Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+64%. Republican peak: R+64 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+64MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 42,0202024 5-year
- Median household income
- $49,0892024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+18 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+64 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Poplar Bluff, MO, MOOne 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 | 3,160 | 14,549 | 17,860 | ||
| R | 3,301 | 14,602 | 18,169 | ||
| R | 3,036 | 13,650 | 17,259 | ||
| R | 4,363 | 12,248 | 16,889 | ||
| R | 5,316 | 11,805 | 17,338 | ||
| R | 4,666 | 11,696 | 16,441 | ||
| R | 4,996 | 9,111 | 14,397 | ||
| R | 5,780 | 6,996 | 14,343 | ||
| D | 6,602 | 6,450 | 15,272 | ||
| R | 5,751 | 7,968 | 13,738 | ||
| R | 4,699 | 8,712 | 13,411 | ||
| R | 5,605 | 8,342 | 14,181 | ||
| D | 6,759 | 5,669 | 12,485 | ||
| R | 3,466 | 9,198 | 12,664 | ||
| R | 4,379 | 6,326 | 13,464 | ||
| D | 7,710 | 5,616 | 13,326 | ||
| R | 5,406 | 8,751 | 14,157 | ||
| R | 5,869 | 7,216 | 13,085 | ||
| R | 6,426 | 7,843 | 14,285 | ||
| D | 5,319 | 4,276 | 9,630 | ||
| R | 4,219 | 6,375 | 10,626 | ||
| R | 6,213 | 8,024 | 14,275 | ||
| R | 6,234 | 6,355 | 12,631 | ||
| D | 6,058 | 4,155 | 10,303 | ||
| R | 3,320 | 5,591 | 8,949 | ||
| R | 2,953 | 4,489 | 8,019 | ||
| R | 2,662 | 4,601 | 7,442 | ||
| R | 2,135 | 2,717 | 5,054 | ||
| D | 1,946 | 1,851 | 4,665 | ||
| R | 1,893 | 2,186 | 4,268 | ||
| R | 1,369 | 1,960 | 3,568 | ||
| R | 1,670 | 1,888 | 3,647 | ||
| D | 1,743 | 1,635 | 3,393 | ||
| D | 1,233 | 1,052 | 2,487 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
14.2%
English
12.6%
Irish
12.0%
American
11.6%
Scottish
1.7%
Polish
1.6%
French
1.6%
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: 39.5 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
$49,089
Poplar Bluff, MO ranks near the middle of US counties.
Poplar Bluff, MO$49,089
Missouri$70,702
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
20.5%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.7%
Working age (18–64)19.4%
Seniors (65+)18.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.2%
speak English only
Spanish0.9%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Anchored by Butler County, the Poplar Bluff metro has shifted decisively toward Republican margins over the past two decades, reflecting broader trends across Ozark-border small cities with manufacturing and timber economies.
The Democratic margin in Poplar Bluff, MO peaked at eighteen points in 1932. By 1996 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-four points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $49,089 sits well below state and national norms, and 21% 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.
Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/38740/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri vote in 2024?
In 2024, Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri voted Republican by 63.8 points (R+64), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 17,860 votes cast, 3,160 went Democratic and 14,549 went Republican.
What is Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri 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 26 times, and other 0 times.
When did Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri voted Democratic was 1992.
How many people live in Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri?
Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri has a population of 42,020 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri?
Median household income in Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri is $49,089 — below the national median of $80,734. The Missouri state median is $70,702.
What is the political history of Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Poplar Bluff, MO, Missouri from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.