akashic
1876–2024
Van Buren County, Tennessee
Van Buren County·Tennessee

For twenty-eight years, Van Buren County voted Democratic. Then it stopped.

One of Tennessee's smallest counties, with margins to match its size

18762024·38 elections
Van Buren County, Tennessee · Brian Stansberry · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+67
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
6,437
2024 ACS
Most similar
Hickman County
TN · similarity 0.99
7 precincts · 3,265 votes cast
Trump · R+67
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−67.2%
5242,7183,265
2020R
−61.6%
5442,3422,921
2016R
−53.0%
5391,8202,419
2012R
−22.2%
8751,3862,300
2008R
−20.4%
8491,2942,180
2004D
+3.8%
1,2091,1202,347
2000D
+19.2%
1,2558452,131
1996D
+30.4%
1,0105041,663
1992D
+37.2%
1,3295552,080
1988D
+1.0%
7967801,580
1984D
+6.0%
8107181,535
1980D
+27.6%
8864991,404
1976D
+51.2%
1,0853461,442
1972R
−26.0%
3646291,021
1968R
−4.0%
2823271,116
1964D
+49.4%
8652931,158
1960D
+17.7%
577401995
1956D
+22.3%
602381991
1952D
+25.8%
6743931,088
1948D
+34.6%
636298978
1944D
+28.7%
526291820
1940D
+39.3%
7323181,053
1936D
+46.7%
690251941
1932D
+50.1%
613196833
1928D
+0.6%
260257517
1924D
+48.4%
357123483
1920D
+22.0%
351223582
1916D
+44.7%
405151568
1912D
+30.9%
225106385
1908D
+30.1%
329176509
1904D
+37.5%
352160512
1900D
+47.0%
425153579
1896D
+48.7%
419140573
1892D
+55.1%
36089492
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%
Irish
1.5%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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.
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
Other Christian
11.9%
Baptist
7.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
3.8%
Methodist
0.3%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 76.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Van Buren County's 2024 presidential margin of R+67.2 reflects a pattern common across the Cumberland Plateau's sparse, rural communities, where low population density and limited economic diversification have shaped a consistently lopsided electorate for decades.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Van Buren County peaked at fifty-five points in 1892; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2008 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of twenty points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Van Buren County's median household income of $54,931 is among the lowest of any county in the United States; 16% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Hickman County and Pemiscot County.