| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | D | 150,149 | 40,758 | 196,304 | |
| 2020 | D | 159,089 | 42,501 | 206,111 | |
| 2016 | D | 132,334 | 41,396 | 188,145 | |
| 2012 | D | 125,091 | 49,981 | 179,499 | |
| 2008 | D | 124,159 | 44,904 | 171,763 | |
| 2004 | D | 105,564 | 51,586 | 159,259 | |
| 2000 | D | 69,983 | 50,873 | 139,626 | |
| 1996 | D | 63,316 | 41,922 | 121,354 | |
| 1992 | D | 64,567 | 33,553 | 126,771 | |
| 1988 | D | 57,265 | 48,174 | 107,223 | |
| 1984 | R | 42,195 | 53,535 | 97,223 | |
| 1980 | R | 28,422 | 40,698 | 87,069 | |
| 1976 | R | 33,284 | 42,830 | 81,253 | |
| 1972 | R | 29,484 | 40,766 | 71,770 | |
| 1968 | R | 17,422 | 27,671 | 47,988 | |
| 1964 | D | 22,737 | 17,373 | 40,330 | |
| 1960 | R | 12,276 | 19,791 | 32,197 | |
| 1956 | R | 8,149 | 16,748 | 25,039 | |
| 1952 | R | 7,767 | 15,069 | 23,079 | |
| 1948 | R | 8,792 | 10,335 | 19,839 | |
| 1944 | R | 7,442 | 10,054 | 17,610 | |
| 1940 | R | 9,039 | 10,525 | 19,776 | |
| 1936 | D | 9,788 | 7,244 | 17,501 | |
| 1932 | D | 8,412 | 7,487 | 16,707 | |
| 1928 | R | 4,363 | 9,457 | 14,015 | |
| 1924 | R | 3,273 | 7,595 | 12,927 | |
| 1920 | R | 4,200 | 6,456 | 11,148 | |
| 1916 | D | 7,419 | 3,986 | 12,071 | |
| 1912 | D | 4,330 | 2,445 | 10,620 | |
| 1908 | D | 5,772 | 4,856 | 11,629 | |
| 1904 | R | 4,030 | 5,483 | 10,172 | |
| 1900 | D | 5,117 | 3,719 | 9,168 | |
| 1896 | D | 6,046 | 1,033 | 7,209 | |
| 1892 | R | 0 | 1,338 | 3,674 | |
| 1888 | R | 1,176 | 1,639 | 2,981 | |
| 1884 | R | 954 | 1,445 | 2,801 | |
| 1880 | R | 796 | 1,313 | 2,402 | |
| 1876 | — | — | — | — |
Boulder County's D+55.8 margin in 2024 makes it an outlier even among Front Range urban counties, driven by a dense concentration of university employment, graduate-degree holders, and white-collar tech workers clustered around CU Boulder.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Boulder County peaked at seventy points in 1896; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1988 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of eight points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. Boulder County's median household income of $103,994 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of San Juan County and Benton County.
