Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+16%. Democratic peak: D+94 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+16MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 66,0672024 5-year
- Median household income
- $37,6392024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 32.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 97.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+94 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+16 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, TXOne 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 | 6,862 | 9,487 | 16,431 | ||
| D | 9,123 | 8,247 | 17,525 | ||
| D | 9,289 | 2,224 | 11,740 | ||
| D | 10,260 | 1,547 | 11,883 | ||
| D | 8,274 | 1,492 | 9,792 | ||
| D | 7,199 | 2,552 | 9,781 | ||
| D | 6,505 | 1,911 | 8,464 | ||
| D | 6,312 | 756 | 7,260 | ||
| D | 7,668 | 1,209 | 9,261 | ||
| D | 6,958 | 1,218 | 8,211 | ||
| D | 5,047 | 1,658 | 6,713 | ||
| D | 4,782 | 1,389 | 6,253 | ||
| D | 4,646 | 664 | 5,325 | ||
| D | 3,320 | 2,389 | 5,713 | ||
| D | 3,922 | 1,374 | 5,367 | ||
| D | 4,056 | 678 | 4,742 | ||
| D | 4,051 | 280 | 4,333 | ||
| D | 2,727 | 547 | 3,274 | ||
| D | 3,055 | 620 | 3,675 | ||
| D | 1,996 | 179 | 2,188 | ||
| D | 1,312 | 68 | 1,395 | ||
| D | 1,200 | 68 | 1,268 | ||
| D | 2,289 | 320 | 2,618 | ||
| D | 754 | 32 | 786 | ||
| D | 736 | 79 | 815 | ||
| D | 756 | 23 | 779 | ||
| D | 418 | 89 | 507 | ||
| D | 516 | 115 | 631 | ||
| D | 674 | 252 | 928 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
0.7%
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: 29.4 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
$37,639
Rio Grande City-Roma, TX ranks near the middle of US counties.
Rio Grande City-Roma, TX$37,639
Texas$78,476
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
33.5%
Nearly half of children live in poverty.
Children under 1840.9%
Working age (18–64)28.7%
Seniors (65+)45.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
8.8%
speak English only
Spanish91.0%
Other Indo-European0.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 15.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Starr County, the core of this Rio Grande metro, is over 95% Hispanic yet delivered a Republican presidential margin for the first time in decades in 2020, signaling a realignment that analysts across the spectrum are still working to explain.
The Democratic margin in Rio Grande City-Roma, TX peaked at ninety-four points in 1924. By 2024 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $37,639 sits well below state and national norms, and 34% 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.
Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/40100/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas voted Republican by 16.0 points (R+16), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 16,431 votes cast, 6,862 went Democratic and 9,487 went Republican.
What is Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 28 times, Republican 1 times, and other 0 times.
When did Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas voted Democratic was 2020.
How many people live in Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas?
Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas has a population of 66,067 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas?
Median household income in Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas is $37,639 — below the national median of $80,734. The Texas state median is $78,476.
What is the political history of Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Texas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 28 went Democratic and 1 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.