Somerset, KY, Kentucky: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+65%. Republican peak: R+67 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+65MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 65,8972024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,8982024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+4 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+67 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Somerset, KY, KYOne 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 | 5,351 | 26,051 | 31,735 | ||
| R | 5,666 | 25,442 | 31,557 | ||
| R | 4,208 | 22,902 | 28,041 | ||
| R | 4,976 | 20,714 | 26,003 | ||
| R | 5,590 | 19,862 | 25,766 | ||
| R | 5,829 | 19,535 | 25,516 | ||
| R | 5,415 | 15,845 | 21,541 | ||
| R | 5,340 | 11,945 | 18,829 | ||
| R | 5,465 | 11,423 | 19,414 | ||
| R | 4,788 | 13,482 | 18,342 | ||
| R | 4,384 | 14,434 | 18,893 | ||
| R | 6,570 | 12,970 | 19,919 | ||
| R | 5,752 | 9,226 | 15,083 | ||
| R | 3,080 | 10,602 | 13,770 | ||
| R | 2,823 | 8,290 | 12,901 | ||
| R | 5,840 | 7,383 | 13,278 | ||
| R | 3,097 | 11,899 | 14,996 | ||
| R | 3,899 | 10,636 | 14,572 | ||
| R | 4,032 | 9,651 | 13,707 | ||
| R | 3,844 | 7,549 | 11,510 | ||
| R | 3,934 | 8,318 | 12,328 | ||
| R | 4,896 | 8,533 | 13,468 | ||
| R | 4,711 | 7,570 | 12,306 | ||
| R | 4,931 | 6,905 | 11,861 | ||
| R | 2,494 | 9,348 | 11,857 | ||
| R | 3,158 | 6,435 | 10,269 | ||
| R | 3,749 | 7,262 | 11,059 | ||
| R | 2,531 | 4,136 | 6,742 | ||
| D | 1,980 | 1,731 | 5,582 | ||
| R | 2,460 | 4,483 | 7,121 | ||
| R | 1,870 | 3,713 | 5,732 | ||
| R | 2,178 | 4,084 | 6,347 | ||
| R | 2,099 | 3,668 | 5,871 | ||
| R | 1,753 | 2,457 | 4,579 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
17.3%
American
15.1%
German
10.5%
Irish
9.9%
Scottish
2.0%
Italian
1.4%
French
1.1%
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: 42.3 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
$51,898
Somerset, KY ranks near the middle of US counties.
Somerset, KY$51,898
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
19.7%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1823.1%
Working age (18–64)18.3%
Seniors (65+)23.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.7%
speak English only
Spanish1.2%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
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.
Somerset anchors Pulaski County, one of Kentucky's most reliably Republican-leaning counties, where Lake Cumberland tourism and small manufacturing shape a workforce that skews older and rural even by regional standards.
The Democratic margin in Somerset, KY peaked at four points in 1912. By 1916 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty-five points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $51,898 sits well below state and national norms, and 20% 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.
Somerset, KY, Kentucky — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/43700/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Somerset, KY, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Somerset, KY, Kentucky voted Republican by 65.2 points (R+65), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 31,735 votes cast, 5,351 went Democratic and 26,051 went Republican.
What is Somerset, KY, Kentucky's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Somerset, KY, Kentucky as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 1 times, Republican 33 times, and other 0 times.
When did Somerset, KY, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Somerset, KY, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1912.
How many people live in Somerset, KY, Kentucky?
Somerset, KY, Kentucky has a population of 65,897 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Somerset, KY, Kentucky?
Median household income in Somerset, KY, Kentucky is $51,898 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Somerset, KY, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Somerset, KY, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 1 went Democratic and 33 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.