Peoria, IL, Illinois: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+15%. Republican peak: R+40 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+15MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 365,2022024 5-year
- Median household income
- $72,6422024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 80.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 9.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+26 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+40 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Peoria, IL, ILOne 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 | 73,486 | 100,286 | 177,177 | ||
| R | 77,377 | 101,765 | 183,982 | ||
| R | 66,377 | 93,110 | 172,444 | ||
| R | 73,769 | 89,888 | 167,162 | ||
| D | 86,727 | 84,675 | 174,281 | ||
| R | 76,935 | 95,382 | 173,556 | ||
| R | 73,293 | 83,679 | 160,849 | ||
| D | 70,694 | 67,643 | 151,401 | ||
| D | 74,172 | 66,094 | 167,474 | ||
| R | 68,476 | 81,369 | 150,632 | ||
| R | 67,808 | 96,435 | 165,097 | ||
| R | 51,461 | 100,794 | 165,331 | ||
| R | 65,962 | 90,584 | 158,651 | ||
| R | 49,532 | 98,864 | 148,990 | ||
| R | 59,237 | 74,057 | 145,616 | ||
| D | 87,172 | 62,071 | 149,243 | ||
| R | 68,347 | 84,672 | 153,163 | ||
| R | 52,995 | 91,088 | 144,269 | ||
| R | 57,533 | 86,278 | 144,001 | ||
| R | 52,280 | 59,628 | 112,431 | ||
| R | 54,760 | 60,184 | 115,336 | ||
| D | 69,108 | 61,825 | 131,457 | ||
| D | 76,041 | 44,456 | 122,450 | ||
| D | 62,942 | 41,577 | 105,841 | ||
| R | 37,505 | 52,568 | 91,181 | ||
| R | 14,166 | 43,495 | 75,207 | ||
| R | 17,299 | 43,633 | 65,548 | ||
| R | 33,063 | 36,026 | 71,319 | ||
| O | 16,423 | 5,837 | 40,397 | ||
| R | 17,292 | 20,327 | 39,438 | ||
| R | 12,979 | 22,244 | 37,884 | ||
| R | 18,892 | 20,953 | 40,974 | ||
| R | 18,182 | 20,488 | 39,403 | ||
| D | 16,964 | 14,864 | 33,473 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
25.2%
Irish
12.5%
English
12.3%
American
5.1%
Italian
3.4%
Polish
2.1%
French
1.3%
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: 40.0 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
$72,642
Peoria, IL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Peoria, IL$72,642
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.7%
Working age (18–64)11.4%
Seniors (65+)8.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.4%
speak English only
Spanish2.1%
Other Indo-European1.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.5%
Other languages0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 58.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Peoria's blend of industrial labor, downstate conservatism, and a mid-sized university has made it a reliable proxy for midwestern swing sentiment, though its bellwether streak showed cracks in the 2010s as rural-urban polarization deepened.
The Democratic margin in Peoria, IL peaked at twenty-six points in 1912. By 2012 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $72,642 sits well below state and national norms, and 12% 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.
Peoria, IL, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/37900/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Peoria, IL, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Peoria, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 15.1 points (R+15), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 177,177 votes cast, 73,486 went Democratic and 100,286 went Republican.
What is Peoria, IL, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Peoria, IL, Illinois as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 8 times, Republican 25 times, and other 1 times.
When did Peoria, IL, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Peoria, IL, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Peoria, IL, Illinois?
Peoria, IL, Illinois has a population of 365,202 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Peoria, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Peoria, IL, Illinois is $72,642 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Peoria, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Peoria, IL, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 25 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.