Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+69%. Republican peak: R+69 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+69MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 23,5092024 5-year
- Median household income
- $31,3542024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 0.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+25 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+69 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Middlesborough, KY, KYOne 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 | 1,419 | 7,831 | 9,340 | ||
| R | 1,789 | 8,140 | 10,044 | ||
| R | 1,720 | 7,764 | 9,718 | ||
| R | 2,224 | 7,127 | 9,482 | ||
| R | 2,782 | 6,681 | 9,598 | ||
| R | 4,210 | 6,722 | 11,002 | ||
| R | 4,787 | 5,585 | 10,611 | ||
| D | 5,058 | 3,917 | 10,008 | ||
| D | 5,745 | 4,501 | 11,575 | ||
| R | 5,182 | 5,759 | 11,193 | ||
| R | 5,490 | 7,249 | 12,961 | ||
| D | 6,362 | 5,433 | 12,088 | ||
| D | 5,284 | 5,035 | 10,483 | ||
| R | 3,219 | 6,518 | 9,867 | ||
| R | 4,138 | 4,905 | 10,275 | ||
| D | 6,979 | 4,185 | 11,227 | ||
| R | 5,181 | 6,805 | 11,986 | ||
| R | 4,477 | 6,824 | 11,319 | ||
| R | 5,276 | 6,461 | 11,761 | ||
| D | 5,708 | 4,327 | 10,124 | ||
| R | 4,616 | 4,822 | 9,474 | ||
| D | 5,910 | 4,962 | 10,899 | ||
| D | 5,853 | 4,573 | 10,461 | ||
| D | 5,440 | 4,695 | 10,213 | ||
| R | 2,551 | 6,570 | 9,145 | ||
| R | 2,166 | 5,371 | 7,896 | ||
| R | 2,277 | 6,691 | 9,014 | ||
| R | 1,373 | 3,321 | 4,767 | ||
| O | 970 | 1,183 | 3,978 | ||
| R | 925 | 2,815 | 3,858 | ||
| R | 538 | 1,764 | 2,380 | ||
| R | 748 | 2,142 | 2,911 | ||
| R | 615 | 1,900 | 2,549 | ||
| R | 693 | 1,019 | 1,747 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
10.5%
Irish
9.9%
American
8.3%
German
7.6%
Italian
1.6%
Scottish
1.0%
Polish
0.7%
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: 41.7 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
$31,354
Middlesborough, KY ranks near the middle of US counties.
Middlesborough, KY$31,354
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
28.8%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1831.0%
Working age (18–64)29.5%
Seniors (65+)15.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.5%
speak English only
Other Indo-European0.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Spanish0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 15.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Middlesborough sits at the Cumberland Gap, a historically isolated mountain community where economic decline in coal has reshaped voting patterns over two decades, producing some of Kentucky's sharpest swings in turnout and party registration.
The Democratic margin in Middlesborough, KY peaked at twenty-five points in 1964. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-nine points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $31,354 sits well below state and national norms, and 29% 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.
Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/33180/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky voted Republican by 68.7 points (R+69), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,340 votes cast, 1,419 went Democratic and 7,831 went Republican.
What is Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 9 times, Republican 24 times, and other 1 times.
When did Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky?
Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky has a population of 23,509 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky?
Median household income in Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky is $31,354 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Middlesborough, KY, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.