akashic
1876–2024
State Senate District 17·Arkansas

Arkansas 17th State Senate District votes the way the country votes.

One of Arkansas's few state senate districts where Democrats run competitively

1876 — 2024·38 elections
AR
Latest
D+7
in 2024
Archetype
Bellwether
since the recent cycles
Population
112,441
2024 ACS

Arkansas 17th State Senate District, Arkansas: Bellwether district. In 2024, voted D+7%. Democratic peak: D+76 in 1936.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin
D+7MIT Election Lab
Political archetype
BellwetherAkashic typology
Population
112,4412024 5-year
Median household income
$64,0172024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic)
57.0%2024 5-year
Black
30.3%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino
7.7%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin
D+76 in 1936MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin
R+25 in 1972MIT Election Lab
2024 results by constituent county
2 counties · 1 D · 1 R
R+60
D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
YearWonMarginDemocraticRepublicanTotal
D
+6.9%
23,22720,14544,496
D
+9.0%
25,42821,12147,828
D
+6.0%
22,00219,45742,743
D
+1.9%
21,28720,46942,667
D
+3.5%
21,92620,41543,012
D
+4.6%
20,93019,05640,378
D
+5.0%
16,96215,30333,159
D
+21.0%
18,39011,65232,118
D
+21.6%
19,52712,12334,290
R
−12.4%
13,30517,13930,911
R
−18.3%
12,93718,82532,145
D
+2.9%
13,37212,58227,427
D
+28.8%
15,8468,74424,644
R
−25.3%
8,05413,53621,649
D
+2.1%
6,6076,20219,192
D
+6.0%
9,8418,72718,670
D
+8.6%
6,2965,16813,132
R
−2.1%
5,6525,90311,818
D
+4.8%
5,8845,34411,309
D
+33.0%
3,3391,3745,955
D
+45.8%
3,9641,4695,446
D
+65.4%
3,5417344,290
D
+76.5%
2,9683923,368
D
+71.5%
3,5545754,165
D
+34.0%
2,5271,2433,779
D
+33.2%
1,5176912,491
D
+26.5%
1,8051,0352,902
D
+40.5%
1,7157272,442
D
+39.6%
1,0023091,752
D
+14.0%
1,2159052,215
D
+12.5%
8906851,638
D
+18.4%
8155581,398
D
+37.4%
1,0964921,616
D
+12.7%
1,0497932,018
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Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
11.3%
German
7.8%
Irish
7.2%
American
5.6%
Scottish
1.9%
French
1.4%
Italian
1.2%
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: 36.7 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
0.6%
85+
1.1%
1.9%
75–84
2.6%
4.4%
65–74
5.3%
5.6%
55–64
6.2%
5.5%
45–54
6.0%
6.3%
35–44
6.8%
6.9%
25–34
7.4%
5.1%
18–24
5.3%
8.7%
5–17
8.3%
3.1%
<5
3.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$64,017
State Senate District 17 ranks near the middle of US counties.
State Senate District 17$64,017
Arkansas$60,773
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
16.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1822.1%
Working age (18–64)14.6%
Seniors (65+)11.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.5%
speak English only
Spanish5.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.3%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Other languages0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Baptist
22.9%
Other Christian
15.2%
Methodist
6.9%
Catholic & Orthodox
6.5%
Pentecostal & Holiness
5.7%
Mainline Protestant
2.3%
Non-Christian
0.9%
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 39.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Despite Arkansas trending heavily Republican statewide, this district returned a 4-point Democratic presidential margin in 2024, making it a notable outlier in a state where such results are increasingly rare.

The Democratic margin in Arkansas 17th State Senate District has rarely exceeded seventy-six points in modern history; the Republican margin has rarely exceeded twenty-five points. 2024 delivered the district to the Democratic candidate by seven points.

Its demographics resemble the country more than they resemble most districts. A 57% non-Hispanic-white share, a 16% poverty rate, and a median household income of $64,017 — all within the broad national range.

Compare two places, side by side

Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →

Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
State Senate District 17, Arkansas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/sld-upper/05017/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did State Senate District 17, Arkansas vote in 2024?
In 2024, State Senate District 17, Arkansas voted Democratic by 6.9 points (D+7), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 44,496 votes cast, 23,227 went Democratic and 20,145 went Republican.
What is State Senate District 17, Arkansas's political archetype?
Akashic classifies State Senate District 17, Arkansas as a "Bellwether" district based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the district has voted Democratic 30 times, Republican 4 times, and other 0 times.
When did State Senate District 17, Arkansas last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which State Senate District 17, Arkansas voted Republican was 1988.
How many people live in State Senate District 17, Arkansas?
State Senate District 17, Arkansas has a population of 112,441 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in State Senate District 17, Arkansas?
Median household income in State Senate District 17, Arkansas is $64,017 — below the national median of $80,734. The Arkansas state median is $60,773.
What is the political history of State Senate District 17, Arkansas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in State Senate District 17, Arkansas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 30 went Democratic and 4 went Republican. The district's archetype — "Bellwether" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.