Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+42%. Republican peak: R+46 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 143,5582024 5-year
- Median household income
- $68,3132024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 87.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+31 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+46 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Pottsville, PA, PAOne 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 | 20,882 | 51,665 | 73,361 | ||
| R | 20,727 | 48,871 | 70,603 | ||
| R | 16,770 | 44,001 | 63,385 | ||
| R | 24,546 | 32,278 | 58,048 | ||
| R | 28,300 | 33,767 | 63,057 | ||
| R | 29,231 | 35,640 | 65,269 | ||
| R | 26,215 | 29,841 | 58,300 | ||
| D | 24,860 | 22,920 | 56,629 | ||
| R | 23,679 | 25,780 | 63,029 | ||
| R | 24,797 | 32,666 | 57,842 | ||
| R | 25,758 | 37,330 | 63,312 | ||
| R | 24,968 | 36,273 | 64,969 | ||
| D | 33,905 | 31,944 | 66,948 | ||
| R | 26,077 | 44,071 | 71,595 | ||
| R | 34,982 | 37,194 | 76,645 | ||
| D | 50,560 | 26,386 | 77,042 | ||
| D | 44,430 | 44,187 | 88,687 | ||
| R | 31,645 | 51,670 | 83,406 | ||
| R | 34,987 | 51,437 | 86,610 | ||
| R | 28,194 | 44,176 | 73,492 | ||
| R | 35,852 | 40,671 | 76,744 | ||
| D | 48,739 | 43,505 | 92,475 | ||
| D | 55,183 | 44,353 | 100,921 | ||
| D | 35,023 | 32,492 | 69,305 | ||
| R | 40,424 | 46,033 | 86,768 | ||
| R | 10,111 | 34,578 | 53,656 | ||
| R | 18,746 | 30,259 | 50,887 | ||
| R | 13,396 | 17,806 | 32,357 | ||
| O | 11,812 | 3,557 | 32,075 | ||
| R | 15,481 | 18,758 | 35,679 | ||
| R | 10,115 | 21,046 | 32,328 | ||
| R | 14,496 | 15,327 | 30,215 | ||
| R | 14,745 | 17,045 | 32,407 | ||
| D | 13,677 | 11,426 | 25,424 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
29.5%
Irish
16.5%
Italian
9.4%
Polish
8.4%
English
5.2%
American
3.4%
French
1.1%
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: 43.7 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
$68,313
Pottsville, PA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Pottsville, PA$68,313
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.4%
Working age (18–64)10.8%
Seniors (65+)12.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.3%
speak English only
Spanish4.6%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Once a Democratic stronghold built on coal-union loyalty, Pottsville's metro has shifted steadily rightward over two decades, posting a 9.6-point Republican margin in 2024 as working-class realignment reshaped its voter coalition.
The Democratic margin in Pottsville, PA peaked at thirty-one points in 1964. By 2000 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-two points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $68,313 sits well below state and national norms, and 13% 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.
Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/39060/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 42.0 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 73,361 votes cast, 20,882 went Democratic and 51,665 went Republican.
What is Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania 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 Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania?
Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania has a population of 143,558 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania is $68,313 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Pottsville, PA, Pennsylvania 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.