St. Joseph, Missouri: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+38%. Republican peak: R+38 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+38MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 120,0122024 5-year
- Median household income
- $65,6222024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 83.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 5.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+28 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+38 in 2024MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for St. Joseph, MOOne 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 | 16,406 | 36,797 | 54,158 | ||
| R | 17,412 | 36,509 | 55,048 | ||
| R | 15,469 | 34,131 | 53,179 | ||
| R | 20,339 | 29,587 | 51,200 | ||
| R | 25,316 | 29,650 | 56,077 | ||
| R | 23,640 | 30,379 | 54,505 | ||
| R | 22,576 | 25,393 | 49,723 | ||
| D | 21,384 | 19,480 | 47,019 | ||
| D | 22,052 | 16,824 | 52,998 | ||
| D | 24,991 | 22,768 | 47,988 | ||
| R | 20,252 | 28,993 | 49,285 | ||
| R | 22,220 | 24,826 | 49,327 | ||
| D | 23,920 | 23,784 | 48,085 | ||
| R | 15,110 | 31,652 | 46,859 | ||
| R | 20,275 | 24,013 | 48,118 | ||
| D | 31,578 | 17,726 | 49,320 | ||
| R | 24,598 | 30,530 | 55,140 | ||
| R | 23,846 | 29,588 | 53,446 | ||
| R | 24,906 | 33,323 | 58,305 | ||
| D | 29,139 | 21,027 | 50,267 | ||
| D | 25,567 | 24,735 | 50,335 | ||
| D | 32,032 | 29,144 | 61,252 | ||
| D | 37,956 | 26,562 | 64,755 | ||
| D | 34,391 | 21,923 | 56,697 | ||
| R | 17,622 | 32,042 | 49,760 | ||
| R | 20,847 | 27,563 | 51,709 | ||
| R | 21,753 | 27,474 | 49,738 | ||
| D | 16,389 | 14,314 | 31,310 | ||
| D | 13,288 | 8,457 | 27,232 | ||
| R | 14,363 | 14,573 | 29,373 | ||
| R | 11,747 | 15,138 | 27,542 | ||
| R | 14,031 | 14,818 | 29,323 | ||
| R | 13,026 | 13,245 | 26,503 | ||
| R | 9,826 | 9,880 | 23,223 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.2%
English
12.1%
Irish
11.5%
American
6.3%
Scottish
1.9%
French
1.5%
Polish
1.4%
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
$65,622
St. Joseph ranks near the middle of US counties.
St. Joseph$65,622
Missouri$70,702
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
13.5%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.0%
Working age (18–64)12.9%
Seniors (65+)10.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.9%
speak English only
Spanish3.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 57.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
St. Joseph sits in the Border South. For most of the post-war period it was a Democratic market — its working-class profile gave it the same political habits as much of its region. That identity has shifted decisively in the last twenty years.
The Democratic margin in St. Joseph peaked at twenty-eight points in 1964. By 2000 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-eight points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $65,622 sits well below state and national norms, and 14% 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.
St. Joseph, Missouri — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/638/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did St. Joseph, Missouri vote in 2024?
In 2024, St. Joseph, Missouri voted Republican by 37.7 points (R+38), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 54,158 votes cast, 16,406 went Democratic and 36,797 went Republican.
What is St. Joseph, Missouri's political archetype?
Akashic classifies St. Joseph, Missouri as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 12 times, Republican 22 times, and other 0 times.
When did St. Joseph, Missouri last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which St. Joseph, Missouri voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in St. Joseph, Missouri?
St. Joseph, Missouri has a population of 120,012 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in St. Joseph, Missouri?
Median household income in St. Joseph, Missouri is $65,622 — below the national median of $80,734. The Missouri state median is $70,702.
What is the political history of St. Joseph, Missouri?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in St. Joseph, Missouri from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.