Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area — Elections 1876–2024

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky: Bellwether metro. In 2024, voted R+7%. Democratic peak: D+39 in 1912.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: R+7MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: BellwetherAkashic typology
Population: 1,372,5582024 5-year
Median household income: $75,1272024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 73.5%2024 5-year
Black: 13.5%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 7.0%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+39 in 1912MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+22 in 1972MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

12 counties · 1 D · 11 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).
Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	R	−6.6%	297,472	340,646	651,446
2020	R	−2.1%	325,715	340,278	678,619
2016	R	−6.8%	268,986	310,450	611,797
2012	R	−2.8%	274,973	291,144	576,286
2008	R	−0.4%	290,790	293,149	590,442
2004	R	−9.6%	248,697	302,234	555,174
2000	R	−6.0%	221,629	250,663	482,936
1996	D	+6.6%	216,794	187,573	442,440
1992	D	+8.9%	223,944	181,916	473,342
1988	R	−7.4%	187,187	217,197	406,062
1984	R	−17.9%	175,934	252,834	430,717
1980	R	−1.0%	186,786	190,859	395,202
1976	D	+1.7%	186,200	179,701	373,978
1972	R	−22.2%	127,987	202,890	337,316
1968	R	−0.9%	133,068	135,931	324,169
1964	D	+31.4%	214,961	111,913	328,194
1960	D	+0.8%	171,678	168,971	340,865
1956	R	−12.7%	129,539	167,564	298,612
1952	R	−5.1%	129,910	143,910	275,415
1948	D	+8.0%	118,191	100,286	222,760
1944	D	+15.0%	127,662	94,199	222,793
1940	D	+19.4%	144,811	97,656	243,231
1936	D	+24.9%	136,715	81,287	222,789
1932	D	+13.2%	126,590	96,833	225,795
1928	R	−16.2%	101,130	140,370	242,090
1924	R	−1.9%	89,071	92,705	188,951
1920	R	−0.5%	102,901	103,848	208,960
1916	D	+8.2%	54,753	46,289	102,915
1912	D	+38.8%	46,681	10,368	93,627
1908	D	+6.0%	52,139	46,106	100,645
1904	D	+6.4%	46,072	40,355	89,343
1900	D	+2.6%	47,315	44,923	93,206
1896	R	−9.4%	40,926	49,631	92,852
1892	D	+20.1%	43,374	28,347	74,625
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

German

16.6%

English

13.3%

Irish

12.5%

American

7.2%

Italian

2.6%

Scottish

2.0%

French

1.5%

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: 39.4 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.6%

85+

1.1%

2.1%

75–84

2.8%

4.9%

65–74

5.6%

6.4%

55–64

6.7%

6.2%

45–54

6.2%

6.6%

35–44

6.6%

6.8%

25–34

6.9%

4.1%

18–24

4.0%

8.5%

5–17

8.1%

3.0%

2.8%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$75,127

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN ranks near the middle of US counties.

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN$75,127

Kentucky$63,726

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

12.3%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1816.6%

Working age (18–64)11.2%

Seniors (65+)10.4%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

90.7%

speak English only

Spanish5.1%

Other Indo-European1.8%

Asian & Pacific Islander1.2%

Other languages1.1%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Baptist

14.7%

Catholic & Orthodox

12.3%

Other Christian

10.6%

Methodist

3.2%

Mainline Protestant

2.2%

Non-Christian

1.8%

Pentecostal & Holiness

1.3%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Louisville's Jefferson County votes Democratic by wide margins, making it one of Kentucky's few population centers that consistently offsets surrounding rural Republican strongholds—though not enough to swing statewide outcomes.

The Democratic margin in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN has rarely exceeded thirty-nine points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded twenty-two points. 2024 delivered the metro to the Republican candidate by seven points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most metros. A 74% non-Hispanic-white share, a 12% poverty rate, and a median household income of $75,127 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page

All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/31140/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky vote in 2024?

In 2024, Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky voted Republican by 6.6 points (R+7), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 651,446 votes cast, 297,472 went Democratic and 340,646 went Republican.

What is Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky as a "Bellwether" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 16 times, Republican 18 times, and other 0 times.

When did Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky last vote Democratic?

The most recent presidential election in which Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.

How many people live in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky?

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky has a population of 1,372,558 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky?

Median household income in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky is $75,127 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.

What is the political history of Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN votes the way the country votes.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions