Congressional District 1 Congressional District (PA) — Elections 1876–2024

Pennsylvania 1st Congressional District, Pennsylvania: Bellwether district. In 2024, voted D+5%. Republican peak: R+54 in 1928.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: D+5MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: BellwetherAkashic typology
Population: 819,0612024 5-year
Median household income: $114,5742024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 79.4%2024 5-year
Black: 5.0%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 6.6%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+20 in 1964MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+54 in 1928MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

5 counties · 3 D · 2 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).
Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	D	+4.6%	261,153	237,917	505,793
2020	D	+8.8%	267,913	224,022	497,115
2016	D	+4.9%	217,726	196,523	431,791
2012	D	+3.9%	206,696	191,042	402,919
2008	D	+11.1%	229,166	182,969	416,467
2004	D	+4.6%	207,372	189,205	398,843
2000	D	+5.3%	168,132	150,710	329,165
1996	D	+4.5%	131,746	118,825	285,504
1992	D	+1.8%	124,936	119,436	311,524
1988	R	−21.2%	104,224	161,235	268,607
1984	R	−27.4%	94,332	165,996	261,657
1980	R	−23.7%	75,822	131,585	234,902
1976	R	−6.4%	102,151	116,378	222,985
1972	R	−27.7%	75,004	134,039	213,503
1968	R	−10.1%	77,941	97,660	194,829
1964	D	+19.6%	105,170	70,567	176,522
1960	R	−11.8%	75,469	95,752	171,722
1956	R	−26.3%	50,276	86,242	136,741
1952	R	−28.0%	35,767	63,703	99,819
1948	R	−29.7%	24,829	46,371	72,604
1944	R	−20.0%	27,329	41,140	68,888
1940	R	−13.2%	30,411	39,685	70,411
1936	R	−1.9%	35,657	37,028	73,997
1932	R	−25.0%	20,681	35,139	57,828
1928	R	−53.6%	13,028	43,623	57,091
1924	R	−46.5%	8,781	26,473	38,047
1920	R	−36.3%	9,296	20,482	30,791
1916	R	−13.0%	10,201	13,329	24,138
1912	D	+8.0%	9,131	7,236	23,712
1908	R	−15.5%	9,593	13,202	23,340
1904	R	−20.1%	8,784	13,320	22,561
1900	R	−13.9%	9,509	12,652	22,531
1896	R	−20.2%	8,665	13,242	22,626
1892	D	+0.7%	11,089	10,929	22,385
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

Irish

21.3%

German

19.7%

Italian

13.7%

English

9.8%

Polish

6.3%

American

4.5%

Scottish

1.6%

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: 43.6 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.9%

85+

1.6%

2.5%

75–84

3.4%

5.6%

65–74

6.1%

7.5%

55–64

7.7%

6.4%

45–54

6.5%

6.4%

35–44

6.3%

5.7%

25–34

5.5%

4.0%

18–24

3.8%

7.9%

5–17

7.6%

2.5%

2.3%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$114,574

Congressional District 1 ranks near the middle of US counties.

Congressional District 1$114,574

Pennsylvania$77,971

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

6.2%

Child poverty is below the national average.

Children under 187.3%

Working age (18–64)5.7%

Seniors (65+)8.1%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

86.3%

speak English only

Other Indo-European6.1%

Spanish4.1%

Asian & Pacific Islander2.7%

Other languages0.8%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Catholic & Orthodox

33.9%

Mainline Protestant

5.9%

Other Christian

4.9%

Non-Christian

3.1%

Methodist

1.7%

Pentecostal & Holiness

1.4%

Baptist

0.7%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Pennsylvania 1st Congressional District in the Mid-Atlantic has, for decades, voted very close to the way the country has voted. Its margins are typically narrow, and the candidate who carries Pennsylvania 1st Congressional District more often than not also wins the national popular vote.

The Democratic margin in Pennsylvania 1st Congressional District has rarely exceeded twenty points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded fifty-four points. 2024 delivered the district to the Democratic candidate by five points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most districts. A 79% non-Hispanic-white share, a 6% poverty rate, and a median household income of $114,574 — all within the broad national range.

Cite this page

All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.

Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cd/4201/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?

In 2024, Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania voted Democratic by 4.6 points (D+5), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 505,793 votes cast, 261,153 went Democratic and 237,917 went Republican.

What is Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania as a "Bellwether" district based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the district has voted Democratic 12 times, Republican 22 times, and other 0 times.

When did Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania last vote Republican?

The most recent presidential election in which Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania voted Republican was 1988.

How many people live in Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania?

Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania has a population of 819,061 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania?

Median household income in Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania is $114,574 — above the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.

What is the political history of Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Congressional District 1, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The district's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Pennsylvania 1st Congressional District votes the way the country votes.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions