Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupSterlingVirginiaUnited States
Salvadoran14.5%2.1%0.7%
Mexican5.5%2.4%11.3%
Puerto Rican4.5%1.4%1.8%
Peruvian3.8%0.5%—
Bolivian3.4%0.4%—
Guatemalan2.8%0.7%0.5%
Honduran2.8%0.7%0.3%
Colombian2.4%0.3%0.4%
German6.0%10.1%12.5%
English5.9%12.0%9.5%
Irish5.7%9.1%9.4%
Italian3.2%3.9%4.8%
American3.0%8.4%5.3%
Polish1.5%1.6%2.2%
Scottish1.1%1.9%1.3%
French0.8%1.3%1.6%
Asian Indian7.7%1.8%1.4%
Pakistani1.7%0.5%—
Vietnamese1.0%0.7%0.6%
Chinese1.0%0.8%1.3%
Korean1.0%0.8%0.4%
Filipino0.7%0.9%0.9%
Afghan0.4%0.2%—
Bangladeshi0.3%——
African American†5.3%15.6%9.9%
African0.4%0.9%0.5%
Nigerian0.3%0.2%0.2%
Ethiopian0.3%0.5%—
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Sterling
Virginia
United States
Median age
35.3
39.3
39.1
Age 18–24
9.4%
9.2%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
11.2%
16.7%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Sterling
Virginia
United States
Median household income
$123,303
$93,170
$84,427
Poverty rate
8.0%
10.0%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
35.4%
42.3%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Sterling
Virginia
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
63.5%
17.5%
22.3%
Spanish
44.9%
7.9%
13.6%
Other Indo-European
6.8%
2.6%
2.0%
Vietnamese
3.6%
0.6%
0.5%
Arabic
2.3%
0.8%
0.4%
Religious landscape
Measure
Sterling
Virginia
United States
Catholic
—
10.2%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
—
19.9%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
—
54.3%
51.5%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Sterling, Virginia
presidential history
Presidential margin, 2004–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
2004
−0.9%
2008
+19.1%
2012
+23.8%
2016
+31.4%
2020
+34.7%
2024
+19.4%
DemocraticRepublican
6 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year. Third-party votes in 2012 are allocated from certified county totals by this place's share of each county's two-party vote — that cycle's precinct source records two-party splits. † 2004, 2020 sub-county results are estimated: the source's block-level detail for these cycles was unreliable — either county/municipality-level consolidated reporting (COVID-era) or a precinct-to-block allocation that misplaced votes — so the figures are allocated from the constituent county totals in proportion to the place and scaled to certified totals.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
57.5%Harris6,791
38.1%Trump4,497
4.4%
D+19.4
R+15.3
D+20.9
11,813
D
66.3%Biden8,700
31.7%Trump4,151
2.0%
D+34.7
D+3.3
D+30.2
13,114
D
62.5%Clinton7,370
31.1%Trump3,665
6.5%
D+31.4
D+7.6
D+29.3
11,799
D
61.2%Obama6,895
37.4%Romney4,209
1.4%
D+23.8
D+4.7
D+20.0
11,265
D
59.0%Obama6,012
39.9%McCain4,066
1.0%
D+19.1
D+20.0
D+11.8
10,183
R
49.4%Kerry3,784
50.3%Bush3,851
0.3%
R+0.9
—
D+1.6
7,661
Sterling's dense mix of South Asian and Latino households has tracked Loudoun County's leftward drift over the past decade, making it a reliable indicator of how demographic change translates into ballot movement in Virginia's outer suburbs.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 34.7 points in 2020 and a Republican high of 0.9 points in 2004. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 15.3 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 19.4 points.
A population of 32,411, a 28% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $123,303 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Springfield and Hutchison.
Akashic
Political twins — cities
The cities whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
In 2024, Sterling, Virginia voted Democratic by 19.4 points (D+19.4), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 11,813 votes cast, 6,791 went Democratic and 4,497 went Republican.
When did Sterling, Virginia last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Sterling, Virginia voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in Sterling, Virginia?
Sterling, Virginia has a population of 32,411 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Sterling, Virginia?
Median household income in Sterling, Virginia is $123,303 — above the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $93,170.
What is the political history of Sterling, Virginia?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Sterling, Virginia from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 5 went Democratic and 1 went Republican.
