Columbus, OH, Ohio: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+3%. Republican peak: R+35 in 1984.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+3MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 2,673,1852024 5-year
- Median household income
- $79,8892024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 73.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 13.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+14 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+35 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Columbus, OH, OHOne 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 | 608,660 | 649,078 | 1,279,756 | ||
| D | 635,174 | 634,598 | 1,290,385 | ||
| R | 543,004 | 565,463 | 1,193,668 | ||
| D | 589,457 | 538,026 | 1,156,412 | ||
| D | 582,162 | 543,178 | 1,146,754 | ||
| R | 506,727 | 574,480 | 1,087,113 | ||
| R | 371,917 | 459,836 | 862,190 | ||
| R | 363,082 | 374,040 | 818,721 | ||
| R | 321,677 | 371,249 | 880,653 | ||
| R | 278,791 | 463,947 | 749,735 | ||
| R | 242,360 | 514,323 | 768,596 | ||
| R | 269,951 | 408,076 | 728,163 | ||
| R | 292,838 | 371,049 | 680,982 | ||
| R | 214,932 | 441,376 | 672,801 | ||
| R | 209,745 | 313,776 | 603,335 | ||
| D | 341,053 | 264,879 | 605,932 | ||
| R | 230,537 | 371,953 | 602,490 | ||
| R | 178,344 | 351,202 | 529,546 | ||
| R | 205,529 | 336,003 | 541,532 | ||
| R | 204,731 | 244,334 | 451,340 | ||
| R | 206,408 | 269,144 | 475,552 | ||
| R | 250,468 | 270,171 | 520,639 | ||
| D | 269,159 | 203,932 | 481,638 | ||
| D | 211,658 | 204,740 | 425,543 | ||
| R | 128,404 | 270,112 | 401,042 | ||
| R | 109,106 | 197,132 | 351,953 | ||
| R | 165,017 | 207,365 | 377,574 | ||
| D | 117,278 | 94,861 | 218,526 | ||
| D | 86,825 | 61,148 | 201,462 | ||
| R | 102,359 | 109,978 | 219,767 | ||
| R | 76,689 | 110,840 | 195,154 | ||
| R | 94,555 | 101,841 | 199,878 | ||
| D | 96,574 | 96,424 | 195,289 | ||
| D | 81,045 | 77,751 | 167,049 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.3%
Irish
12.2%
English
12.0%
American
5.8%
Italian
4.6%
Scottish
2.1%
Polish
1.8%
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: 37.5 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
$79,889
Columbus, OH ranks near the middle of US counties.
Columbus, OH$79,889
Ohio$71,389
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.9%
Working age (18–64)11.9%
Seniors (65+)10.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
88.6%
speak English only
Other Indo-European3.4%
Spanish3.3%
Other languages2.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 58.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Columbus DMA anchors central Ohio and has trended more competitive as Franklin County's fast-growing suburbs have moved toward tighter margins, making ad buys here a reliable proxy for statewide persuasion strategy.
The Democratic margin in Columbus, OH peaked at fourteen points in 1936. By 2024 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was three points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $79,889 sits well below state and national norms, and 13% 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.
Columbus, OH, Ohio — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/535/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Columbus, OH, Ohio vote in 2024?
In 2024, Columbus, OH, Ohio voted Republican by 3.2 points (R+3), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,279,756 votes cast, 608,660 went Democratic and 649,078 went Republican.
What is Columbus, OH, Ohio's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Columbus, OH, Ohio as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 10 times, Republican 24 times, and other 0 times.
When did Columbus, OH, Ohio last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Columbus, OH, Ohio voted Democratic was 2020.
How many people live in Columbus, OH, Ohio?
Columbus, OH, Ohio has a population of 2,673,185 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Columbus, OH, Ohio?
Median household income in Columbus, OH, Ohio is $79,889 — below the national median of $80,734. The Ohio state median is $71,389.
What is the political history of Columbus, OH, Ohio?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Columbus, OH, Ohio from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.