Portsmouth, OH, Ohio: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+48%. Republican peak: R+48 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+48MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 72,6272024 5-year
- Median household income
- $50,6092024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+23 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+48 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Portsmouth, OH, OHOne 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 | 8,021 | 22,978 | 31,225 | ||
| R | 9,080 | 22,609 | 32,047 | ||
| R | 9,132 | 20,550 | 31,513 | ||
| R | 15,077 | 15,492 | 31,971 | ||
| R | 14,926 | 16,994 | 32,723 | ||
| R | 16,827 | 18,259 | 35,203 | ||
| R | 13,997 | 15,022 | 29,945 | ||
| D | 15,041 | 11,679 | 31,328 | ||
| D | 14,715 | 11,931 | 33,624 | ||
| R | 14,442 | 16,029 | 30,760 | ||
| R | 14,120 | 18,818 | 33,219 | ||
| R | 15,552 | 15,881 | 32,568 | ||
| D | 18,019 | 13,021 | 31,488 | ||
| R | 11,008 | 19,998 | 31,679 | ||
| R | 13,836 | 15,310 | 32,317 | ||
| D | 21,559 | 13,465 | 35,024 | ||
| R | 16,647 | 21,771 | 38,418 | ||
| R | 14,985 | 22,110 | 37,095 | ||
| R | 18,145 | 20,403 | 38,548 | ||
| D | 17,923 | 16,800 | 34,852 | ||
| R | 17,134 | 17,489 | 34,623 | ||
| D | 21,926 | 19,462 | 41,388 | ||
| D | 22,243 | 17,860 | 40,380 | ||
| R | 15,817 | 17,225 | 33,590 | ||
| R | 7,425 | 20,997 | 28,530 | ||
| R | 5,532 | 12,189 | 19,401 | ||
| R | 7,682 | 11,871 | 20,135 | ||
| R | 4,808 | 6,356 | 11,809 | ||
| R | 3,508 | 3,609 | 10,547 | ||
| R | 4,310 | 5,790 | 10,818 | ||
| R | 2,420 | 5,540 | 8,855 | ||
| R | 3,629 | 5,756 | 9,570 | ||
| R | 3,658 | 5,492 | 9,240 | ||
| R | 3,181 | 4,268 | 7,639 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
14.3%
English
13.5%
Irish
12.5%
American
7.4%
French
1.7%
Scottish
1.7%
Italian
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: 41.1 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
$50,609
Portsmouth, OH ranks near the middle of US counties.
Portsmouth, OH$50,609
Ohio$71,389
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
21.8%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1826.5%
Working age (18–64)21.2%
Seniors (65+)12.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.5%
speak English only
Spanish0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 67.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Portsmouth, OH sits in the Industrial 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 Portsmouth, OH peaked at twenty-three points in 1964. 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 $50,609 sits well below state and national norms, and 22% 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.
Portsmouth, OH, Ohio — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/39020/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Portsmouth, OH, Ohio vote in 2024?
In 2024, Portsmouth, OH, Ohio voted Republican by 47.9 points (R+48), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 31,225 votes cast, 8,021 went Democratic and 22,978 went Republican.
What is Portsmouth, OH, Ohio's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Portsmouth, OH, Ohio as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 7 times, Republican 27 times, and other 0 times.
When did Portsmouth, OH, Ohio last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Portsmouth, OH, Ohio voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Portsmouth, OH, Ohio?
Portsmouth, OH, Ohio has a population of 72,627 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Portsmouth, OH, Ohio?
Median household income in Portsmouth, OH, Ohio is $50,609 — below the national median of $80,734. The Ohio state median is $71,389.
What is the political history of Portsmouth, OH, Ohio?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Portsmouth, OH, Ohio from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.