Nicholas County, Kentucky: Realigner county. In 2024, voted R+49%. Republican peak: R+49 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+49MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 7,7082024 5-year
- Median household income
- $59,5312024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 96.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+47 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+49 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Oregon County, MO · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Nicholas CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Nicholas County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 824 | 2,451 | 3,319 | ||
| R | 955 | 2,408 | 3,396 | ||
| R | 787 | 1,957 | 2,841 | ||
| R | 948 | 1,583 | 2,581 | ||
| R | 1,272 | 1,634 | 2,970 | ||
| R | 1,332 | 1,700 | 3,059 | ||
| R | 994 | 1,613 | 2,673 | ||
| D | 1,092 | 950 | 2,311 | ||
| D | 1,341 | 894 | 2,789 | ||
| R | 1,242 | 1,271 | 2,559 | ||
| R | 1,107 | 1,535 | 2,675 | ||
| D | 1,349 | 915 | 2,351 | ||
| D | 1,582 | 738 | 2,378 | ||
| R | 804 | 1,076 | 1,914 | ||
| D | 911 | 725 | 2,062 | ||
| D | 1,742 | 621 | 2,378 | ||
| D | 1,455 | 1,058 | 2,513 | ||
| D | 1,667 | 999 | 2,695 | ||
| D | 1,819 | 1,156 | 2,979 | ||
| D | 1,885 | 815 | 2,742 | ||
| D | 1,813 | 1,059 | 2,885 | ||
| D | 2,124 | 1,207 | 3,345 | ||
| D | 2,325 | 1,277 | 3,620 | ||
| D | 2,728 | 1,219 | 3,988 | ||
| R | 1,836 | 1,867 | 3,707 | ||
| D | 2,235 | 1,348 | 3,625 | ||
| D | 2,953 | 1,496 | 4,494 | ||
| D | 1,829 | 964 | 2,828 | ||
| D | 1,611 | 700 | 2,597 | ||
| D | 1,723 | 1,085 | 2,863 | ||
| D | 1,741 | 1,067 | 2,884 | ||
| D | 1,879 | 1,262 | 3,170 | ||
| D | 1,878 | 1,159 | 3,109 | ||
| D | 1,312 | 808 | 2,390 | ||
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Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
25.4%
English
11.0%
Irish
10.7%
German
5.8%
Scottish
0.9%
Italian
0.6%
French
0.5%
African American
1.0%
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. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. 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
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$59,531
Nicholas County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Nicholas County$59,531
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
17.6%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.0%
Working age (18–64)19.3%
Seniors (65+)8.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.0%
speak English only
Spanish1.0%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 58.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Nicholas County sits in the Bluegrass region with a population under 7,000, and its lopsided recent presidential results reflect the broader rural realignment that has reshaped small Appalachian-adjacent counties over the past decade.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Nicholas County peaked at forty-seven points in 1964; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2000 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twenty-three points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $59,531 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 18% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Oregon County and Shannon County.
Most similar counties
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Nicholas County, Kentucky — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://akashic.app/county/21181/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More realigner counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Nicholas County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Nicholas County, Kentucky voted Republican by 49.0 points (R+49), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,319 votes cast, 824 went Democratic and 2,451 went Republican.
What is Nicholas County, Kentucky's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Nicholas County, Kentucky as a "Realigner" county based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 23 times, Republican 11 times, and other 0 times.
When did Nicholas County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Nicholas County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Nicholas County, Kentucky?
Nicholas County, Kentucky has a population of 7,708 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Nicholas County, Kentucky?
Median household income in Nicholas County, Kentucky is $59,531 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Nicholas County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Nicholas County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 23 went Democratic and 11 went Republican. The county's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.