Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+42%. Republican peak: R+42 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+42MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 136,9202024 5-year
- Median household income
- $57,5102024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+37 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+42 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Wheeling, WV-OH, WVOne 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 | 17,993 | 44,159 | 62,971 | ||
| R | 19,816 | 46,349 | 67,068 | ||
| R | 17,196 | 41,913 | 63,415 | ||
| R | 25,426 | 35,661 | 63,100 | ||
| R | 30,891 | 33,875 | 66,076 | ||
| R | 32,554 | 35,799 | 68,786 | ||
| D | 29,633 | 29,091 | 61,603 | ||
| D | 33,531 | 19,940 | 62,630 | ||
| D | 35,347 | 20,498 | 69,273 | ||
| D | 37,539 | 29,348 | 67,330 | ||
| D | 37,568 | 37,232 | 75,134 | ||
| D | 35,458 | 32,267 | 71,813 | ||
| D | 41,620 | 32,731 | 74,858 | ||
| R | 31,669 | 47,029 | 79,148 | ||
| D | 45,531 | 31,837 | 83,389 | ||
| D | 61,115 | 27,874 | 88,989 | ||
| D | 51,425 | 44,660 | 96,085 | ||
| R | 39,645 | 51,618 | 91,263 | ||
| D | 49,994 | 47,539 | 97,533 | ||
| D | 48,201 | 36,026 | 85,412 | ||
| D | 48,712 | 39,450 | 88,162 | ||
| D | 59,231 | 45,102 | 104,333 | ||
| D | 62,642 | 36,221 | 99,480 | ||
| D | 46,910 | 38,281 | 87,525 | ||
| R | 30,724 | 50,237 | 81,995 | ||
| R | 21,537 | 38,193 | 70,003 | ||
| R | 28,439 | 37,704 | 68,423 | ||
| R | 16,982 | 18,574 | 37,903 | ||
| D | 13,588 | 10,833 | 35,841 | ||
| R | 16,745 | 19,185 | 38,105 | ||
| R | 12,044 | 19,865 | 34,264 | ||
| D | 17,134 | 15,743 | 33,710 | ||
| R | 13,537 | 17,981 | 32,028 | ||
| R | 13,151 | 13,957 | 28,450 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.7%
Irish
15.0%
English
11.6%
Italian
7.6%
Polish
6.0%
American
5.3%
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: 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
$57,510
Wheeling, WV-OH ranks near the middle of US counties.
Wheeling, WV-OH$57,510
West Virginia$71,389
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.6%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.4%
Working age (18–64)14.8%
Seniors (65+)13.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.7%
speak English only
Spanish1.0%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 58.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Once a Democratic stronghold anchored by steel and glass manufacturing, the Wheeling metro has shifted sharply toward Republican margins over the past two decades as union-household share fell and working-class realignment accelerated across the Upper Ohio Valley.
The Democratic margin in Wheeling, WV-OH peaked at thirty-seven points in 1964. By 2004 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was forty-two points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $57,510 sits well below state and national norms, and 17% 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.
Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/48540/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia voted Republican by 41.6 points (R+42), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 62,971 votes cast, 17,993 went Democratic and 44,159 went Republican.
What is Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 18 times, Republican 16 times, and other 0 times.
When did Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia?
Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia has a population of 136,920 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia?
Median household income in Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia is $57,510 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $71,389.
What is the political history of Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wheeling, WV-OH, West Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 16 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.