Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+48%. Republican peak: R+65 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+48MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 36,5852024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,9232024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 76.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 23.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+40 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+65 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Scottsbluff, NE, NEOne 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 | 3,890 | 11,381 | 15,485 | ||
| R | 4,239 | 11,314 | 15,935 | ||
| R | 3,226 | 10,433 | 14,719 | ||
| R | 4,382 | 9,994 | 14,698 | ||
| R | 4,807 | 10,056 | 15,146 | ||
| R | 3,899 | 10,757 | 14,827 | ||
| R | 4,002 | 9,787 | 14,301 | ||
| R | 4,609 | 7,950 | 13,947 | ||
| R | 4,243 | 7,497 | 15,431 | ||
| R | 4,576 | 8,974 | 13,648 | ||
| R | 3,132 | 11,168 | 14,400 | ||
| R | 2,887 | 9,985 | 13,781 | ||
| R | 4,508 | 7,168 | 11,981 | ||
| R | 2,860 | 9,053 | 11,913 | ||
| R | 2,721 | 7,706 | 11,442 | ||
| R | 6,564 | 7,322 | 13,886 | ||
| R | 5,857 | 9,152 | 15,009 | ||
| R | 4,875 | 8,356 | 13,231 | ||
| R | 3,728 | 10,158 | 13,886 | ||
| R | 4,615 | 5,718 | 10,333 | ||
| R | 3,887 | 7,325 | 11,212 | ||
| R | 4,681 | 8,439 | 13,120 | ||
| D | 6,135 | 4,328 | 10,646 | ||
| D | 5,149 | 4,393 | 9,662 | ||
| R | 1,484 | 7,225 | 8,802 | ||
| R | 1,220 | 3,655 | 5,966 | ||
| R | 1,038 | 3,447 | 4,815 | ||
| D | 1,753 | 1,286 | 3,267 | ||
| O | 551 | 367 | 2,000 | ||
| R | 623 | 964 | 1,709 | ||
| R | 121 | 685 | 971 | ||
| R | 347 | 586 | 972 | ||
| R | 374 | 403 | 785 | ||
| D | 414 | 74 | 855 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
30.2%
Irish
10.6%
English
9.0%
American
3.8%
French
1.5%
Italian
1.4%
Polish
1.0%
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: 40.5 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
$63,923
Scottsbluff, NE ranks near the middle of US counties.
Scottsbluff, NE$63,923
Nebraska$76,475
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 1819.6%
Working age (18–64)10.6%
Seniors (65+)10.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.1%
speak English only
Spanish9.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Scottsbluff anchors Nebraska's sparsely populated western Panhandle, where an economy built on irrigated sugar beets and cattle produces some of the state's most lopsided Republican margins in statewide races.
The Democratic margin in Scottsbluff, NE peaked at forty points in 1892. By 1940 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-eight points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $63,923 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.
Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/42420/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska voted Republican by 48.4 points (R+48), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 15,485 votes cast, 3,890 went Democratic and 11,381 went Republican.
What is Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 4 times, Republican 29 times, and other 1 times.
When did Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska?
Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska has a population of 36,585 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska?
Median household income in Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska is $63,923 — below the national median of $80,734. The Nebraska state median is $76,475.
What is the political history of Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Scottsbluff, NE, Nebraska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 4 went Democratic and 29 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.