Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted R+58%. Democratic peak: D+65 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+58MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 52,2372024 5-year
- Median household income
- $67,2252024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 75.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 6.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 16.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+65 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+58 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Shelbyville, TN, TNOne 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 | 4,122 | 15,772 | 20,090 | ||
| R | 4,453 | 14,354 | 19,088 | ||
| R | 3,395 | 11,486 | 15,355 | ||
| R | 4,211 | 10,034 | 14,445 | ||
| R | 5,027 | 10,217 | 15,507 | ||
| R | 5,268 | 8,351 | 13,706 | ||
| D | 6,136 | 5,911 | 12,207 | ||
| D | 5,735 | 4,634 | 11,284 | ||
| D | 5,978 | 3,836 | 11,421 | ||
| R | 4,046 | 4,856 | 8,939 | ||
| R | 4,499 | 4,699 | 9,296 | ||
| D | 5,987 | 3,377 | 9,583 | ||
| D | 7,228 | 3,023 | 10,357 | ||
| R | 2,565 | 4,262 | 7,135 | ||
| O | 2,416 | 1,870 | 8,385 | ||
| D | 5,610 | 2,272 | 7,882 | ||
| D | 4,457 | 2,633 | 7,152 | ||
| D | 4,517 | 2,258 | 6,825 | ||
| D | 4,362 | 2,611 | 6,973 | ||
| D | 2,393 | 771 | 4,301 | ||
| D | 2,651 | 733 | 3,407 | ||
| D | 2,499 | 555 | 3,074 | ||
| D | 2,428 | 514 | 2,961 | ||
| D | 2,264 | 630 | 2,898 | ||
| D | 1,532 | 1,405 | 2,937 | ||
| D | 1,799 | 925 | 2,784 | ||
| D | 2,182 | 2,056 | 4,238 | ||
| D | 2,578 | 1,324 | 3,903 | ||
| D | 2,305 | 1,474 | 3,881 | ||
| D | 1,996 | 1,446 | 3,447 | ||
| D | 2,063 | 1,301 | 3,375 | ||
| D | 2,176 | 1,357 | 3,585 | ||
| D | 2,596 | 2,151 | 4,867 | ||
| D | 2,154 | 1,470 | 3,809 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
16.5%
English
9.7%
Irish
8.8%
German
8.7%
Italian
1.7%
Scottish
1.1%
French
0.9%
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: 37.6 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
$67,225
Shelbyville, TN ranks near the middle of US counties.
Shelbyville, TN$67,225
Tennessee$69,595
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.6%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1822.8%
Working age (18–64)9.3%
Seniors (65+)7.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
85.9%
speak English only
Spanish12.5%
Other languages0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 58.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Shelbyville anchors Tennessee's Walking Horse country and has seen its Hispanic population expand significantly over recent decades, reshaping the electorate in a county that otherwise votes reliably Republican by wide margins.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Shelbyville, TN peaked at sixty-five points in 1936; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2004 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twenty-two points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $67,225 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/43180/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee vote in 2024?
In 2024, Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee voted Republican by 58.0 points (R+58), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 20,090 votes cast, 4,122 went Democratic and 15,772 went Republican.
What is Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 24 times, Republican 9 times, and other 1 times.
When did Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee?
Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee has a population of 52,237 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee?
Median household income in Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee is $67,225 — below the national median of $80,734. The Tennessee state median is $69,595.
What is the political history of Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Shelbyville, TN, Tennessee from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 9 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.