West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce Media Market — Elections 1876–2024

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+7%. Democratic peak: D+60 in 1912.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: R+7MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: PopulistAkashic typology
Population: 2,264,2342024 5-year
Median household income: $80,4002024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 57.6%2024 5-year
Black: 17.0%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 22.6%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+60 in 1912MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+48 in 1972MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

5 counties · 1 D · 4 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	R	−6.8%	528,551	606,129	1,143,683
2020	D	+3.8%	596,836	553,052	1,157,491
2016	D	+5.2%	504,741	453,871	982,633
2012	D	+8.5%	477,975	402,561	886,409
2008	D	+14.5%	496,722	370,429	872,750
2004	D	+11.9%	439,839	345,558	790,742
2000	D	+16.9%	362,293	255,337	632,709
1996	D	+15.8%	308,912	217,364	579,829
1992	D	+5.2%	242,325	211,988	580,000
1988	R	−19.0%	186,591	274,459	463,503
1984	R	−29.2%	149,071	272,076	421,192
1980	R	−23.0%	121,412	200,637	343,841
1976	R	−1.2%	129,572	132,836	267,101
1972	R	−47.7%	52,301	148,546	201,728
1968	R	−23.6%	44,370	82,031	159,802
1964	R	−5.6%	61,343	68,617	129,960
1960	R	−18.2%	41,990	60,679	102,669
1956	R	−39.9%	20,973	48,812	69,785
1952	R	−31.9%	20,226	39,164	59,390
1948	R	−3.5%	13,766	14,946	34,165
1944	D	+24.0%	16,227	9,956	26,183
1940	D	+27.2%	17,380	9,955	27,335
1936	D	+40.7%	14,284	6,020	20,304
1932	D	+39.6%	12,271	5,311	17,582
1928	R	−26.8%	4,811	8,488	13,695
1924	D	+2.6%	2,447	2,307	5,431
1920	D	+3.8%	2,892	2,657	6,247
1916	D	+40.6%	1,428	445	2,423
1912	D	+59.6%	810	76	1,231
1908	D	+50.0%	280	63	434
1904	—	No data	—	—	—
1900	—	No data	—	—	—
1896	—	No data	—	—	—
1892	—	No data	—	—	—
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.

American

9.2%

Irish

8.9%

German

8.7%

Italian

8.1%

English

7.4%

Polish

3.0%

French

1.5%

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: 46.5 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

1.6%

85+

2.2%

4.2%

75–84

5.0%

6.1%

65–74

7.0%

6.7%

55–64

7.1%

5.9%

45–54

6.0%

5.8%

35–44

5.7%

5.6%

25–34

5.5%

3.7%

18–24

3.4%

7.0%

5–17

6.7%

2.4%

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

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$80,400

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce ranks near the middle of US counties.

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce$80,400

Florida$74,568

United States$80,734

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

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

11.6%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1816.2%

Working age (18–64)10.5%

Seniors (65+)10.8%

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

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

70.4%

speak English only

Spanish18.0%

Other Indo-European9.3%

Asian & Pacific Islander1.3%

Other languages1.0%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Catholic & Orthodox

20.9%

Other Christian

8.9%

Baptist

3.6%

Non-Christian

2.6%

Mainline Protestant

1.8%

Pentecostal & Holiness

1.6%

Methodist

1.4%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 59.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

This South Florida market blends the affluent retirement communities of Palm Beach County with the heavily Hispanic farmworker populations of the Treasure Coast, producing a demographic mix that routinely complicates straight-line polling models.

The Democratic margin in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce peaked at sixty points in 1912. By 2024 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was seven points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.

The economic context is the key. The median household income of $80,400 sits well below state and national norms, and 12% 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.

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/548/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida vote in 2024?

In 2024, West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida voted Republican by 6.8 points (R+7), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,143,683 votes cast, 528,551 went Democratic and 606,129 went Republican.

What is West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida's political archetype?

Akashic classifies West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 17 times, Republican 13 times, and other 0 times.

When did West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida last vote Democratic?

The most recent presidential election in which West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida voted Democratic was 2020.

How many people live in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida?

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida has a population of 2,264,234 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida?

Median household income in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida is $80,400 — below the national median of $80,734. The Florida state median is $74,568.

What is the political history of West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Florida from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce peaked at D+60; 2024 delivered R+7.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions