akashic
1876–2024
El Centro, CA·California

El Centro, CA delivered R+1 in 2024 — close enough to flip again next time.

Imperial Valley's hub sits at one of the nation's busiest land-border crossings

1876 — 2024·38 elections
CA
Latest
R+1
in 2024
Archetype
Tossup
since the recent cycles
Population
180,202
2024 ACS

El Centro, CA, California: Tossup metro. In 2024, voted R+1%. Democratic peak: D+42 in 2016.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
R+1MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
TossupAkashic typology
Population
180,2022024 5-year
Median household income
$57,6812024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
19.8%2024 5-year
Black
2.2%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
86.0%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+42 in 2016MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+39 in 1924MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
1 counties · 0 D · 1 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
R
−0.9%
26,08326,54654,025
D
+24.4%
34,67820,84756,743
D
+41.5%
32,66712,70448,091
D
+32.0%
25,13612,77738,565
D
+26.2%
24,16214,00838,820
D
+6.1%
17,96415,89034,274
D
+10.2%
15,48912,52428,937
D
+18.5%
14,5919,70526,400
D
+5.3%
11,1099,75925,318
R
−11.3%
10,24312,88923,365
R
−25.1%
8,23713,82922,301
R
−19.0%
7,96112,06821,579
R
−1.8%
10,24410,61821,262
R
−27.1%
7,98214,17822,849
R
−16.3%
7,48110,81820,446
D
+3.8%
11,14310,33021,492
R
−7.5%
9,11910,60619,806
R
−12.4%
8,19710,52618,781
R
−24.4%
6,33310,46216,903
R
−7.8%
5,3016,21711,810
R
−8.0%
5,0855,97911,112
D
+5.9%
7,7286,85414,712
D
+22.4%
7,5604,77112,444
D
+38.3%
8,7723,78313,039
R
−36.6%
2,4865,4178,012
R
−39.2%
7593,4556,872
R
−36.8%
2,0224,6997,284
D
+8.7%
3,2732,6946,659
O
+38.5%
1,29503,367
R
−12.3%
6759091,908
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
2.1%
German
1.7%
Irish
1.7%
American
1.5%
Italian
0.7%
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: 33.2 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.5%
85+
1.1%
1.9%
75–84
2.2%
3.8%
65–74
4.2%
4.9%
55–64
5.1%
5.6%
45–54
5.3%
6.9%
35–44
5.9%
8.0%
25–34
6.4%
5.4%
18–24
4.5%
10.8%
5–17
10.4%
3.6%
<5
3.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$57,681
El Centro, CA ranks near the middle of US counties.
El Centro, CA$57,681
California$99,122
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
19.5%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.6%
Working age (18–64)17.2%
Seniors (65+)19.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
24.7%
speak English only
Spanish74.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other Indo-European0.2%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
75.4%
Other Christian
6.2%
Pentecostal & Holiness
2.3%
Baptist
1.5%
Mainline Protestant
0.4%
Methodist
0.4%
Non-Christian
0.1%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 13.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

El Centro anchors a heavily Latino, agriculture-driven metro where cross-border economic ties shape local politics and voter priorities more than in almost any other inland California region.

The metro's recent history is a story of close margins. The Democratic margin reached forty-two points in 2016; the Republican margin reached thirty-nine points in 1924. Most other elections have been decided by single-digit points.

Its demographics — a population of 180,202, a 20% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $57,681 — situate the metro close to national averages on several dimensions.

Compare two places, side by side

Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
El Centro, CA, California. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/20940/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did El Centro, CA, California vote in 2024?
In 2024, El Centro, CA, California voted Republican by 0.9 points (R+1), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 54,025 votes cast, 26,083 went Democratic and 26,546 went Republican.
What is El Centro, CA, California's political archetype?
Akashic classifies El Centro, CA, California as a "Tossup" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 13 times, Republican 16 times, and other 1 times.
When did El Centro, CA, California last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which El Centro, CA, California voted Democratic was 2020.
How many people live in El Centro, CA, California?
El Centro, CA, California has a population of 180,202 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in El Centro, CA, California?
Median household income in El Centro, CA, California is $57,681 — below the national median of $80,734. The California state median is $99,122.
What is the political history of El Centro, CA, California?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in El Centro, CA, California from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 16 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Tossup" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.