Dayton, Ohio: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+25%. Republican peak: R+33 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+25MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 1,285,3002024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,1482024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 10.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+23 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+33 in 1928MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Dayton, 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 | 236,098 | 392,917 | 638,864 | ||
| R | 246,961 | 390,529 | 648,313 | ||
| R | 221,392 | 360,903 | 621,036 | ||
| R | 265,897 | 345,431 | 626,919 | ||
| R | 286,779 | 346,089 | 644,347 | ||
| R | 276,010 | 362,361 | 641,449 | ||
| R | 231,318 | 287,731 | 535,274 | ||
| D | 235,784 | 231,497 | 524,565 | ||
| R | 210,163 | 241,401 | 571,231 | ||
| R | 188,943 | 308,725 | 501,549 | ||
| R | 178,195 | 327,066 | 509,027 | ||
| R | 203,710 | 246,404 | 485,509 | ||
| R | 217,814 | 234,490 | 463,089 | ||
| R | 159,405 | 283,855 | 455,068 | ||
| R | 192,824 | 206,691 | 456,104 | ||
| D | 272,546 | 170,243 | 442,902 | ||
| R | 197,044 | 261,550 | 458,689 | ||
| R | 153,953 | 252,258 | 406,355 | ||
| R | 163,897 | 231,916 | 396,106 | ||
| D | 159,927 | 156,402 | 318,615 | ||
| R | 168,370 | 175,486 | 344,188 | ||
| D | 185,676 | 167,998 | 353,847 | ||
| D | 183,609 | 128,430 | 327,397 | ||
| D | 146,326 | 136,334 | 291,306 | ||
| R | 92,724 | 186,789 | 281,159 | ||
| R | 72,328 | 139,716 | 231,065 | ||
| R | 105,754 | 143,475 | 256,612 | ||
| D | 70,687 | 64,400 | 141,242 | ||
| D | 51,256 | 37,633 | 127,964 | ||
| R | 64,168 | 69,350 | 139,006 | ||
| R | 45,933 | 73,671 | 125,240 | ||
| R | 58,018 | 68,436 | 129,144 | ||
| R | 59,103 | 65,387 | 125,874 | ||
| R | 49,431 | 52,231 | 107,854 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.5%
English
12.5%
Irish
11.9%
American
6.8%
Italian
3.0%
Scottish
2.0%
French
1.7%
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: 39.9 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
$70,148
Dayton ranks near the middle of US counties.
Dayton$70,148
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 1817.9%
Working age (18–64)11.8%
Seniors (65+)9.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.8%
speak English only
Spanish2.0%
Other Indo-European1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.1%
Other languages0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 51.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Dayton media market spans a swath of southwest Ohio where urban, suburban, and rural precincts often split sharply, making aggregate results here a reliable early signal for statewide margins.
The Democratic margin in Dayton peaked at twenty-three points in 1964. By 2000 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-five points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $70,148 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.
Dayton, Ohio — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/542/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Dayton, Ohio vote in 2024?
In 2024, Dayton, Ohio voted Republican by 24.5 points (R+25), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 638,864 votes cast, 236,098 went Democratic and 392,917 went Republican.
What is Dayton, Ohio's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Dayton, Ohio as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 8 times, Republican 26 times, and other 0 times.
When did Dayton, Ohio last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Dayton, Ohio voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Dayton, Ohio?
Dayton, Ohio has a population of 1,285,300 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Dayton, Ohio?
Median household income in Dayton, Ohio is $70,148 — below the national median of $80,734. The Ohio state median is $71,389.
What is the political history of Dayton, Ohio?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Dayton, Ohio from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.