† 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
GroupRuston, LALouisianaUnited States
American16.3%7.4%5.3%
English10.9%7.3%9.5%
Irish6.8%6.6%9.4%
German5.8%6.9%12.5%
French3.4%9.6%1.6%
Italian2.1%4.3%4.8%
Scottish2.0%1.0%1.3%
Scotch-Irish0.7%——
African American†36.3%29.3%9.9%
African0.4%0.8%0.5%
Nigerian0.2%—0.2%
Mexican2.8%2.1%11.3%
Colombian0.2%—0.4%
Vietnamese0.3%0.5%0.6%
Pakistani0.2%——
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
Ruston, LA
Louisiana
United States
Median age
28.6
38
39.1
Age 18–24
25.3%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
14.2%
16.8%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Ruston, LA
Louisiana
United States
Median household income
$39,172
$60,756
$84,427
Poverty rate
31.2%
19.0%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
36.2%
27.1%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Ruston, LA
Louisiana
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
4.5%
8.5%
22.3%
Spanish
1.8%
4.7%
13.6%
Other Indo-European
1.1%
0.5%
2.0%
Religious landscape
Measure
Ruston, LA
Louisiana
United States
Catholic
2.3%
26.8%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
38.1%
25.0%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
45.5%
36.8%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
6.4%
3.6%
5.2%
Black Protestant
5.8%
5.4%
2.2%
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.
Ruston, LA
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
−21.4%
1896
+92.0%
1900
+78.9%
1904
+90.0%
1908
+81.7%
1912
+84.1%
1916
+91.0%
1920
+68.8%
1924
+72.7%
1928
+21.7%
1932
+84.3%
1936
+82.9%
1940
+73.7%
1944
+24.6%
1948
+8.5%
1952
−21.0%
1956
−36.8%
1960
−33.6%
1964
−54.2%
1968
−7.1%
1972
−42.6%
1976
−15.5%
1980
−14.2%
1984
−24.9%
1988
−23.4%
1992
−0.1%
1996
+5.9%
2000
−14.5%
2004
−19.5%
2008
−12.5%
2012
−14.7%
2016
−19.6%
2020
−19.5%
2024
−25.5%
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
36.5%Harris6,627
61.9%Trump11,248
1.6%
R+25.5
R+6.0
R+24.0
18,157
R
39.2%Biden7,559
58.7%Trump11,311
2.1%
R+19.5
D+0.1
R+23.9
19,275
R
38.1%Clinton7,107
57.6%Trump10,761
4.3%
R+19.6
R+4.9
R+21.7
18,669
R
41.9%Obama7,956
56.5%Romney10,739
1.6%
R+14.7
R+2.2
R+18.5
18,993
R
43.2%Obama8,292
55.7%McCain10,680
1.1%
R+12.5
D+7.0
R+19.7
19,179
R
39.8%Kerry7,242
59.2%Bush10,791
1.0%
R+19.5
R+5.0
R+17.0
18,218
R
41.4%Gore6,851
55.9%Bush9,246
2.7%
R+14.5
R+20.3
R+15.0
16,551
D
49.8%Clinton7,903
44.0%Dole6,973
6.2%
D+5.9
D+6.0
R+2.7
15,855
R
43.5%Clinton7,205
43.6%Bush7,220
12.9%
R+0.1
D+23.3
R+5.6
16,561
R
37.0%Dukakis5,427
60.4%Bush8,853
2.6%
R+23.4
D+1.5
R+15.6
14,657
R
36.9%Mondale5,432
61.8%Reagan9,087
1.2%
R+24.9
R+10.6
R+6.6
14,701
R
41.6%Carter5,598
55.8%Reagan7,515
2.7%
R+14.2
D+1.3
R+4.5
13,470
R
41.5%Carter4,971
57.0%Ford6,828
1.4%
R+15.5
D+27.1
R+17.6
11,969
R
26.6%McGovern2,589
69.2%Nixon6,736
4.3%
R+42.6
R+35.4
R+19.4
9,741
O
22.6%Humphrey2,009
29.8%Nixon2,643
47.6%
Wallace +17.8
D+47.0
R+6.4
8,877
R
22.9%Johnson1,714
77.1%Goldwater5,766
0.0%
R+54.2
R+20.6
R+76.8
7,480
R
20.6%Kennedy1,051
54.1%Nixon2,766
25.3%
R+33.6
D+3.2
R+33.7
5,109
R
22.4%Stevenson1,014
59.2%Eisenhower2,676
18.4%
R+36.8
R+15.8
R+21.4
4,520
R
39.5%Stevenson2,009
60.5%Eisenhower3,074
0.0%
R+21.0
R+29.4
R+10.2
5,083
O
19.5%Truman625
11.0%Dewey353
69.4%
Thurmond +49.9
R+16.1
D+4.0
3,201
D
62.3%Roosevelt1,705
37.7%Dewey1,032
0.0%
D+24.6
R+49.1
D+17.1
2,737
D
86.9%Roosevelt2,969
13.1%Willkie449
0.0%
D+73.7
R+9.2
D+63.8
3,418
D
91.4%Roosevelt2,154
8.5%Landon201
0.0%
D+82.9
R+1.4
D+58.6
2,356
D
92.1%Roosevelt1,908
7.9%Hoover163
0.0%
D+84.3
D+62.6
D+66.5
2,071
D
60.8%Smith1,041
39.2%Hoover670
0.0%
D+21.7
R+51.0
D+39.1
1,711
D
86.2%Davis1,005
13.5%Coolidge157
0.3%
D+72.7
D+4.0
D+97.9
1,166
D
84.4%Cox989
15.6%Harding183
0.0%
D+68.8
R+22.2
D+95.0
1,172
D
95.3%Wilson932
4.3%Hughes42
0.4%
D+91.0
D+6.9
D+87.9
978
D
84.5%Wilson644
0.4%Taft3
15.1%
D+84.1
D+2.4
D+64.6
762
D
89.0%Bryan634
7.3%Taft52
3.7%
D+81.7
R+8.3
D+91.3
712
D
94.7%Parker532
4.6%Roosevelt26
0.7%
D+90.0
D+11.1
D+109.7
562
D
89.4%Bryan517
10.6%McKinley61
0.0%
D+78.9
R+13.1
D+86.4
578
D
95.0%Bryan1,241
3.1%McKinley40
1.9%
D+92.0
D+113.4
D+98.0
1,306
R
39.3%Cleveland695
60.7%Harrison1,074
0.0%
R+21.4
—
R+23.1
1,769
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
14.9%1,869
64.8%8,155
12,583
2020
R
16.4%3,052
60.6%11,307
18,656
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024R+3.3
vs
Presidential vote · 2024R+25.5
Registration leans Republican; the presidential vote runs 22 points more Democratic.
27,976 registered voters · 2024
Democratic34.7%Republican38.0%Other27.3%
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net domestic migration over time
+55 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net −3,246 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Domestic migration in Ruston, LA in Ruston, LA: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−232
2012
−407
2013
−124
2014
−334
2015
−108
2016
−370
2017
−276
2018
−525
2019
−556
2021
−205
2022
−108
2023
−56
2024
0
2025
+55
Home to Louisiana Tech University, Ruston's Lincoln Parish core skews younger than surrounding rural parishes, tempering the region's otherwise lopsided Republican margins in statewide races.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 92.0 points in 1896 and a Republican high of 54.2 points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 6.0 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 25.5 points.
A population of 48,174, a 53% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $39,172 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Troy, AL and Starkville, MS.
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.
Ruston, LA, Louisiana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/40820/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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In 2024, Ruston, LA, Louisiana voted Republican by 25.5 points (R+25.5), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 18,157 votes cast, 6,627 went Democratic and 11,248 went Republican.
When did Ruston, LA, Louisiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Ruston, LA, Louisiana voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Ruston, LA, Louisiana?
Ruston, LA, Louisiana has a population of 48,174 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Ruston, LA, Louisiana?
Median household income in Ruston, LA, Louisiana is $39,172 — below the national median of $80,734. The Louisiana state median is $60,756.
What is the political history of Ruston, LA, Louisiana?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Ruston, LA, Louisiana from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 18 went Republican.
