Pontiac, IL, Illinois: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+46%. Republican peak: R+52 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+46MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 35,5652024 5-year
- Median household income
- $73,7902024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+10 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Pontiac, 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 | 4,311 | 11,970 | 16,549 | ||
| R | 4,615 | 12,208 | 17,214 | ||
| R | 4,023 | 10,208 | 15,342 | ||
| R | 5,020 | 9,753 | 15,077 | ||
| R | 6,189 | 9,191 | 15,625 | ||
| R | 5,632 | 10,316 | 16,039 | ||
| R | 5,829 | 9,187 | 15,421 | ||
| R | 5,641 | 7,653 | 14,788 | ||
| R | 6,007 | 8,004 | 17,098 | ||
| R | 5,009 | 10,324 | 15,405 | ||
| R | 4,567 | 12,291 | 16,919 | ||
| R | 4,111 | 11,544 | 16,823 | ||
| R | 5,174 | 10,097 | 15,640 | ||
| R | 5,110 | 13,217 | 18,339 | ||
| R | 5,234 | 11,963 | 18,160 | ||
| R | 8,476 | 10,239 | 18,715 | ||
| R | 6,642 | 13,139 | 19,783 | ||
| R | 5,197 | 13,939 | 19,143 | ||
| R | 5,612 | 14,095 | 19,727 | ||
| R | 5,618 | 11,184 | 16,876 | ||
| R | 6,231 | 12,436 | 18,719 | ||
| R | 7,722 | 13,909 | 21,686 | ||
| R | 9,190 | 10,801 | 20,334 | ||
| D | 10,024 | 8,403 | 18,589 | ||
| R | 5,737 | 11,161 | 16,992 | ||
| R | 2,911 | 9,695 | 15,025 | ||
| R | 3,101 | 10,382 | 13,874 | ||
| R | 6,462 | 9,801 | 16,710 | ||
| O | 3,334 | 2,444 | 9,258 | ||
| R | 3,778 | 5,358 | 9,596 | ||
| R | 2,785 | 6,018 | 9,465 | ||
| R | 4,024 | 5,805 | 10,207 | ||
| R | 4,068 | 5,436 | 9,712 | ||
| R | 3,960 | 3,980 | 8,545 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
30.5%
Irish
14.2%
English
10.1%
American
5.3%
Italian
4.7%
Polish
3.0%
French
2.0%
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: 41.8 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
$73,790
Pontiac, IL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Pontiac, IL$73,790
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
10.5%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.5%
Working age (18–64)10.0%
Seniors (65+)9.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.0%
speak English only
Spanish2.9%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 58.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Pontiac, IL sits in the Upper Midwest. 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 Pontiac, IL peaked at ten points in 1912. By 1936 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-six points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $73,790 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% 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.
Pontiac, IL, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/38700/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Pontiac, IL, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Pontiac, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 46.3 points (R+46), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,549 votes cast, 4,311 went Democratic and 11,970 went Republican.
What is Pontiac, IL, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Pontiac, 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 1 times, Republican 32 times, and other 1 times.
When did Pontiac, IL, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Pontiac, IL, Illinois voted Democratic was 1932.
How many people live in Pontiac, IL, Illinois?
Pontiac, IL, Illinois has a population of 35,565 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Pontiac, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Pontiac, IL, Illinois is $73,790 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Pontiac, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Pontiac, IL, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 1 went Democratic and 32 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.