Brown County, Illinois

2024 results by precinct

14 precincts · 2,455 votes cast

Trump · R+60

Harris +50

Trump +50

Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.

38 presidential elections

Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	R	−59.9%	467	1,938	2,455
2020	R	−57.2%	486	1,931	2,525
2016	R	−55.5%	476	1,796	2,379
2012	R	−30.7%	787	1,513	2,364
2008	R	−21.7%	986	1,544	2,569
2004	R	−30.3%	895	1,679	2,585
2000	R	−17.0%	1,077	1,529	2,660
1996	R	−2.4%	997	1,053	2,297
1992	D	+4.4%	1,146	1,029	2,689
1988	R	−4.0%	1,267	1,373	2,646
1984	R	−21.2%	959	1,478	2,446
1980	R	−26.4%	950	1,660	2,692
1976	D	+0.5%	1,533	1,519	3,103
1972	R	−19.1%	1,203	1,780	3,022
1968	R	−11.5%	1,265	1,629	3,163
1964	D	+21.2%	2,083	1,355	3,438
1960	R	−1.1%	1,849	1,889	3,740
1956	R	−7.4%	1,748	2,026	3,775
1952	R	−15.7%	1,557	2,137	3,699
1948	D	+7.2%	1,805	1,562	3,389
1944	D	+3.1%	1,849	1,738	3,607
1940	D	+8.1%	2,478	2,101	4,648
1936	D	+28.2%	2,873	1,591	4,549
1932	D	+41.9%	2,822	1,148	3,993
1928	R	−10.1%	1,867	2,289	4,165
1924	D	+13.0%	2,149	1,637	3,946
1920	D	+7.8%	1,866	1,590	3,527
1916	D	+27.9%	2,856	1,579	4,572
1912	D	+42.3%	1,358	381	2,312
1908	D	+25.0%	1,609	947	2,643
1904	D	+16.6%	1,341	934	2,452
1900	D	+32.6%	1,968	988	3,005
1896	D	+33.3%	2,063	1,024	3,117
1892	D	+24.2%	1,567	879	2,846
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

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

American

100.0%

Polish

2.8%

African American

14.3%

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: 41.0 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.9%

85+

0.9%

1.8%

75–84

2.6%

5.6%

65–74

4.4%

7.0%

55–64

5.0%

10.9%

45–54

4.1%

12.7%

35–44

4.2%

12.1%

25–34

3.7%

5.1%

18–24

2.1%

5.3%

5–17

6.9%

2.4%

2.1%

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

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$67,917

Brown County ranks near the middle of US counties.

Brown County$67,917

Illinois$83,390

United States$80,734

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

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

9.2%

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

12.8%

Methodist

3.7%

Mainline Protestant

3.5%

Baptist

3.4%

Other Christian

2.9%

Pentecostal & Holiness

0.8%

Non-Christian

0.1%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 72.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Brown County's rural, sparsely populated landscape has produced some of the widest presidential margins in the state, with fewer than 7,000 residents concentrated in small towns and farmland along the Illinois River bluffs.

The Democratic margin in Brown County peaked at forty-two points in 1912. By 1996 the county had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was sixty points, the most Republican-leaning result in the county's modern history.

The economic context is the key. Brown County's median household income of $67,917 sits well below state and national norms, and 9% 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 Cherokee County and Dallas County.

Most similar counties

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