Boise, Idaho: Populist market. In 2024, voted R+25%. Democratic peak: D+52 in 1896.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+25MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- PopulistAkashic typology
- Population
- 928,5602024 5-year
- Median household income
- $82,7382024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 15.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+52 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+48 in 1984MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Boise, IDOne 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 | 157,473 | 269,135 | 438,405 | ||
| R | 163,054 | 242,557 | 418,679 | ||
| R | 103,938 | 180,333 | 324,313 | ||
| R | 112,324 | 178,001 | 299,634 | ||
| R | 119,249 | 173,811 | 301,006 | ||
| R | 85,175 | 175,461 | 263,858 | ||
| R | 62,329 | 139,213 | 213,403 | ||
| R | 69,423 | 112,127 | 205,391 | ||
| R | 52,979 | 88,718 | 194,285 | ||
| R | 54,596 | 101,553 | 159,658 | ||
| R | 40,110 | 116,383 | 158,555 | ||
| R | 42,966 | 109,449 | 167,791 | ||
| R | 45,305 | 79,122 | 127,866 | ||
| R | 26,101 | 77,529 | 115,298 | ||
| R | 25,708 | 64,011 | 103,412 | ||
| R | 46,888 | 54,992 | 101,888 | ||
| R | 41,930 | 63,206 | 105,136 | ||
| R | 31,383 | 61,261 | 92,644 | ||
| R | 27,638 | 65,949 | 93,735 | ||
| R | 31,393 | 37,756 | 71,024 | ||
| R | 30,253 | 35,611 | 66,306 | ||
| D | 36,674 | 34,989 | 71,887 | ||
| D | 35,164 | 20,352 | 59,623 | ||
| D | 29,235 | 21,070 | 53,229 | ||
| R | 12,037 | 29,840 | 42,359 | ||
| R | 6,875 | 19,001 | 41,685 | ||
| R | 14,247 | 25,561 | 40,040 | ||
| D | 17,986 | 15,422 | 35,870 | ||
| O | 8,985 | 8,591 | 29,823 | ||
| R | 10,693 | 13,568 | 26,270 | ||
| R | 5,167 | 12,710 | 19,856 | ||
| D | 7,522 | 7,400 | 15,421 | ||
| D | 6,728 | 2,117 | 8,933 | ||
| O | 265 | 2,635 | 6,439 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
17.8%
German
16.8%
Irish
10.3%
American
4.6%
Italian
3.4%
Scottish
3.0%
French
2.3%
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: 37.8 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
$82,738
Boise ranks near the middle of US counties.
Boise$82,738
Idaho$77,800
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
9.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1810.9%
Working age (18–64)9.2%
Seniors (65+)10.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
87.4%
speak English only
Spanish8.8%
Other Indo-European1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.2%
Other languages0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 54.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
The Boise media market anchors Idaho's most populous corridor, where rapid in-migration from California and the Pacific Northwest has introduced new demographic pressures into a region that has voted reliably Republican at the statewide level for decades.
The Democratic margin in Boise peaked at fifty-two points in 1896. By 1944 the market had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was twenty-five points, the most Republican-leaning result in the market's modern history.
The economic context is the key. The median household income of $82,738 sits well below state and national norms, and 10% 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.
Boise, Idaho — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/dma/757/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Boise, Idaho vote in 2024?
In 2024, Boise, Idaho voted Republican by 25.5 points (R+25), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 438,405 votes cast, 157,473 went Democratic and 269,135 went Republican.
What is Boise, Idaho's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Boise, Idaho as a "Populist" market based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the market has voted Democratic 6 times, Republican 26 times, and other 2 times.
When did Boise, Idaho last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Boise, Idaho voted Democratic was 1940.
How many people live in Boise, Idaho?
Boise, Idaho has a population of 928,560 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Boise, Idaho?
Median household income in Boise, Idaho is $82,738 — above the national median of $80,734. The Idaho state median is $77,800.
What is the political history of Boise, Idaho?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Boise, Idaho from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The market's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.