akashic
1876–2024
Wausau, WI·Wisconsin

Wausau, WI peaked at D+47; 2024 delivered R+19.

A mid-size Wisconsin metro that leans notably left of the state median

1876 — 2024·38 elections
WI
Latest
R+19
in 2024
Archetype
Populist
since the recent cycles
Population
138,403
2024 ACS

Wausau, WI, Wisconsin: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+19%. Republican peak: R+53 in 1920.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+19MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
PopulistAkashic typology
Population
138,4032024 5-year
Median household income
$77,8842024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
87.0%2024 5-year
Black
0.6%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
3.5%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+47 in 1932MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+53 in 1920MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
1 counties · 0 D · 1 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
R
−18.6%
31,52946,21378,826
R
−18.0%
30,80844,62476,751
R
−18.0%
26,48139,01469,518
R
−6.1%
32,36336,61769,862
D
+8.9%
36,36730,34567,940
R
−8.1%
30,89936,39468,059
R
−4.0%
26,54628,88358,374
D
+8.0%
24,01219,87451,449
D
+0.9%
21,48220,94857,378
D
+0.4%
24,65824,48249,521
R
−14.3%
20,12827,08048,670
R
−4.8%
23,28125,86853,514
D
+6.3%
24,93421,89848,001
R
−7.1%
18,50021,45441,839
D
+3.0%
18,06316,90738,081
D
+31.6%
24,60312,76637,426
R
−9.3%
18,14521,88040,025
R
−19.1%
15,30122,58638,051
R
−17.4%
14,54120,70235,373
D
+15.7%
15,89811,49428,079
R
−8.8%
13,19215,78229,477
R
−5.2%
13,72415,26429,469
D
+39.0%
17,8987,32827,076
D
+46.9%
17,7446,21024,601
D
+2.6%
10,67510,12721,091
O
−23.4%
1,1095,57719,088
R
−53.2%
2,13311,35617,329
R
−21.1%
3,6775,83810,237
D
+11.1%
4,0433,0339,135
R
−5.2%
4,7225,25810,388
R
−30.0%
3,2256,1449,716
R
−10.9%
3,7684,7178,683
R
−1.6%
3,8293,9587,977
D
+30.9%
3,7911,9595,929
—
No data
———
—
No data
———
—
No data
———
—
No data
———

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
46.9%
Polish
14.5%
Irish
7.9%
English
5.8%
American
3.0%
French
2.3%
Italian
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: 41.3 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.8%
85+
1.6%
2.6%
75–84
2.9%
5.6%
65–74
5.7%
7.2%
55–64
6.9%
6.2%
45–54
5.8%
6.5%
35–44
6.3%
6.2%
25–34
5.8%
3.8%
18–24
3.5%
8.7%
5–17
8.3%
2.7%
<5
2.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$77,884
Wausau, WI ranks near the middle of US counties.
Wausau, WI$77,884
Wisconsin$77,485
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
8.7%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.1%
Working age (18–64)7.9%
Seniors (65+)9.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.4%
speak English only
Asian & Pacific Islander3.8%
Spanish2.1%
Other Indo-European1.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
21.1%
Mainline Protestant
19.7%
Other Christian
5.5%
Non-Christian
2.1%
Pentecostal & Holiness
1.3%
Methodist
1.0%
Baptist
0.2%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 49.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Wausau's Marathon County core has trended Democratic in recent cycles, posting a D+16.9 margin in 2024 — well above what statewide battleground math typically requires, anchored by a diversifying workforce and a regional healthcare and manufacturing economy.

The Democratic margin in Wausau, WI peaked at forty-seven points in 1932. By 2012 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was nineteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.

The economic context is the key. The median household income of $77,884 sits well below state and national norms, and 9% 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.
Wausau, WI, Wisconsin — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/48140/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Wausau, WI, Wisconsin vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wausau, WI, Wisconsin voted Republican by 18.6 points (R+19), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 78,826 votes cast, 31,529 went Democratic and 46,213 went Republican.
What is Wausau, WI, Wisconsin's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Wausau, WI, Wisconsin as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 13 times, Republican 20 times, and other 1 times.
When did Wausau, WI, Wisconsin last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wausau, WI, Wisconsin voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Wausau, WI, Wisconsin?
Wausau, WI, Wisconsin has a population of 138,403 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wausau, WI, Wisconsin?
Median household income in Wausau, WI, Wisconsin is $77,884 — below the national median of $80,734. The Wisconsin state median is $77,485.
What is the political history of Wausau, WI, Wisconsin?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wausau, WI, Wisconsin from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.