Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama: Old Confederacy metro. In 2024, voted R+16%. Democratic peak: D+91 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+16MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Old ConfederacyAkashic typology
- Population
- 278,5262024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,4662024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 57.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 34.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+91 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+71 in 1964MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Tuscaloosa, AL, ALOne 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 | 43,788 | 60,443 | 105,512 | ||
| R | 50,334 | 60,778 | 112,515 | ||
| R | 44,522 | 57,190 | 103,701 | ||
| R | 46,435 | 54,886 | 102,184 | ||
| R | 46,780 | 54,915 | 102,498 | ||
| R | 38,757 | 52,286 | 91,655 | ||
| R | 36,913 | 42,143 | 80,781 | ||
| D | 33,983 | 33,950 | 72,052 | ||
| D | 34,624 | 33,894 | 77,119 | ||
| R | 27,755 | 34,709 | 62,769 | ||
| R | 26,616 | 36,812 | 64,300 | ||
| D | 30,664 | 26,440 | 59,419 | ||
| D | 30,187 | 21,927 | 53,004 | ||
| R | 15,219 | 29,506 | 45,788 | ||
| O | 11,222 | 4,589 | 43,928 | ||
| R | 0 | 19,665 | 27,582 | ||
| D | 12,122 | 7,997 | 20,331 | ||
| D | 11,851 | 6,800 | 19,583 | ||
| D | 11,080 | 5,965 | 17,239 | ||
| O | 0 | 823 | 8,722 | ||
| D | 8,362 | 871 | 9,292 | ||
| D | 10,583 | 675 | 11,289 | ||
| D | 10,181 | 479 | 10,710 | ||
| D | 8,742 | 509 | 9,398 | ||
| D | 5,446 | 2,286 | 7,734 | ||
| D | 4,672 | 407 | 5,249 | ||
| D | 6,330 | 782 | 7,164 | ||
| D | 4,794 | 460 | 5,332 | ||
| D | 3,648 | 117 | 4,162 | ||
| D | 3,682 | 256 | 4,158 | ||
| D | 3,471 | 281 | 3,905 | ||
| D | 4,497 | 1,308 | 6,050 | ||
| D | 9,131 | 2,612 | 12,115 | ||
| D | 9,610 | 1,267 | 14,572 | ||
| D | 7,855 | 3,330 | 11,225 | ||
| D | 5,411 | 4,345 | 9,796 | ||
| D | 6,096 | 4,033 | 10,129 | ||
| D | 7,574 | 6,110 | 13,684 |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
10.2%
American
10.1%
Irish
6.7%
German
5.3%
Italian
1.8%
Scottish
1.7%
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: 34.1 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
$62,466
Tuscaloosa, AL ranks near the middle of US counties.
Tuscaloosa, AL$62,466
Alabama$63,999
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
18.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1822.0%
Working age (18–64)17.3%
Seniors (65+)12.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.0%
speak English only
Spanish3.5%
Other Indo-European1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 49.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Tuscaloosa's metropolitan politics are pulled in competing directions by a large student and university-employee population on one side and a deeply conservative surrounding rural county on the other, producing margins that consistently outperform statewide Republican baselines by a measurable gap.
The shift began with civil rights. 2000 marked the realignment in Tuscaloosa, AL, by a six points margin. The Republican margin reached its widest at seventy-one points in 1964. The 2024 margin was sixteen points.
The political shift has tracked, in Tuscaloosa, AL, the political shift of the South more broadly. A 58% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $62,466, and a 18% poverty rate describe the demographic context.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/46220/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama vote in 2024?
In 2024, Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama voted Republican by 15.8 points (R+16), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 105,512 votes cast, 43,788 went Democratic and 60,443 went Republican.
What is Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama as a "Old Confederacy" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 25 times, Republican 11 times, and other 2 times.
When did Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama?
Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama has a population of 278,526 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama?
Median household income in Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama is $62,466 — below the national median of $80,734. The Alabama state median is $63,999.
What is the political history of Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 25 went Democratic and 11 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Old Confederacy" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.