† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
3 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupCharleston, WVWest VirginiaUnited States
English16.7%15.7%9.5%
Irish11.4%12.3%9.4%
German10.6%14.7%12.5%
American8.9%9.5%5.3%
Italian2.6%4.1%4.8%
Scottish2.2%2.1%1.3%
Scotch-Irish1.9%1.3%—
Polish1.0%1.4%2.2%
African American†3.5%2.6%9.9%
African0.3%—0.5%
Mexican0.7%0.7%11.3%
Puerto Rican0.3%0.3%1.8%
Asian Indian0.5%—1.4%
Filipino0.2%—0.9%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Charleston, WV
West Virginia
United States
Median age
44
42.9
39.1
Age 18–24
7.6%
8.8%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
22.1%
21.1%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Charleston, WV
West Virginia
United States
Median household income
$59,838
$59,608
$84,427
Poverty rate
16.2%
16.7%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
27.1%
24.4%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Charleston, WV
West Virginia
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
2.1%
2.5%
22.3%
Religious landscape
Measure
Charleston, WV
West Virginia
United States
Catholic
4.0%
5.6%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
16.6%
16.4%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
61.4%
62.3%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
11.7%
12.5%
5.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Charleston, WV
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
−2.3%
1896
−14.0%
1900
−16.3%
1904
−15.5%
1908
−13.6%
1912
+27.4%
1916
+0.4%
1920
−9.7%
1924
−4.3%
1928
−13.4%
1932
+6.9%
1936
+19.8%
1940
+19.1%
1944
+14.4%
1948
+15.1%
1952
+1.6%
1956
−5.2%
1960
+1.4%
1964
+32.2%
1968
+7.7%
1972
−23.6%
1976
+16.4%
1980
+4.0%
1984
−10.2%
1988
+8.1%
1992
+12.8%
1996
+18.1%
2000
+4.2%
2004
−0.1%
2008
+0.2%
2012
−14.5%
2016
−24.9%
2020
−19.9%
2024
−22.9%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
R
37.5%Harris32,452
60.3%Trump52,263
1.3%Kennedy1,143 +2
R+22.9
R+2.9
R+21.4
86,621
All 5 candidates in 2024 · 3 minor / independent
Donald J TrumpRepublican60.3%52,263
Kamala D HarrisDemocratic37.5%32,452
Robert F KennedyIndependent1.3%1,143
Jill SteinIndependent0.4%389
Chase OliverLibertarian0.4%374
R
39.1%Biden37,026
59.1%Trump55,893
1.8%
R+19.9
D+4.9
R+24.4
94,628
R
34.5%Clinton30,621
59.4%Trump52,654
6.1%
R+24.9
R+10.3
R+26.9
88,662
R
41.7%Obama36,201
56.2%Romney48,802
2.1%
R+14.5
R+14.7
R+18.4
86,832
D
49.5%Obama46,544
49.2%McCain46,339
1.3%
D+0.2
D+0.3
R+7.1
94,111
R
49.7%Kerry50,778
49.7%Bush50,835
0.6%
R+0.1
R+4.2
D+2.4
102,198
D
51.2%Gore45,797
47.0%Bush42,049
1.7%
D+4.2
R+13.9
D+3.7
89,393
D
54.5%Clinton48,479
36.4%Dole32,365
9.2%
D+18.1
D+5.3
D+9.6
88,994
D
49.3%Clinton46,819
36.5%Bush34,634
14.3%
D+12.8
D+4.8
D+7.3
94,989
D
53.9%Dukakis49,946
45.8%Bush42,462
0.3%
D+8.1
D+18.3
D+15.8
92,698
R
44.8%Mondale47,070
55.0%Reagan57,822
0.3%
R+10.2
R+14.2
D+8.0
105,159
D
48.9%Carter52,529
44.8%Reagan48,220
6.3%
D+4.0
R+12.4
D+13.7
107,522
D
58.2%Carter64,792
41.8%Ford46,567
0.0%
D+16.4
D+40.0
D+14.3
111,359
R
38.2%McGovern45,204
61.8%Nixon73,174
0.0%
R+23.6
R+31.4
R+0.5
118,378
D
48.2%Humphrey54,957
40.5%Nixon46,156
11.2%
D+7.7
R+24.5
D+8.4
113,912
D
66.1%Johnson82,302
33.9%Goldwater42,216
0.0%
D+32.2
D+30.8
D+9.6
124,518
D
50.7%Kennedy65,401
49.3%Nixon63,640
0.0%
D+1.4
D+6.6
D+1.2
129,041
R
47.4%Stevenson60,043
52.6%Eisenhower66,613
0.0%
R+5.2
R+6.8
D+10.2
126,656
D
50.8%Stevenson65,563
49.2%Eisenhower63,495
0.0%
D+1.6
R+13.5
D+12.4
129,058
D
57.4%Truman62,960
42.3%Dewey46,419
0.3%
D+15.1
D+0.7
D+10.6
109,744
D
57.2%Roosevelt56,161
42.8%Dewey42,051
0.0%
D+14.4
R+4.7
D+6.9
98,212
D
59.5%Roosevelt69,321
40.5%Willkie47,122
0.0%
D+19.1
R+0.8
D+9.1
116,443
D
59.9%Roosevelt61,885
40.0%Landon41,377
0.1%
D+19.8
D+13.0
R+4.4
103,380
D
53.0%Roosevelt47,628
46.1%Hoover41,453
0.9%
D+6.9
D+20.3
R+10.9
89,913
R
43.1%Smith32,297
56.6%Hoover42,339
0.3%
R+13.4
R+9.1
D+4.1
74,864
R
43.8%Davis28,089
48.1%Coolidge30,871
8.1%
R+4.3
D+5.3
D+20.8
64,155
R
44.4%Cox23,346
54.1%Harding28,436
1.6%
R+9.7
R+10.1
D+16.5
52,598
D
48.8%Wilson12,720
48.4%Hughes12,621
2.8%
D+0.4
R+27.1
R+2.8
26,070
O
38.8%Wilson8,709
11.3%Taft2,548
49.9%
Roosevelt +11.1
D+41.0
D+7.9
22,450
R
40.6%Bryan8,973
54.2%Taft11,977
5.1%
R+13.6
D+1.9
R+4.1
22,079
R
40.7%Parker7,726
56.2%Roosevelt10,666
3.0%
R+15.5
D+0.8
D+4.2
18,963
R
41.6%Bryan6,410
57.9%McKinley8,918
0.5%
R+16.3
R+2.3
R+8.7
15,402
R
42.7%Bryan6,243
56.7%McKinley8,287
0.6%
R+14.0
R+11.7
R+7.9
14,613
R
47.6%Cleveland5,834
49.8%Harrison6,113
2.6%
R+2.3
—
R+3.9
12,265
Congressional elections · 3 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2024
R
37.3%31,615
59.9%50,775
84,790
2020
R
33.4%31,156
64.7%60,307
93,269
2018
D
60.7%44,368
36.1%26,434
73,127
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2026R+2.8
vs
Presidential vote · 2024R+22.9
Registration leans Republican; the presidential vote runs 20 points more Democratic.
Domestic migration in Charleston, WV in Charleston, WV: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−658
2012
−106
2013
−812
2014
−1,626
2015
−2,064
2016
−2,153
2017
−2,750
2018
−2,658
2019
−2,166
2021
−1,156
2022
−1,198
2023
−601
2024
−129
2025
−206
Once a reliable Democratic stronghold anchored by coal and chemical industry labor, the Charleston metro has swung decisively toward Republican candidates at nearly every level since 2000, mirroring West Virginia's broader partisan realignment.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 32.2 points in 1964 and a Republican high of 24.9 points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 2.9 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 22.9 points.
A population of 205,398, a 88% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $59,838 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Fairmont, WV and Pikeville, KY.
Akashic
Political twins — metros
The metros whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
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.
Charleston, WV, West Virginia. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/16620/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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How did Charleston, WV, West Virginia vote in 2024?
In 2024, Charleston, WV, West Virginia voted Republican by 22.9 points (R+22.9), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 86,621 votes cast, 32,452 went Democratic and 52,263 went Republican.
When did Charleston, WV, West Virginia last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Charleston, WV, West Virginia voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Charleston, WV, West Virginia?
Charleston, WV, West Virginia has a population of 205,398 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Charleston, WV, West Virginia?
Median household income in Charleston, WV, West Virginia is $59,838 — below the national median of $80,734. The West Virginia state median is $59,608.
What is the political history of Charleston, WV, West Virginia?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Charleston, WV, West Virginia from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 16 went Republican.
