Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+36%. Republican peak: R+40 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+36MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 108,6632024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,3142024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+26 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+40 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Sunbury, 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 | 16,725 | 36,184 | 53,582 | ||
| R | 16,448 | 34,796 | 52,054 | ||
| R | 12,645 | 30,715 | 45,463 | ||
| R | 16,125 | 24,170 | 41,215 | ||
| R | 17,693 | 23,592 | 41,962 | ||
| R | 17,268 | 27,165 | 44,758 | ||
| R | 16,026 | 22,102 | 39,749 | ||
| R | 15,601 | 16,336 | 38,211 | ||
| R | 14,964 | 18,153 | 42,438 | ||
| R | 16,286 | 23,824 | 40,496 | ||
| R | 15,803 | 26,283 | 42,413 | ||
| R | 16,022 | 24,007 | 42,386 | ||
| R | 21,666 | 22,542 | 44,951 | ||
| R | 15,640 | 30,298 | 46,683 | ||
| R | 19,252 | 25,655 | 47,875 | ||
| D | 31,765 | 19,573 | 51,458 | ||
| R | 24,862 | 31,722 | 56,632 | ||
| R | 19,213 | 32,559 | 51,816 | ||
| R | 20,053 | 32,586 | 52,765 | ||
| R | 18,442 | 26,225 | 45,155 | ||
| R | 22,545 | 24,722 | 47,397 | ||
| D | 29,395 | 25,637 | 55,175 | ||
| D | 35,383 | 24,108 | 60,232 | ||
| D | 25,791 | 20,141 | 47,444 | ||
| R | 20,694 | 34,641 | 55,640 | ||
| R | 9,370 | 20,015 | 35,653 | ||
| R | 11,726 | 19,584 | 33,852 | ||
| D | 10,863 | 9,790 | 22,047 | ||
| O | 8,294 | 2,679 | 21,949 | ||
| R | 10,080 | 11,603 | 22,836 | ||
| R | 7,294 | 12,737 | 20,932 | ||
| D | 9,864 | 9,658 | 20,190 | ||
| R | 9,114 | 10,043 | 20,001 | ||
| D | 8,819 | 7,278 | 16,807 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
30.5%
Irish
11.0%
English
9.7%
Polish
7.4%
Italian
6.5%
American
4.6%
Scottish
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: 44.2 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
$63,314
Sunbury, PA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Sunbury, PA$63,314
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
12.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.7%
Working age (18–64)10.9%
Seniors (65+)12.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.1%
speak English only
Spanish2.3%
Other Indo-European2.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Northumberland County anchors this compact metro, where a long deindustrialized core and surrounding agricultural townships produce a reliably wide Republican margin in statewide races.
The Democratic margin in Sunbury, PA peaked at twenty-six points in 1912. By 1968 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-six points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $63,314 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.
Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/44980/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 36.3 points (R+36), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 53,582 votes cast, 16,725 went Democratic and 36,184 went Republican.
What is Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Sunbury, 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 7 times, Republican 26 times, and other 1 times.
When did Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania?
Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania has a population of 108,663 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania is $63,314 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Sunbury, PA, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.