Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+19%. Republican peak: R+29 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+19MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 932,0602024 5-year
- Median household income
- $67,5642024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 9.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+17 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+29 in 1920MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, ILOne 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 | 173,032 | 254,394 | 436,123 | ||
| R | 184,537 | 265,381 | 461,405 | ||
| R | 162,272 | 244,324 | 437,834 | ||
| R | 174,032 | 231,169 | 414,882 | ||
| R | 213,615 | 217,839 | 439,033 | ||
| R | 178,397 | 252,532 | 434,641 | ||
| R | 176,670 | 218,149 | 408,478 | ||
| D | 176,086 | 171,387 | 387,086 | ||
| D | 192,303 | 165,656 | 443,213 | ||
| R | 176,734 | 217,369 | 396,508 | ||
| R | 160,922 | 258,080 | 420,839 | ||
| R | 142,340 | 241,970 | 417,121 | ||
| R | 190,415 | 216,869 | 413,442 | ||
| R | 145,696 | 254,958 | 402,451 | ||
| R | 150,222 | 200,448 | 387,901 | ||
| D | 225,856 | 171,722 | 397,594 | ||
| R | 176,706 | 230,634 | 408,245 | ||
| R | 150,827 | 237,761 | 388,959 | ||
| R | 157,629 | 230,622 | 388,728 | ||
| R | 150,122 | 176,756 | 329,811 | ||
| R | 157,540 | 187,623 | 346,764 | ||
| R | 196,854 | 207,156 | 406,260 | ||
| D | 209,411 | 167,009 | 383,406 | ||
| D | 202,686 | 143,681 | 352,323 | ||
| R | 113,068 | 197,842 | 313,013 | ||
| R | 85,901 | 155,011 | 282,333 | ||
| R | 85,555 | 162,117 | 260,676 | ||
| R | 131,733 | 147,609 | 291,010 | ||
| D | 61,909 | 37,976 | 149,633 | ||
| R | 68,511 | 82,469 | 158,624 | ||
| R | 54,404 | 83,337 | 148,839 | ||
| R | 73,493 | 80,915 | 158,408 | ||
| R | 71,750 | 78,831 | 153,216 | ||
| D | 63,915 | 60,637 | 133,367 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
21.1%
English
11.8%
Irish
10.7%
American
5.8%
Italian
2.8%
Polish
1.6%
Scottish
1.2%
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: 38.9 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
$67,564
Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur ranks near the middle of US counties.
Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur$67,564
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
14.5%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1816.3%
Working age (18–64)14.4%
Seniors (65+)8.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.0%
speak English only
Spanish3.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.3%
Other Indo-European2.3%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The market pairs the University of Illinois's student and faculty population in Champaign-Urbana with the government-worker concentration around Springfield, producing two distinct voter pools that rarely move in lockstep.
The Democratic margin in Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur peaked at seventeen points in 1932. By 2000 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was nineteen points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $67,564 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.
Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/648/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois voted Republican by 18.7 points (R+19), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 436,123 votes cast, 173,032 went Democratic and 254,394 went Republican.
What is Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 7 times, Republican 27 times, and other 0 times.
When did Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois?
Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois has a population of 932,060 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois?
Median household income in Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois is $67,564 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Champaign&Sprngfld-Decatur, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.