McAlester, OK, Oklahoma: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+59%. Democratic peak: D+63 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+59MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 43,5612024 5-year
- Median household income
- $55,3102024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 69.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+63 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for McAlester, OK, OKOne 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 | 3,473 | 13,841 | 17,572 | ||
| R | 3,768 | 13,851 | 17,924 | ||
| R | 3,711 | 12,753 | 17,271 | ||
| R | 4,831 | 10,841 | 15,672 | ||
| R | 5,457 | 11,752 | 17,209 | ||
| R | 7,452 | 11,134 | 18,586 | ||
| R | 7,627 | 8,514 | 16,357 | ||
| D | 8,475 | 5,966 | 16,766 | ||
| D | 8,523 | 5,659 | 18,827 | ||
| D | 8,623 | 7,594 | 16,342 | ||
| R | 6,860 | 9,778 | 16,760 | ||
| D | 8,292 | 7,062 | 15,857 | ||
| D | 10,743 | 4,807 | 15,692 | ||
| R | 4,748 | 9,989 | 15,040 | ||
| D | 6,112 | 3,978 | 13,816 | ||
| D | 9,903 | 3,555 | 13,458 | ||
| D | 7,310 | 5,834 | 13,144 | ||
| D | 8,382 | 5,239 | 13,621 | ||
| D | 9,546 | 5,909 | 15,455 | ||
| D | 9,576 | 2,893 | 12,469 | ||
| D | 8,535 | 4,068 | 12,626 | ||
| D | 10,169 | 4,484 | 14,676 | ||
| D | 9,974 | 3,651 | 13,668 | ||
| D | 10,536 | 2,396 | 12,932 | ||
| D | 5,960 | 5,875 | 11,942 | ||
| D | 6,062 | 3,554 | 10,765 | ||
| R | 5,361 | 5,371 | 11,387 | ||
| D | 3,441 | 1,879 | 6,209 | ||
| D | 2,767 | 1,574 | 5,814 | ||
| D | 2,891 | 2,735 | 6,266 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
13.7%
German
11.3%
English
8.2%
Italian
4.5%
American
4.1%
Scottish
2.1%
French
1.0%
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: 40.6 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
$55,310
McAlester, OK ranks near the middle of US counties.
McAlester, OK$55,310
Oklahoma$65,039
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
17.7%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1823.6%
Working age (18–64)16.9%
Seniors (65+)8.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.4%
speak English only
Spanish2.5%
Other languages0.5%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 25.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
McAlester anchors a former coal-mining corridor where Democratic registration has historically run deep even as presidential margins have swung sharply Republican, reflecting a working-class electorate that splits more readily than statewide patterns suggest.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in McAlester, OK peaked at sixty-three points in 1932; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2000 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of five points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $55,310 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 18% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
McAlester, OK, Oklahoma — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/32540/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did McAlester, OK, Oklahoma vote in 2024?
In 2024, McAlester, OK, Oklahoma voted Republican by 59.0 points (R+59), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 17,572 votes cast, 3,473 went Democratic and 13,841 went Republican.
What is McAlester, OK, Oklahoma's political archetype?
Akashic classifies McAlester, OK, Oklahoma as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 20 times, Republican 10 times, and other 0 times.
When did McAlester, OK, Oklahoma last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which McAlester, OK, Oklahoma voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in McAlester, OK, Oklahoma?
McAlester, OK, Oklahoma has a population of 43,561 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in McAlester, OK, Oklahoma?
Median household income in McAlester, OK, Oklahoma is $55,310 — below the national median of $80,734. The Oklahoma state median is $65,039.
What is the political history of McAlester, OK, Oklahoma?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in McAlester, OK, Oklahoma from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 20 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.