† 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
GroupSalinas, CACaliforniaUnited States
Mexican56.3%32.3%11.3%
Salvadoran1.6%2.0%0.7%
Puerto Rican0.6%0.6%1.8%
Spanish0.5%0.3%—
Spaniard0.4%0.3%—
Guatemalan0.3%1.3%0.5%
Argentinean0.3%——
Cuban0.2%—0.7%
English5.7%6.3%9.5%
German5.6%6.8%12.5%
Irish5.0%5.9%9.4%
Italian3.5%3.4%4.8%
American1.5%2.8%5.3%
French1.2%1.3%1.6%
Scottish1.2%0.9%1.3%
Portuguese1.0%——
Filipino2.6%3.3%0.9%
Chinese0.9%3.9%1.3%
Asian Indian0.5%2.3%1.4%
Japanese0.5%0.6%0.2%
Korean0.4%1.2%0.4%
Vietnamese0.3%1.7%0.6%
African American†1.6%4.4%9.9%
African0.2%0.3%0.5%
Aztec0.4%0.3%—
Samoan0.1%——
Tongan0.1%——
Chamorro0.1%——
Fijian0.1%——
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
Salinas, CA
California
United States
Median age
35.5
37.9
39.1
Age 18–24
10.0%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
14.8%
15.6%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Salinas, CA
California
United States
Median household income
$97,230
$99,122
$84,427
Poverty rate
12.7%
12.0%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
28.2%
36.6%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Salinas, CA
California
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
56.3%
44.4%
22.3%
Spanish
49.8%
28.4%
13.6%
Other Indo-European
1.2%
3.4%
2.0%
Tagalog (incl. Filipino)
1.3%
2.1%
0.6%
Religious landscape
Measure
Salinas, CA
California
United States
Catholic
46.4%
26.2%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
5.0%
9.0%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
40.3%
55.2%
51.5%
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.
Salinas, CA
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
−2.5%
1896
+6.6%
1900
−3.5%
1904
−25.0%
1908
−18.8%
1912
+46.3%
1916
+3.5%
1920
−42.8%
1924
−49.7%
1928
−27.0%
1932
+17.4%
1936
+23.4%
1940
+11.0%
1944
+7.8%
1948
−4.5%
1952
−24.5%
1956
−19.3%
1960
−12.8%
1964
+23.9%
1968
−8.1%
1972
−17.5%
1976
−5.0%
1980
−21.2%
1984
−15.4%
1988
−1.0%
1992
+15.8%
1996
+16.5%
2000
+20.3%
2004
+22.0%
2008
+38.3%
2012
+36.9%
2016
+40.6%
2020
+41.3%
2024
+29.9%
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
D
63.4%Harris93,060
33.6%Trump49,226
1.3%Kennedy1,957 +3
D+29.9
R+11.4
D+31.3
146,718
All 6 candidates in 2024 · 4 minor / independent
Kamala D HarrisDemocratic63.4%93,060
Donald J TrumpRepublican33.6%49,226
Robert F Kennedy Jr.Independent1.3%1,957
Jill SteinIndependent0.8%1,214
Chase OliverLibertarian0.5%676
Claudia De La CruzIndependent0.4%585
D
69.5%Biden113,953
28.2%Trump46,299
2.2%
D+41.3
D+0.6
D+36.8
163,923
D
66.8%Clinton89,088
26.2%Trump34,895
7.1%
D+40.6
D+3.8
D+38.5
133,408
D
67.1%Obama82,920
30.3%Romney37,390
2.6%
D+36.9
R+1.4
D+33.0
123,518
D
68.2%Obama88,453
29.9%McCain38,797
2.0%
D+38.3
D+16.3
D+31.0
129,783
D
60.4%Kerry75,241
38.4%Bush47,838
1.3%
D+22.0
D+1.7
D+24.4
124,653
D
57.5%Gore67,618
37.2%Bush43,761
5.2%
D+20.3
D+3.8
D+19.8
117,534
D
53.2%Clinton57,700
36.7%Dole39,794
10.2%
D+16.5
D+0.7
D+8.0
108,558
D
47.0%Clinton54,861
31.2%Bush36,461
21.7%
D+15.8
D+16.8
D+10.2
116,689
R
48.8%Dukakis48,998
49.8%Bush50,022
1.4%
R+1.0
D+14.3
D+6.7
100,381
R
41.8%Mondale40,733
57.2%Reagan55,710
1.1%
R+15.4
D+5.8
D+2.9
97,470
R
33.5%Carter29,086
54.7%Reagan47,452
11.8%
R+21.2
R+16.1
R+11.4
86,794
R
46.0%Carter36,849
51.0%Ford40,896
3.0%
R+5.0
D+12.5
R+7.1
80,153
R
39.5%McGovern32,545
57.0%Nixon47,004
3.5%
R+17.5
R+9.5
D+5.6
82,408
R
42.1%Humphrey28,261
50.2%Nixon33,670
7.7%
R+8.1
R+32.0
R+7.4
67,124
D
61.8%Johnson40,093
37.9%Goldwater24,579
0.3%
D+23.9
D+36.8
D+1.3
64,844
R
43.4%Kennedy25,805
56.3%Nixon33,428
0.3%
R+12.8
D+6.5
R+13.0
59,413
R
40.2%Stevenson19,932
59.5%Eisenhower29,514
0.3%
R+19.3
D+5.2
R+3.9
49,573
R
37.5%Stevenson17,411
62.0%Eisenhower28,786
0.5%
R+24.5
R+20.0
R+13.7
46,451
R
46.1%Truman15,704
50.6%Dewey17,233
3.3%
R+4.5
R+12.3
R+9.0
34,063
D
53.7%Roosevelt14,342
45.8%Dewey12,246
0.5%
D+7.8
R+3.1
D+0.3
26,728
D
55.0%Roosevelt14,758
44.0%Willkie11,810
1.0%
D+11.0
R+12.4
D+1.0
26,833
D
61.1%Roosevelt12,267
37.7%Landon7,565
1.2%
D+23.4
D+6.0
R+0.8
20,067
D
56.8%Roosevelt8,942
39.4%Hoover6,200
3.9%
D+17.4
D+44.4
R+0.4
15,750
R
36.1%Smith4,138
63.1%Hoover7,228
0.8%
R+27.0
D+22.7
R+9.5
11,452
R
11.4%Davis886
61.1%Coolidge4,744
27.5%
R+49.7
R+6.8
R+24.5
7,768
R
24.9%Cox1,771
67.8%Harding4,817
7.3%
R+42.8
R+46.3
R+16.7
7,109
D
48.3%Wilson3,878
44.8%Hughes3,599
6.9%
D+3.5
R+42.8
D+0.3
8,032
O
46.3%Wilson3,392
0.0%Taft0
53.7%
Roosevelt +7.5
D+65.0
D+26.7
7,332
R
34.9%Bryan1,616
53.6%Taft2,486
11.5%
R+18.8
D+6.3
R+9.2
4,635
R
34.1%Parker1,415
59.2%Roosevelt2,453
6.7%
R+25.0
R+21.5
R+5.4
4,146
R
46.6%Bryan1,825
50.1%McKinley1,964
3.3%
R+3.5
R+10.2
D+4.0
3,920
D
52.4%Bryan2,149
45.8%McKinley1,878
1.8%
D+6.6
D+9.1
D+12.7
4,099
R
39.1%Cleveland1,606
41.7%Harrison1,709
19.2%
R+2.5
—
R+4.2
4,103
Congressional elections · 3 Senate races
U.S. Senate
Source · MIT Election Lab (MEDSL), Senate. CC-BY 4.0.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Total
2024
D
64.0%92,302
36.0%51,913
144,215
2022
D
66.4%67,153
33.6%34,026
101,179
2018
D
100.0%106,882
0.0%0
106,882
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024D+30.7
vs
Presidential vote · 2024D+29.9
Registration and the presidential vote track closely here — within 0.8 points.
213,603 registered voters · 2024 · up from 209,448 in 2022
Domestic migration in Salinas, CA in Salinas, CA: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−509
2012
−360
2013
−2,605
2014
−2,924
2015
−2,843
2016
−1,264
2017
−3,179
2018
−3,544
2019
−2,850
2021
−3,830
2022
−7,768
2023
−6,334
2024
−5,891
2025
−2,697
Salinas anchors one of the nation's most productive agricultural valleys, where a majority-Latino workforce has steadily shifted the metro's electorate toward high Democratic margins while local ballot measures on water and housing remain competitive.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 46.3 points in 1912 and a Republican high of 49.7 points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the metro moved 11.4 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 29.9 points.
A population of 437,613, a 27% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $97,230 describe the metro. The metro's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA and El Paso, TX.
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.
Salinas, CA, California. Akashic. https://akashic.app/cbsa/41500/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Embed this page
A live widget for your site — no API key, attribution built in, CC BY 4.0. All widgets & sizes →
In 2024, Salinas, CA, California voted Democratic by 29.9 points (D+29.9), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 146,718 votes cast, 93,060 went Democratic and 49,226 went Republican.
When did Salinas, CA, California last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Salinas, CA, California voted Republican was 1988.
How many people live in Salinas, CA, California?
Salinas, CA, California has a population of 437,613 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Salinas, CA, California?
Median household income in Salinas, CA, California is $97,230 — above the national median of $80,734. The California state median is $99,122.
What is the political history of Salinas, CA, California?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Salinas, CA, California from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 17 went Republican.
