Ruston, LA, Louisiana: Old Confederacy metro. In 2024, voted R+25%. Democratic peak: D+92 in 1896.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+25MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Old ConfederacyAkashic typology
- Population
- 48,1742024 5-year
- Median household income
- $39,1722024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 53.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 36.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+92 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+43 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Ruston, LA, LAOne 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 | 6,627 | 11,248 | 18,157 | ||
| R | 7,559 | 11,311 | 19,275 | ||
| R | 7,107 | 10,761 | 18,669 | ||
| R | 7,956 | 10,739 | 18,993 | ||
| R | 8,292 | 10,680 | 19,179 | ||
| R | 7,242 | 10,791 | 18,218 | ||
| R | 6,851 | 9,246 | 16,551 | ||
| D | 7,903 | 6,973 | 15,855 | ||
| R | 7,205 | 7,220 | 16,561 | ||
| R | 5,427 | 8,853 | 14,657 | ||
| R | 5,432 | 9,087 | 14,701 | ||
| R | 5,598 | 7,515 | 13,470 | ||
| R | 4,971 | 6,828 | 11,969 | ||
| R | 2,589 | 6,736 | 9,741 | ||
| O | 2,009 | 2,643 | 8,877 | ||
| D | 5,766 | 1,714 | 7,480 | ||
| R | 1,051 | 2,766 | 5,109 | ||
| R | 1,014 | 2,676 | 4,520 | ||
| R | 2,009 | 3,074 | 5,083 | ||
| O | 625 | 353 | 3,201 | ||
| D | 1,705 | 1,032 | 2,737 | ||
| D | 2,969 | 449 | 3,418 | ||
| D | 2,154 | 201 | 2,356 | ||
| D | 1,908 | 163 | 2,071 | ||
| D | 1,041 | 670 | 1,711 | ||
| D | 1,005 | 157 | 1,166 | ||
| D | 989 | 183 | 1,172 | ||
| D | 932 | 42 | 978 | ||
| D | 644 | 3 | 762 | ||
| D | 634 | 52 | 712 | ||
| D | 532 | 26 | 562 | ||
| D | 517 | 61 | 578 | ||
| D | 1,241 | 40 | 1,306 | ||
| R | 695 | 1,074 | 1,769 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
16.3%
English
10.9%
Irish
6.8%
German
5.8%
French
3.4%
Italian
2.1%
Scottish
2.0%
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: 28.6 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
$39,172
Ruston, LA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Ruston, LA$39,172
Louisiana$60,756
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
31.2%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1834.8%
Working age (18–64)31.9%
Seniors (65+)10.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.5%
speak English only
Spanish1.8%
Other Indo-European1.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 45.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to Louisiana Tech University, Ruston's Lincoln Parish core skews younger than surrounding rural parishes, tempering the region's otherwise lopsided Republican margins in statewide races.
The shift began with civil rights. 2000 marked the realignment in Ruston, LA, by a fourteen points margin. The Republican margin reached its widest at forty-three points in 1972. The 2024 margin was twenty-five points.
The political shift has tracked, in Ruston, LA, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 53% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $39,172, and a 31% poverty rate describe the demographic context.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Ruston, LA, Louisiana — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/40820/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Ruston, LA, Louisiana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Ruston, LA, Louisiana voted Republican by 25.5 points (R+25), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 18,157 votes cast, 6,627 went Democratic and 11,248 went Republican.
What is Ruston, LA, Louisiana's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Ruston, LA, Louisiana as a "Old Confederacy" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 15 times, Republican 17 times, and other 2 times.
When did Ruston, LA, Louisiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Ruston, LA, Louisiana voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Ruston, LA, Louisiana?
Ruston, LA, Louisiana has a population of 48,174 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ruston, LA, Louisiana?
Median household income in Ruston, LA, Louisiana is $39,172 — below the national median of $80,734. The Louisiana state median is $60,756.
What is the political history of Ruston, LA, Louisiana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Ruston, LA, Louisiana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Old Confederacy" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.