akashic
1876–2024
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County·California

San Luis Obispo County delivered a near-tie in 2024.

A coastal Central California county where college-town votes reshape old ranching margins

18762024·38 elections
San Luis Obispo County, California · No machine-readable author provided. Kjkolb assumed (based on copyright claims). · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
D+11
in 2024
Archetype
Tossup
since the recent cycles
Population
281,555
2024 ACS
Most similar
Larimer County
CO · similarity 0.95
137 precincts · 150,812 votes cast
Harris · D+11
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024D
+10.9%
81,31464,932150,812
2020D
+13.1%
88,31067,436159,714
2016D
+8.0%
67,10756,164137,202
2012D
+1.0%
61,25859,967125,966
2008D
+5.3%
68,17661,055133,155
2004R
−7.2%
58,74267,995129,050
2000R
−11.3%
44,52656,859108,886
1996R
−6.3%
40,39546,733100,500
1992D
+3.6%
40,13636,384104,619
1988R
−13.1%
35,66746,61383,467
1984R
−28.7%
26,94649,03576,950
1980R
−26.1%
20,50838,63169,527
1976R
−5.3%
24,92627,78554,298
1972R
−15.3%
20,77928,56651,033
1968R
−9.5%
15,82819,42037,881
1964D
+19.8%
22,25214,90637,186
1960R
−8.7%
14,97517,86233,055
1956R
−17.4%
11,40716,22327,748
1952R
−31.0%
8,76116,73325,691
1948R
−11.3%
8,13510,32519,304
1944D
+1.7%
8,0687,79315,936
1940D
+8.1%
8,4997,20415,920
1936D
+23.8%
7,8894,81212,906
1932D
+37.2%
7,9333,44912,062
1928R
−23.4%
3,3365,4258,920
1924R
−39.6%
7313,8047,761
1920R
−37.4%
1,6064,1236,725
1916D
+9.6%
3,5392,8547,099
1912D
+40.5%
2,24805,553
1908R
−15.8%
1,3812,0083,956
1904R
−23.1%
1,1672,0153,667
1900D
+4.4%
1,7131,5643,414
1896D
+10.1%
2,0561,6713,820
1892R
−6.2%
1,1991,4333,761
1888R
−3.1%
1,5851,6893,400
1884R
−6.8%
1,0691,2332,397
1880R
−5.8%
7298301,736
1876D
+10.0%
9447721,716
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
100.0%
African American
1.0%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
0.0%
speak English only
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Catholic & Orthodox
20.3%
Other Christian
11.2%
Pentecostal & Holiness
2.9%
Mainline Protestant
1.8%
Non-Christian
1.4%
Baptist
0.5%
Methodist
0.5%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Home to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the county's electorate skews younger and more educated than its Central Coast neighbors, a demographic mix that has steadily widened its Democratic presidential margin over the past two decades.

The county's recent history is a story of close margins. The Democratic margin reached forty points in 1912; the Republican margin reached forty points in 1924. Most other elections have been decided by single-digit points.

San Luis Obispo County's demographics — a population of 281,555, a 69% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $97,446 — situate the county close to national averages on several dimensions. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Larimer County and Jefferson County.