Palatka, FL, Florida: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+48%. Democratic peak: D+55 in 1940.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+48MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 75,1642024 5-year
- Median household income
- $47,9342024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 70.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 14.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+55 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Palatka, FL, FLOne 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 | 9,349 | 26,699 | 36,266 | ||
| R | 10,527 | 25,514 | 36,373 | ||
| R | 10,094 | 22,138 | 33,117 | ||
| R | 11,667 | 19,326 | 31,324 | ||
| R | 13,236 | 19,637 | 33,171 | ||
| R | 12,412 | 18,311 | 30,973 | ||
| R | 12,107 | 13,457 | 26,239 | ||
| D | 12,010 | 9,786 | 25,152 | ||
| D | 10,709 | 8,910 | 25,661 | ||
| R | 8,575 | 11,624 | 20,307 | ||
| R | 7,823 | 11,435 | 19,262 | ||
| D | 8,906 | 8,273 | 17,727 | ||
| D | 9,597 | 5,040 | 14,809 | ||
| R | 2,901 | 8,741 | 11,716 | ||
| O | 2,920 | 2,955 | 11,025 | ||
| R | 4,995 | 5,072 | 10,067 | ||
| D | 4,459 | 4,236 | 8,695 | ||
| R | 3,232 | 4,212 | 7,444 | ||
| R | 3,525 | 3,766 | 7,291 | ||
| D | 1,947 | 1,435 | 4,835 | ||
| D | 2,926 | 1,163 | 4,089 | ||
| D | 3,477 | 1,008 | 4,485 | ||
| D | 2,709 | 975 | 3,684 | ||
| D | 2,309 | 911 | 3,220 | ||
| R | 1,156 | 2,105 | 3,341 | ||
| D | 889 | 574 | 1,634 | ||
| D | 1,557 | 1,181 | 2,915 | ||
| D | 879 | 418 | 1,458 | ||
| D | 774 | 229 | 1,174 | ||
| D | 797 | 454 | 1,470 | ||
| D | 532 | 210 | 783 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| R | 1,094 | 1,168 | 2,262 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
28.2%
American
10.6%
Irish
8.1%
German
5.9%
Italian
2.4%
Scottish
2.1%
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: 45.0 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
$47,934
Palatka, FL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Palatka, FL$47,934
Florida$74,568
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
23.4%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1833.5%
Working age (18–64)21.5%
Seniors (65+)14.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.0%
speak English only
Spanish8.0%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Palatka, FL sits in the Gulf South and peninsula. For most of the post-war period it was a Democratic metro — its working-class profile gave it the same political habits as much of its region. That identity has shifted decisively in the last twenty years.
The Democratic margin in Palatka, FL peaked at fifty-five points in 1940. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-eight points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $47,934 sits well below state and national norms, and 23% 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.
Palatka, FL, Florida — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/37260/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Palatka, FL, Florida vote in 2024?
In 2024, Palatka, FL, Florida voted Republican by 47.8 points (R+48), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 36,266 votes cast, 9,349 went Democratic and 26,699 went Republican.
What is Palatka, FL, Florida's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Palatka, FL, Florida as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 16 times, Republican 15 times, and other 1 times.
When did Palatka, FL, Florida last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Palatka, FL, Florida voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Palatka, FL, Florida?
Palatka, FL, Florida has a population of 75,164 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Palatka, FL, Florida?
Median household income in Palatka, FL, Florida is $47,934 — below the national median of $80,734. The Florida state median is $74,568.
What is the political history of Palatka, FL, Florida?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Palatka, FL, Florida from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 15 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.