Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+24%. Republican peak: R+34 in 1924.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+24MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 1,508,9062024 5-year
- Median household income
- $67,5192024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 82.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 9.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+31 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+34 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, PAOne 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 | 288,859 | 478,752 | 775,952 | ||
| R | 293,799 | 451,440 | 754,604 | ||
| R | 236,644 | 398,321 | 662,939 | ||
| R | 286,337 | 308,956 | 606,505 | ||
| D | 326,142 | 318,460 | 652,572 | ||
| R | 288,262 | 344,028 | 638,058 | ||
| R | 258,147 | 280,068 | 559,638 | ||
| D | 232,328 | 213,720 | 513,938 | ||
| R | 217,684 | 228,750 | 561,203 | ||
| R | 216,234 | 285,642 | 505,997 | ||
| R | 210,549 | 318,653 | 533,625 | ||
| R | 214,102 | 289,500 | 536,394 | ||
| D | 275,173 | 266,171 | 549,677 | ||
| R | 194,896 | 346,206 | 549,409 | ||
| R | 270,012 | 276,177 | 577,478 | ||
| D | 391,445 | 205,867 | 599,912 | ||
| R | 330,022 | 334,096 | 665,205 | ||
| R | 235,003 | 370,410 | 607,149 | ||
| R | 257,463 | 360,528 | 619,875 | ||
| R | 232,439 | 282,688 | 521,345 | ||
| R | 258,157 | 280,067 | 539,998 | ||
| D | 333,126 | 309,824 | 644,904 | ||
| D | 370,834 | 307,079 | 686,447 | ||
| D | 227,954 | 221,370 | 460,858 | ||
| R | 229,022 | 322,812 | 553,681 | ||
| R | 92,327 | 215,085 | 365,284 | ||
| R | 114,492 | 206,711 | 336,510 | ||
| R | 96,643 | 107,373 | 214,646 | ||
| O | 77,899 | 27,325 | 207,665 | ||
| R | 94,715 | 120,335 | 225,283 | ||
| R | 71,442 | 129,064 | 210,584 | ||
| R | 94,363 | 108,601 | 210,832 | ||
| R | 91,093 | 116,572 | 215,568 | ||
| D | 87,365 | 81,264 | 176,100 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
21.8%
Irish
15.3%
Italian
11.5%
Polish
8.9%
English
7.8%
American
4.6%
French
1.0%
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: 43.1 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
$67,519
Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn ranks near the middle of US counties.
Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn$67,519
Pennsylvania$77,971
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1818.6%
Working age (18–64)11.6%
Seniors (65+)11.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
90.4%
speak English only
Spanish6.0%
Other Indo-European2.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.7%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Anchored by the deindustrialized Wyoming Valley and the Lackawanna County seat, this Northeastern Pennsylvania media market has shifted sharply rightward in presidential cycles while retaining competitive down-ballot races driven by union household legacy and Catholic voter density.
The Democratic margin in Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn peaked at thirty-one points in 1964. By 2012 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-four points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $67,519 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.
Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/577/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania voted Republican by 24.5 points (R+24), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 775,952 votes cast, 288,859 went Democratic and 478,752 went Republican.
What is Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania 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 25 times, and other 1 times.
When did Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania?
Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania has a population of 1,508,906 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania is $67,519 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hztn, Pennsylvania from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 25 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.