Rowan County, Kentucky: Republican loyalist county. In 2024, voted R+28%. Democratic peak: D+29 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+28MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- Republican loyalistAkashic typology
- Population
- 24,5782024 5-year
- Median household income
- $54,3212024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 93.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+29 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+28 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Jefferson County, MO · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Rowan CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Rowan County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,484 | 6,224 | 9,873 | ||
| R | 3,880 | 5,994 | 10,065 | ||
| R | 3,295 | 5,174 | 8,848 | ||
| R | 3,438 | 4,035 | 7,665 | ||
| D | 4,074 | 3,907 | 8,154 | ||
| D | 4,556 | 4,063 | 8,706 | ||
| R | 3,505 | 3,546 | 7,226 | ||
| D | 3,215 | 2,309 | 6,304 | ||
| D | 3,558 | 2,469 | 7,274 | ||
| R | 2,968 | 3,093 | 6,077 | ||
| R | 2,748 | 3,698 | 6,470 | ||
| D | 2,975 | 2,758 | 5,987 | ||
| D | 3,541 | 2,244 | 5,868 | ||
| R | 2,169 | 3,245 | 5,458 | ||
| R | 1,898 | 2,017 | 4,459 | ||
| D | 2,824 | 1,554 | 4,396 | ||
| R | 2,412 | 2,558 | 4,970 | ||
| R | 2,380 | 2,470 | 4,857 | ||
| D | 2,220 | 1,985 | 4,216 | ||
| D | 2,097 | 1,502 | 3,622 | ||
| D | 1,944 | 1,815 | 3,774 | ||
| D | 2,294 | 1,944 | 4,240 | ||
| D | 1,989 | 1,687 | 3,684 | ||
| D | 2,844 | 1,622 | 4,490 | ||
| R | 1,170 | 1,857 | 3,032 | ||
| R | 1,092 | 1,326 | 2,474 | ||
| R | 1,264 | 1,564 | 2,847 | ||
| R | 881 | 941 | 1,839 | ||
| D | 737 | 417 | 1,653 | ||
| R | 757 | 1,017 | 1,807 | ||
| R | 661 | 844 | 1,532 | ||
| R | 790 | 905 | 1,704 | ||
| R | 650 | 767 | 1,447 | ||
| R | 562 | 564 | 1,172 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
20.6%
English
16.1%
German
12.2%
Irish
11.7%
Scottish
2.2%
French
1.7%
Italian
0.9%
African American
1.4%
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: 31.7 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
$54,321
Rowan County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Rowan County$54,321
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
24.2%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1831.2%
Working age (18–64)22.7%
Seniors (65+)18.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.1%
speak English only
Spanish0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 75.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Rowan County's presence of Morehead State University gives it a higher share of education-sector employment than most of its Appalachian neighbors, yet it still swung Republican by nearly 28 points in 2024, reflecting the region's broader partisan realignment.
The Republican margin in Rowan County reached its widest at twenty-eight points in 2024. The margin in 2024 was twenty-eight points, in line with the county's deep historical pattern.
Its loyalty is rooted in its place. Median household income of $54,321, a 94% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 24,578 together describe a community whose political habits are deeply settled. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Jefferson County and Calhoun County.
Most similar counties
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Rowan County, Kentucky — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://akashic.app/county/21205/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More republican loyalist counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Rowan County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Rowan County, Kentucky voted Republican by 27.8 points (R+28), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,873 votes cast, 3,484 went Democratic and 6,224 went Republican.
What is Rowan County, Kentucky's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Rowan County, Kentucky as a "Republican loyalist" county based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 14 times, Republican 20 times, and other 0 times.
When did Rowan County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Rowan County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Rowan County, Kentucky?
Rowan County, Kentucky has a population of 24,578 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Rowan County, Kentucky?
Median household income in Rowan County, Kentucky is $54,321 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Rowan County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Rowan County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The county's archetype — "Republican loyalist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.