Rochelle, IL, Illinois: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+29%. Republican peak: R+68 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+29MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 51,4952024 5-year
- Median household income
- $82,1322024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Republican margin
- R+68 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Rochelle, IL, ILOne 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 | 8,883 | 16,450 | 25,799 | ||
| R | 9,428 | 16,248 | 26,340 | ||
| R | 8,050 | 14,352 | 24,193 | ||
| R | 9,514 | 13,422 | 23,367 | ||
| R | 11,253 | 13,144 | 24,850 | ||
| R | 9,018 | 14,918 | 24,091 | ||
| R | 7,673 | 12,325 | 20,601 | ||
| R | 6,765 | 9,558 | 18,335 | ||
| R | 6,512 | 9,008 | 20,109 | ||
| R | 5,641 | 11,644 | 17,394 | ||
| R | 4,803 | 13,503 | 18,396 | ||
| R | 4,067 | 12,533 | 18,871 | ||
| R | 6,463 | 11,073 | 17,797 | ||
| R | 4,743 | 13,512 | 18,290 | ||
| R | 4,399 | 12,168 | 17,641 | ||
| R | 6,917 | 10,430 | 17,347 | ||
| R | 4,792 | 13,226 | 18,025 | ||
| R | 3,660 | 13,194 | 16,870 | ||
| R | 3,796 | 13,351 | 17,163 | ||
| R | 3,796 | 9,519 | 13,378 | ||
| R | 3,951 | 10,680 | 14,712 | ||
| R | 4,833 | 11,838 | 16,742 | ||
| R | 5,776 | 9,576 | 15,546 | ||
| R | 5,416 | 8,224 | 13,912 | ||
| R | 2,691 | 9,808 | 12,546 | ||
| R | 1,591 | 8,449 | 11,799 | ||
| R | 1,720 | 9,322 | 11,233 | ||
| R | 3,207 | 8,639 | 12,283 | ||
| O | 1,750 | 2,014 | 6,745 | ||
| R | 1,761 | 4,848 | 7,002 | ||
| R | 1,209 | 5,109 | 6,799 | ||
| R | 2,171 | 5,255 | 7,619 | ||
| R | 2,142 | 5,210 | 7,529 | ||
| R | 2,244 | 3,939 | 6,499 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
31.3%
Irish
13.7%
English
9.9%
Italian
3.9%
Polish
3.9%
American
3.7%
French
1.8%
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: 42.2 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
$82,132
Rochelle, IL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Rochelle, IL$82,132
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
8.4%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.5%
Working age (18–64)6.9%
Seniors (65+)11.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.4%
speak English only
Spanish7.1%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 52.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Rochelle, IL sits in the Upper 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 Rochelle, IL peaked at an earlier high. The 2024 margin was twenty-nine points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $82,132 sits well below state and national norms, and 8% 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.
Rochelle, IL, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/40300/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Rochelle, IL, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Rochelle, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 29.3 points (R+29), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 25,799 votes cast, 8,883 went Democratic and 16,450 went Republican.
What is Rochelle, IL, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Rochelle, IL, Illinois as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 0 times, Republican 33 times, and other 1 times.
How many people live in Rochelle, IL, Illinois?
Rochelle, IL, Illinois has a population of 51,495 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Rochelle, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Rochelle, IL, Illinois is $82,132 — above the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Rochelle, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Rochelle, IL, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 0 went Democratic and 33 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.