 9,112 | 13,467 | ||
| R | 4,600 | 8,141 | 13,065 | ||
| R | 4,618 | 6,518 | 12,345 | ||
| R | 5,169 | 6,567 | 14,195 | ||
| R | 4,727 | 8,490 | 13,286 | ||
| R | 4,052 | 9,932 | 14,046 | ||
| R | 3,916 | 9,681 | 14,366 | ||
| R | 5,686 | 8,623 | 14,386 | ||
| R | 4,395 | 10,277 | 14,692 | ||
| R | 4,552 | 8,638 | 14,289 | ||
| D | 7,712 | 6,805 | 14,517 | ||
| R | 5,691 | 9,383 | 15,090 | ||
| R | 4,793 | 9,589 | 14,396 | ||
| R | 5,048 | 9,162 | 14,229 | ||
| R | 4,832 | 7,431 | 12,312 | ||
| R | 4,868 | 7,955 | 12,852 | ||
| R | 6,753 | 8,929 | 15,725 | ||
| D | 7,886 | 7,019 | 15,087 | ||
| D | 8,119 | 5,850 | 14,116 | ||
| R | 5,019 | 7,631 | 12,725 | ||
| R | 3,708 | 7,063 | 12,356 | ||
| R | 3,232 | 6,957 | 10,738 | ||
| R | 5,726 | 5,933 | 12,279 | ||
| D | 3,229 | 1,397 | 6,701 | ||
| D | 3,546 | 3,451 | 7,275 | ||
| R | 3,005 | 3,626 | 7,076 | ||
| D | 3,672 | 3,501 | 7,335 | ||
| R | 3,389 | 3,430 | 6,957 | ||
| D | 3,150 | 2,619 | 6,156 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
26.1%
Irish
13.0%
English
12.2%
American
5.4%
Italian
2.2%
Polish
2.0%
Scottish
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: 41.1 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
$66,358
Lincoln, IL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Lincoln, IL$66,358
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.3%
Working age (18–64)12.5%
Seniors (65+)10.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.0%
speak English only
Spanish2.0%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 52.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Lincoln anchors Logan County, a reliably Republican stretch of the prairie where declining industrial employment and an aging population have reinforced already wide margins in statewide races.
The Democratic margin in Lincoln, IL peaked at twenty-seven points in 1912. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-one points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $66,358 sits well below state and national norms, and 13% 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.
Lincoln, IL, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/30660/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Lincoln, IL, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Lincoln, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 41.5 points (R+41), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 12,564 votes cast, 3,543 went Democratic and 8,757 went Republican.
What is Lincoln, IL, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Lincoln, IL, Illinois as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 7 times, Republican 27 times, and other 0 times.
When did Lincoln, IL, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Lincoln, IL, Illinois voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Lincoln, IL, Illinois?
Lincoln, IL, Illinois has a population of 27,713 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Lincoln, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Lincoln, IL, Illinois is $66,358 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Lincoln, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Lincoln, IL, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.