Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+28%. Republican peak: R+46 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+28MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 1,142,8742024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,8492024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 76.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 14.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+39 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+46 in 1972MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Roanoke-Lynchburg, VAOne 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 | 214,836 | 382,057 | 605,234 | ||
| R | 221,321 | 365,309 | 597,293 | ||
| R | 188,949 | 328,884 | 545,455 | ||
| R | 215,201 | 306,212 | 532,783 | ||
| R | 228,112 | 293,728 | 528,635 | ||
| R | 184,432 | 283,347 | 472,551 | ||
| R | 168,461 | 240,124 | 420,978 | ||
| R | 167,077 | 184,954 | 391,369 | ||
| R | 163,235 | 191,366 | 412,006 | ||
| R | 145,749 | 219,571 | 370,039 | ||
| R | 135,297 | 246,808 | 385,238 | ||
| R | 149,843 | 183,306 | 348,961 | ||
| D | 158,580 | 154,779 | 322,178 | ||
| R | 84,040 | 234,367 | 325,845 | ||
| R | 74,363 | 131,280 | 286,785 | ||
| R | 128,945 | 138,386 | 267,893 | ||
| R | 76,721 | 95,706 | 173,424 | ||
| R | 62,107 | 96,708 | 166,041 | ||
| R | 65,430 | 91,131 | 157,011 | ||
| D | 49,295 | 46,386 | 111,330 | ||
| D | 64,819 | 41,817 | 106,865 | ||
| D | 67,594 | 34,346 | 102,297 | ||
| D | 68,537 | 36,333 | 105,212 | ||
| D | 60,022 | 28,242 | 89,395 | ||
| R | 40,561 | 50,573 | 91,160 | ||
| D | 42,650 | 25,398 | 71,066 | ||
| D | 42,415 | 30,390 | 73,332 | ||
| D | 31,168 | 17,749 | 49,652 | ||
| D | 25,565 | 8,660 | 43,639 | ||
| D | 24,244 | 19,459 | 44,177 | ||
| D | 24,127 | 16,870 | 41,807 | ||
| D | 39,244 | 34,972 | 75,093 | ||
| D | 44,536 | 40,849 | 86,638 | ||
| D | 46,081 | 31,297 | 83,306 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
16.6%
English
14.3%
German
9.5%
Irish
8.5%
Italian
2.3%
Scottish
2.0%
Polish
0.8%
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: 42.1 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
$63,849
Roanoke-Lynchburg ranks near the middle of US counties.
Roanoke-Lynchburg$63,849
Virginia$93,170
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
15.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.8%
Working age (18–64)14.3%
Seniors (65+)12.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.3%
speak English only
Spanish2.9%
Other Indo-European1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 48.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Roanoke-Lynchburg market spans the Blue Ridge Mountains and Piedmont foothills, blending mid-size urban centers with deeply rural counties that have shifted reliably toward Republican margins at the federal level since the 1990s.
The Democratic margin in Roanoke-Lynchburg peaked at thirty-nine points in 1912. By 1980 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-eight points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $63,849 sits well below state and national norms, and 15% 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.
Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/573/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia voted Republican by 27.6 points (R+28), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 605,234 votes cast, 214,836 went Democratic and 382,057 went Republican.
What is Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 15 times, Republican 19 times, and other 0 times.
When did Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia?
Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia has a population of 1,142,874 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia?
Median household income in Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia is $63,849 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Roanoke-Lynchburg, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 19 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.