† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
1 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
GroupKankakee, ILIllinoisUnited States
German19.6%16.1%12.5%
Irish11.3%10.6%9.4%
English7.1%6.9%9.5%
Polish5.6%6.0%2.2%
French5.5%0.7%1.6%
Italian4.8%5.4%4.8%
American3.2%3.3%5.3%
Dutch1.7%——
African American†7.1%12.1%9.9%
African7.0%0.5%0.5%
Mexican10.8%14.4%11.3%
Puerto Rican0.5%1.7%1.8%
Guatemalan0.4%0.3%0.5%
Salvadoran0.3%—0.7%
Filipino0.4%1.0%0.9%
Asian Indian0.2%2.1%1.4%
Chinese0.2%1.0%1.3%
Korean0.1%0.4%0.4%
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
Kankakee, IL
Illinois
United States
Median age
39
39.1
39.1
Age 18–24
9.8%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
17.9%
16.9%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Kankakee, IL
Illinois
United States
Median household income
$71,281
$83,390
$84,427
Poverty rate
12.2%
11.8%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
21.2%
37.9%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Kankakee, IL
Illinois
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
10.9%
24.1%
22.3%
Spanish
9.5%
14.0%
13.6%
Religious landscape
Measure
Kankakee, IL
Illinois
United States
Catholic
20.7%
24.2%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
14.9%
11.7%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
52.3%
49.2%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
6.1%
5.3%
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.
Kankakee, IL
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
−12.4%
1896
−38.7%
1900
−36.3%
1904
−54.8%
1908
−40.4%
1912
−7.4%
1916
−26.5%
1920
−61.9%
1924
−54.0%
1928
−7.4%
1932
+10.8%
1936
+8.4%
1940
−7.6%
1944
−14.7%
1948
−16.2%
1952
−23.2%
1956
−32.9%
1960
−8.5%
1964
+12.8%
1968
−14.5%
1972
−33.3%
1976
−10.9%
1980
−22.5%
1984
−21.6%
1988
−14.5%
1992
+4.5%
1996
+6.3%
2000
−2.2%
2004
−10.5%
2008
+4.6%
2012
−3.4%
2016
−13.0%
2020
−16.5%
2024
−20.8%
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
38.7%Harris18,399
59.5%Trump28,285
1.9%
R+20.8
R+4.3
R+19.3
47,569
R
40.5%Biden20,271
57.0%Trump28,532
2.5%
R+16.5
R+3.5
R+21.0
50,040
R
40.1%Clinton18,971
53.1%Trump25,129
6.8%
R+13.0
R+9.6
R+15.1
47,305
R
47.3%Obama21,595
50.7%Romney23,136
2.0%
R+3.4
R+8.0
R+7.2
45,654
D
51.5%Obama24,750
46.9%McCain22,527
1.5%
D+4.6
D+15.1
R+2.6
48,016
R
44.4%Kerry20,003
54.9%Bush24,739
0.7%
R+10.5
R+8.4
R+8.1
45,036
R
47.7%Gore19,180
49.9%Bush20,049
2.4%
R+2.2
R+8.5
R+2.7
40,183
D
47.7%Clinton16,820
41.4%Dole14,595
10.9%
D+6.3
D+1.8
R+2.2
35,241
D
43.0%Clinton17,229
38.5%Bush15,411
18.5%
D+4.5
D+19.0
R+1.0
40,071
R
42.4%Dukakis15,147
56.8%Bush20,316
0.8%
R+14.5
D+7.1
R+6.7
35,755
R
38.4%Mondale15,246
60.0%Reagan23,807
1.5%
R+21.6
D+0.9
R+3.4
39,665
R
35.8%Carter14,626
58.3%Reagan23,810
6.0%
R+22.5
R+11.5
R+12.7
40,873
R
43.7%Carter18,394
54.6%Ford23,003
1.7%
R+10.9
D+22.3
R+13.0
42,108
R
33.3%McGovern13,434
66.5%Nixon26,866
0.2%
R+33.3
R+18.7
R+10.1
40,373
R
37.8%Humphrey14,460
52.4%Nixon20,025
9.8%
R+14.5
R+27.3
R+13.9
38,250
D
56.4%Johnson20,792
43.6%Goldwater16,082
0.0%
D+12.8
D+21.3
R+9.8
36,874
R
45.7%Kennedy17,115
54.2%Nixon20,311
0.1%
R+8.5
D+24.4
R+8.7
37,452
R
33.5%Stevenson11,088
66.4%Eisenhower21,993
0.1%
R+32.9
R+9.8
R+17.5
33,128
R
38.3%Stevenson12,636
61.4%Eisenhower20,279
0.3%
R+23.2
R+7.0
R+12.4
33,005
R
41.6%Truman11,305
57.7%Dewey15,699
0.7%
R+16.2
R+1.5
R+20.6
27,201
R
42.5%Roosevelt11,342
57.2%Dewey15,256
0.3%
R+14.7
R+7.0
R+22.2
26,688
R
46.0%Roosevelt13,716
53.6%Willkie15,998
0.4%
R+7.6
R+16.0
R+17.6
29,838
D
49.6%Roosevelt13,162
41.2%Landon10,935
9.2%
D+8.4
R+2.4
R+15.9
26,538
D
54.7%Roosevelt13,555
43.9%Hoover10,873
1.5%
D+10.8
D+18.3
R+7.0
24,792
R
46.0%Smith10,247
53.4%Hoover11,905
0.6%
R+7.4
D+46.6
D+10.0
22,279
R
13.5%Davis2,488
67.5%Coolidge12,462
19.1%
R+54.0
D+7.9
R+28.8
18,471
R
17.5%Cox2,828
79.3%Harding12,853
3.2%
R+61.9
R+35.4
R+35.7
16,201
R
35.9%Wilson6,096
62.3%Hughes10,594
1.8%
R+26.5
R+19.1
R+29.6
16,993
R
29.0%Wilson2,532
36.4%Taft3,178
34.6%
R+7.4
D+33.0
R+26.9
8,728
R
28.1%Bryan2,461
68.5%Taft5,999
3.5%
R+40.4
D+14.5
R+30.8
8,763
R
20.1%Parker1,652
74.9%Roosevelt6,162
5.0%
R+54.8
R+18.5
R+35.2
8,224
R
31.1%Bryan2,674
67.4%McKinley5,798
1.5%
R+36.3
D+2.3
R+28.8
8,597
R
29.5%Bryan2,370
68.2%McKinley5,471
2.3%
R+38.7
R+26.3
R+32.6
8,022
R
42.0%Cleveland2,763
54.4%Harrison3,577
3.5%
R+12.4
—
R+14.0
6,573
Congressional elections · 2 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2022
R
42.2%14,819
55.5%19,522
35,156
2020
R
40.0%19,754
53.6%26,505
49,440
voter registration
Registered voters
Total registered voters, over time
Registered voters
Voter registration in Kankakee, IL
Year
Total registered
2016
75,447
2018
72,057
2020
77,321
2022
74,238
2024
73,476
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net domestic migration over time
−234 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net −8,068 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Domestic migration in Kankakee, IL in Kankakee, IL: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−333
2012
−992
2013
−539
2014
−1,208
2015
−418
2016
−898
2017
−701
2018
−688
2019
−192
2021
−321
2022
−1,035
2023
−224
2024
−285
2025
−234
Kankakee's small industrial metro on the Kankakee River has shifted decisively Republican over successive cycles, posting a nearly 49-point margin in 2024 that places it among the state's most one-sided presidential results.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 12.8 points in 1964 and a Republican high of 61.9 points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 4.3 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 20.8 points.
A population of 106,635, a 68% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $71,281 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Michigan City-La Porte, IN and Ottawa, IL.
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
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Kankakee, IL, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/28100/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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In 2024, Kankakee, IL, Illinois voted Republican by 20.8 points (R+20.8), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 47,569 votes cast, 18,399 went Democratic and 28,285 went Republican.
When did Kankakee, IL, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Kankakee, IL, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Kankakee, IL, Illinois?
Kankakee, IL, Illinois has a population of 106,635 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Kankakee, IL, Illinois?
Median household income in Kankakee, IL, Illinois is $71,281 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Kankakee, IL, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Kankakee, IL, Illinois from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican.
