Murray, KY, Kentucky: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+38%. Democratic peak: D+77 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+38MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 38,2242024 5-year
- Median household income
- $52,7062024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 88.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+77 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+38 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Murray, 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 | 5,111 | 11,539 | 16,945 | ||
| R | 5,797 | 11,352 | 17,457 | ||
| R | 4,749 | 10,367 | 16,049 | ||
| R | 5,317 | 9,440 | 15,072 | ||
| R | 6,165 | 8,991 | 15,404 | ||
| R | 5,728 | 9,293 | 15,145 | ||
| R | 5,635 | 7,705 | 13,673 | ||
| D | 5,281 | 4,989 | 11,566 | ||
| D | 6,181 | 4,654 | 12,740 | ||
| R | 5,287 | 6,225 | 11,546 | ||
| R | 5,028 | 6,442 | 11,515 | ||
| D | 6,809 | 4,498 | 11,964 | ||
| D | 8,141 | 3,171 | 11,507 | ||
| R | 3,468 | 5,167 | 8,732 | ||
| D | 3,854 | 2,672 | 8,682 | ||
| D | 7,290 | 1,576 | 8,886 | ||
| D | 4,693 | 3,356 | 8,049 | ||
| D | 6,152 | 2,292 | 8,460 | ||
| D | 5,434 | 1,829 | 7,275 | ||
| D | 4,896 | 681 | 5,668 | ||
| D | 4,888 | 1,121 | 6,026 | ||
| D | 5,793 | 896 | 6,698 | ||
| D | 5,523 | 939 | 6,472 | ||
| D | 6,335 | 813 | 7,184 | ||
| D | 3,431 | 1,557 | 5,002 | ||
| D | 3,790 | 936 | 4,882 | ||
| D | 4,574 | 1,520 | 6,284 | ||
| D | 3,334 | 1,026 | 4,513 | ||
| D | 2,380 | 628 | 3,591 | ||
| D | 3,024 | 808 | 3,975 | ||
| D | 2,466 | 824 | 3,542 | ||
| D | 2,876 | 844 | 3,803 | ||
| D | 2,572 | 561 | 3,227 | ||
| D | 1,581 | 379 | 2,432 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
18.0%
American
11.9%
German
9.2%
Irish
8.9%
Scottish
2.2%
French
1.6%
Italian
1.1%
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: 35.9 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
$52,706
Murray, KY ranks near the middle of US counties.
Murray, KY$52,706
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
17.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.0%
Working age (18–64)17.7%
Seniors (65+)15.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.6%
speak English only
Spanish2.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.2%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 38.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Murray anchors Calloway County, a persistently Republican corner of the Jackson Purchase region where presidential margins routinely exceed 40 points. Home to Murray State University, the metro punches above its size in higher-education employment.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Murray, KY peaked at seventy-seven 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 fifteen points. By 2024, the margin had settled into deep Republican territory.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $52,706 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 17% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Murray, KY, Kentucky — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/34660/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Murray, KY, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Murray, KY, Kentucky voted Republican by 37.9 points (R+38), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,945 votes cast, 5,111 went Democratic and 11,539 went Republican.
What is Murray, KY, Kentucky's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Murray, KY, Kentucky as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 24 times, Republican 10 times, and other 0 times.
When did Murray, KY, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Murray, KY, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Murray, KY, Kentucky?
Murray, KY, Kentucky has a population of 38,224 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Murray, KY, Kentucky?
Median household income in Murray, KY, Kentucky is $52,706 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Murray, KY, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Murray, KY, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.