Bent County, Colorado

2024 results by precinct

5 precincts · 2,189 votes cast

Trump · R+39

Harris +50

Trump +50

Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.

38 presidential elections

Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	R	−38.9%	645	1,496	2,189
2020	R	−33.9%	732	1,503	2,274
2016	R	−31.0%	590	1,188	1,927
2012	R	−13.4%	815	1,075	1,942
2008	R	−14.5%	799	1,077	1,920
2004	R	−25.7%	785	1,338	2,155
2000	R	−15.9%	783	1,096	1,963
1996	D	+5.9%	1,046	917	2,199
1992	D	+10.0%	985	759	2,257
1988	D	+2.6%	1,088	1,032	2,167
1984	R	−20.7%	859	1,314	2,199
1980	R	−13.4%	894	1,206	2,330
1976	D	+4.5%	1,268	1,156	2,480
1972	R	−31.1%	787	1,525	2,372
1968	R	−3.9%	1,126	1,228	2,587
1964	D	+29.7%	1,737	937	2,696
1960	R	−15.3%	1,228	1,671	2,904
1956	R	−14.5%	1,283	1,718	3,001
1952	R	−19.3%	1,317	1,950	3,283
1948	D	+12.1%	1,658	1,296	2,984
1944	R	−3.3%	1,456	1,556	3,021
1940	R	−3.8%	1,759	1,899	3,675
1936	D	+16.4%	1,821	1,299	3,181
1932	D	+18.5%	1,948	1,327	3,353
1928	R	−44.8%	741	1,957	2,713
1924	R	−25.3%	804	1,511	2,791
1920	R	−24.8%	937	1,584	2,611
1916	D	+26.7%	1,473	833	2,394
1912	D	+16.1%	730	420	1,930
1908	R	−5.3%	819	915	1,804
1904	R	−31.2%	416	812	1,270
1900	R	−2.0%	546	569	1,127
1896	D	+49.3%	591	197	800
1892	R	−40.3%	0	162	402
1888	R	−10.2%	1,074	1,338	2,594
1884	D	+7.4%	446	382	863
1880	D	+16.1%	242	174	422
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

American

100.0%

African American

2.6%

Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.

Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.

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.

Age distribution by sex

Median age: 40.6 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

1.1%

85+

1.5%

2.6%

75–84

2.9%

6.0%

65–74

4.8%

6.6%

55–64

5.8%

7.4%

45–54

4.4%

12.0%

35–44

3.8%

14.3%

25–34

4.1%

4.3%

18–24

2.4%

6.5%

5–17

6.2%

2.0%

1.4%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$50,179

Bent County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.

Bent County$50,179

Colorado$95,470

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

28.4%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1818.0%

Working age (18–64)100.0%

Seniors (65+)18.0%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

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

8.2%

Mainline Protestant

1.8%

Other Christian

1.6%

Methodist

1.3%

Pentecostal & Holiness

0.4%

Non-Christian

0.1%

Baptist

0.1%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 86.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Bent County's roughly 6,000 residents are spread across southeastern Colorado's high plains, and its presidential margins have leaned heavily Republican for decades — the 2024 gap of nearly 39 points is consistent with the region's long-running pattern.

The Democratic margin in Bent County peaked at forty-nine points in 1896. By 2000 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was thirty-nine points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Bent County's median household income of $50,179 sits well below state and national norms, and 28% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Meade County and Nelson County.

Most similar counties

Bent County was solidly one party for decades. In the last twenty years, it flipped.