Shelton, WA, Washington: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+2%. Democratic peak: D+47 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+2MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 67,9822024 5-year
- Median household income
- $83,2702024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 77.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 12.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+47 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+39 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Shelton, WA, WAOne 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 | 17,215 | 18,127 | 36,689 | ||
| R | 17,269 | 18,710 | 37,303 | ||
| R | 11,993 | 13,677 | 29,003 | ||
| D | 14,764 | 12,761 | 28,489 | ||
| D | 15,050 | 12,600 | 28,306 | ||
| D | 12,894 | 11,987 | 25,394 | ||
| D | 10,876 | 10,257 | 22,480 | ||
| D | 10,088 | 7,149 | 20,750 | ||
| D | 8,076 | 5,776 | 19,626 | ||
| D | 7,826 | 7,426 | 15,545 | ||
| R | 7,007 | 8,410 | 15,650 | ||
| R | 5,241 | 6,745 | 13,737 | ||
| D | 6,060 | 4,758 | 11,291 | ||
| R | 3,907 | 4,873 | 9,177 | ||
| D | 4,540 | 3,397 | 8,590 | ||
| D | 5,514 | 2,549 | 8,071 | ||
| D | 4,183 | 3,703 | 7,902 | ||
| R | 3,840 | 4,026 | 7,886 | ||
| D | 3,830 | 3,827 | 7,700 | ||
| D | 3,613 | 2,524 | 6,501 | ||
| D | 3,379 | 1,976 | 5,397 | ||
| D | 3,465 | 1,775 | 5,346 | ||
| D | 3,087 | 1,015 | 4,398 | ||
| D | 2,181 | 995 | 3,902 | ||
| R | 992 | 1,745 | 2,772 | ||
| R | 179 | 902 | 1,840 | ||
| R | 383 | 997 | 1,779 | ||
| D | 779 | 764 | 1,724 | ||
| O | 522 | 439 | 1,798 | ||
| R | 318 | 553 | 977 | ||
| R | 315 | 661 | 1,041 | ||
| R | 455 | 514 | 1,000 | ||
| D | 667 | 397 | 1,077 | ||
| D | 356 | 352 | 838 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.2%
English
13.1%
Irish
11.7%
American
3.9%
Scottish
3.4%
Italian
3.3%
Polish
1.9%
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: 44.7 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
$83,270
Shelton, WA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Shelton, WA$83,270
Washington$98,141
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.0%
Working age (18–64)12.0%
Seniors (65+)10.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.5%
speak English only
Spanish7.9%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 73.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Shelton sits at the edge of the Olympic Peninsula's timber economy and the Puget Sound commuter belt, producing a mixed electorate where working-class resource-industry voters and in-migrating suburban households have kept countywide margins competitive in recent cycles.
The Democratic margin in Shelton, WA peaked at forty-seven points in 1936. By 2016 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was two points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $83,270 sits well below state and national norms, and 12% 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.
Shelton, WA, Washington — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/43220/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Shelton, WA, Washington vote in 2024?
In 2024, Shelton, WA, Washington voted Republican by 2.5 points (R+2), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 36,689 votes cast, 17,215 went Democratic and 18,127 went Republican.
What is Shelton, WA, Washington's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Shelton, WA, Washington as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 20 times, Republican 13 times, and other 1 times.
When did Shelton, WA, Washington last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Shelton, WA, Washington voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Shelton, WA, Washington?
Shelton, WA, Washington has a population of 67,982 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Shelton, WA, Washington?
Median household income in Shelton, WA, Washington is $83,270 — above the national median of $80,734. The Washington state median is $98,141.
What is the political history of Shelton, WA, Washington?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Shelton, WA, Washington from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 20 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.