akashic
1876–2024
Boone County, West Virginia
Boone County·West Virginia

For eighty-four years, Boone County voted Democratic. Then it stopped.

One of the nation's sharpest rightward swings since 2008

18762024·38 elections
Boone County, West Virginia · Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · Wikimedia Commons
Latest
R+57
in 2024
Archetype
Realigner
since the recent cycles
Population
21,026
2024 ACS
Most similar
McDowell County
WV · similarity 1.00
26 precincts · 8,142 votes cast
Trump · R+57
Margin
Turnout
Harris +50
Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
2024R
−57.4%
1,6416,3148,142
2020R
−53.0%
2,0416,8169,013
2016R
−53.7%
1,7906,5048,779
2012R
−31.5%
2,7905,4678,502
2008D
+10.7%
4,5293,6328,366
2004D
+16.9%
5,9334,20710,198
2000D
+25.2%
5,6563,3539,141
1996D
+46.3%
6,0481,9178,922
1992D
+47.2%
6,5762,0219,658
1988D
+40.2%
6,5392,7869,345
1984D
+20.9%
7,1214,65611,821
1980D
+27.9%
7,5154,16412,000
1976D
+47.0%
8,5283,07211,600
1972R
−5.7%
5,3425,98511,327
1968D
+33.3%
6,3912,97010,287
1964D
+55.5%
8,6092,46711,076
1960D
+32.5%
8,0584,10412,162
1956D
+15.7%
7,1265,19612,322
1952D
+33.4%
8,2094,10012,309
1948D
+39.8%
6,7692,9099,697
1944D
+29.7%
6,3663,4499,815
1940D
+31.4%
7,9044,12812,032
1936D
+37.8%
7,6973,47711,174
1932D
+25.2%
5,9733,5559,593
1928D
+9.1%
4,8054,0008,835
1924D
+4.3%
3,3263,0107,284
1920R
−2.7%
2,5292,6745,315
1916R
−3.6%
1,3971,5043,006
1912D
+28.4%
1,1194162,476
1908D
+1.8%
1,0319942,090
1904D
+7.5%
9127841,713
1900R
−11.0%
7679561,723
1896D
+9.0%
8136781,496
1892D
+18.1%
7825411,329
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%
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.
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
Baptist
7.9%
Other Christian
7.6%
Methodist
4.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
2.8%
Catholic & Orthodox
0.5%
Mainline Protestant
0.2%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 76.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Boone County, once a union-heavy coal stronghold that backed Democratic presidential candidates for decades, has shifted dramatically over the past four election cycles — posting an R+57.4 margin in 2024 that ranks among the most lopsided results in the state.

The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Boone County peaked at fifty-five points in 1964; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 2012 election delivered the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of thirty-one points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.

The economic and demographic context is severe. Boone County's median household income of $57,093 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 McDowell County and Floyd County.