Reading, PA, Pennsylvania: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+12%. Democratic peak: D+39 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+12MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 433,0152024 5-year
- Median household income
- $79,7772024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 69.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 24.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+39 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+38 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Reading, 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 | 91,125 | 116,677 | 210,426 | ||
| R | 92,895 | 109,736 | 205,540 | ||
| R | 78,437 | 96,626 | 184,085 | ||
| R | 83,011 | 84,702 | 170,676 | ||
| D | 97,047 | 80,513 | 180,000 | ||
| R | 76,309 | 87,122 | 164,487 | ||
| R | 59,150 | 71,273 | 135,297 | ||
| R | 49,887 | 56,289 | 121,718 | ||
| R | 46,031 | 52,939 | 131,407 | ||
| R | 41,040 | 70,153 | 112,444 | ||
| R | 37,849 | 74,605 | 113,145 | ||
| R | 36,449 | 60,576 | 107,385 | ||
| R | 50,994 | 54,452 | 107,553 | ||
| R | 36,563 | 66,172 | 106,127 | ||
| R | 49,877 | 50,623 | 108,924 | ||
| D | 73,444 | 36,726 | 110,646 | ||
| R | 50,572 | 61,743 | 112,706 | ||
| R | 42,349 | 57,258 | 99,927 | ||
| R | 45,874 | 51,720 | 98,668 | ||
| D | 43,075 | 35,608 | 81,726 | ||
| D | 43,889 | 35,274 | 81,410 | ||
| D | 53,301 | 32,111 | 86,942 | ||
| D | 56,907 | 26,699 | 88,327 | ||
| D | 29,763 | 27,073 | 73,023 | ||
| R | 18,960 | 47,073 | 73,514 | ||
| R | 17,220 | 28,186 | 54,893 | ||
| R | 18,361 | 22,221 | 46,591 | ||
| D | 19,267 | 11,937 | 34,769 | ||
| D | 16,430 | 3,032 | 34,560 | ||
| D | 17,381 | 13,642 | 33,268 | ||
| D | 16,357 | 15,539 | 33,579 | ||
| D | 19,013 | 13,952 | 33,593 | ||
| D | 18,099 | 14,318 | 33,082 | ||
| D | 18,602 | 10,077 | 28,991 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
27.9%
Irish
10.1%
Italian
8.2%
English
6.3%
Polish
4.6%
American
3.7%
French
1.2%
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: 39.9 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
$79,777
Reading, PA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Reading, PA$79,777
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.0%
Working age (18–64)10.6%
Seniors (65+)10.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
78.7%
speak English only
Spanish17.6%
Other Indo-European2.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Reading's population is now majority Hispanic, one of the highest shares of any mid-sized northeastern city, and that demographic shift has gradually altered turnout patterns and party registration trends across Berks County.
The Democratic margin in Reading, PA peaked at thirty-nine points in 1912. By 2012 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twelve points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $79,777 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.
Reading, PA, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/39740/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Reading, PA, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Reading, PA, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 12.1 points (R+12), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 210,426 votes cast, 91,125 went Democratic and 116,677 went Republican.
What is Reading, PA, Pennsylvania's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Reading, 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 14 times, Republican 20 times, and other 0 times.
When did Reading, PA, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Reading, PA, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Reading, PA, Pennsylvania?
Reading, PA, Pennsylvania has a population of 433,015 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Reading, PA, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Reading, PA, Pennsylvania is $79,777 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Reading, PA, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Reading, PA, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.