Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+57%. Republican peak: R+59 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+57MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 72,7992024 5-year
- Median household income
- $61,4462024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+9 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Somerset, PA, PAOne 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 | 8,596 | 31,993 | 40,987 | ||
| R | 8,654 | 31,466 | 40,543 | ||
| R | 7,376 | 27,379 | 36,073 | ||
| R | 9,436 | 23,984 | 34,078 | ||
| R | 12,878 | 21,686 | 35,168 | ||
| R | 12,842 | 23,802 | 36,778 | ||
| R | 12,028 | 20,218 | 32,985 | ||
| R | 12,719 | 14,735 | 31,591 | ||
| R | 12,493 | 13,858 | 32,759 | ||
| R | 13,815 | 16,809 | 30,768 | ||
| R | 13,900 | 19,502 | 33,491 | ||
| R | 11,695 | 17,729 | 30,455 | ||
| R | 13,452 | 15,960 | 29,685 | ||
| R | 8,743 | 19,739 | 28,841 | ||
| R | 11,515 | 17,511 | 30,921 | ||
| D | 17,934 | 14,817 | 32,814 | ||
| R | 14,739 | 20,554 | 35,335 | ||
| R | 13,163 | 20,568 | 33,748 | ||
| R | 13,167 | 18,589 | 31,820 | ||
| R | 8,727 | 13,910 | 22,978 | ||
| R | 10,287 | 16,039 | 26,405 | ||
| R | 14,085 | 17,369 | 31,512 | ||
| R | 16,184 | 17,375 | 33,741 | ||
| R | 7,919 | 11,857 | 20,249 | ||
| R | 4,489 | 16,404 | 21,057 | ||
| R | 2,315 | 12,389 | 17,032 | ||
| R | 2,912 | 12,436 | 16,404 | ||
| R | 2,957 | 6,008 | 9,800 | ||
| O | 2,164 | 1,428 | 9,588 | ||
| R | 2,246 | 6,478 | 9,495 | ||
| R | 1,686 | 6,772 | 9,358 | ||
| R | 2,151 | 6,677 | 9,109 | ||
| R | 2,295 | 5,861 | 8,319 | ||
| R | 2,262 | 4,670 | 7,185 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
34.1%
Irish
9.7%
English
8.2%
Italian
7.2%
Polish
6.8%
American
4.8%
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: 46.9 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
$61,446
Somerset, PA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Somerset, PA$61,446
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.0%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.5%
Working age (18–64)10.0%
Seniors (65+)11.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.8%
speak English only
Other Indo-European2.9%
Spanish0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 51.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Somerset County anchors a largely rural, coal-and-timber economy where white working-class voters have driven some of Pennsylvania's steepest partisan swings over the past three election cycles.
The Democratic margin in Somerset, PA peaked at nine points in 1964. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifty-seven points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $61,446 sits well below state and national norms, and 11% 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, PA, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/43740/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 57.1 points (R+57), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 40,987 votes cast, 8,596 went Democratic and 31,993 went Republican.
What is Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania 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 32 times, and other 1 times.
When did Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania?
Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania has a population of 72,799 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania is $61,446 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Somerset, PA, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 1 went Democratic and 32 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.