Participation measured against the same-year citizen voting-age population. Audited cycles count total general-election participants — ballots or participating voters, not presidential candidate votes. Cycles before 2016 predate that series and are derived from the certified presidential returns instead; they are marked everywhere they appear and are excluded from the figures below.
2004–20206 cycles · 3 audited
2020 turnout
40.8%33,068 participants ÷ 80,953 CVAP
2016→2018 drop-off
+7.3 ptsPersistently low turnout
Drop-off vs state
-2.9 ptsPositive means a larger decline than the statewide pattern
Participation by cycle
Presidential Midterm Derived, pre-2016
0%20%40%
36.1%
200420082012201620182020
Select a presidential cycle to show it on the map and results ledger above.
Cycle
Participants
CVAP
Turnout
Series
Quality
33,068
80,953 ± 1,688
40.8%
Audited
E/A
2018Mid
28,941
80,067 ± 1,644
36.1%
Audited
E/A
34,384
79,093 ± 1,661
43.5%
Audited
E/A
32,873
76,610
42.9%
Derived
—
34,657
76,348
45.4%
Derived
—
30,311
76,086 extrapolated
39.8%
Derived
—
Sources and methods
Audited cycles (2016, 2018, 2020) count total general-election participants against the same-year CVAP special tabulation, each cell carrying its own numerator and denominator quality grade. Derived cycles (2004, 2008, 2012) come from the certified presidential returns on this page over the ACS 5-year CVAP series, so they measure presidential votes cast rather than ballots — a floor on participation. Where a derived cycle predates the ACS its denominator is extrapolated rather than read, and says so on its own line below. They are shown for the longer arc and are excluded from the drop-off, excess-drop-off, and 2026 scenario figures above.
2020: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 321/4.
2018: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 320/139.
2016: numerator source 160, denominator source 157; estimated total ballots; preferred-county:block-reference-presidential-or-cvap-weight:v2; allocation share 100.0%; series 319/133.
2012 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2008 (derived): Certified presidential returns · ACS 5-year CVAP (B05003); presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count.
2004 (derived): Certified presidential returns · extrapolated CVAP denominator; presidential votes cast — a floor on participation, not a ballot count; 2004 predates the ACS, so the denominator is a linear back-extrapolation from the 2008 and 2012 CVAP values, not a read figure.
presidential history
Party record book
Hartford, CT · the strongest Democratic and Republican presidential performances recorded here, measured three ways.
2004–2024 · 6 presidential cycles
Highest vote share
Largest share of the presidential candidate vote cast here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2012
92.3%
30,352 votes · D+85.8
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2008 · 91.6%
Republican
Donald Trump2024
17.1%
4,884 votes · D+64.7
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2020 · 12.6%
Most votes
Largest number of votes cast for the party’s presidential nominee here.
Democratic
Barack Obama2008
31,741votes
91.6% of the vote · D+83.8
Runner-up · Hillary Clinton, 2016 · 30,375 votes
Republican
Donald Trump2024
4,884votes
17.1% of the vote · D+64.7
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2020 · 4,116 votes
Best relative to the U.S.
This Place’s margin against the national margin in the same election — positive when it leaned toward the party more than the country did.
Democratic
John Kerry2004
+82.4pts D vs U.S.
Place D+79.9 · U.S. R+2.5
Runner-up · Barack Obama, 2012 · +82.0 pts
Republican
Donald Trump2024
−66.2pts R vs U.S.
Place D+64.7 · U.S. R+1.5
Runner-up · Donald Trump, 2020 · −69.5 pts
U.S. House elections · 2 House
U.S. House
Each row shows U.S. House votes counted inside this Place. “Vote lead” is the local lead here, not necessarily the winner of the full contest.
Hartford · Akashic carries this place’s presidential nominating contests, but not at this place’s own grain.
Connecticut’s presidential primary returns are aggregated to the eight counties retired as county-equivalents in 2022. Akashic publishes the nine planning regions that replaced them, and their boundaries cross the old county lines. The presidential record elsewhere on this page crosses that boundary because a general-election county row carries each party’s votes, and votes can be apportioned and disclosed as an estimate. A primary county row carries a leader and a lead over the runner-up and nothing else: there is no per-candidate vote to apportion, and who led is not a quantity that can be weighted. So the record is complete and published — at Connecticut’s state contest, not at this grain. See Connecticut’s Democratic presidential primary.
Hartford's majority-minority electorate and dense urban core make it one of Connecticut's highest-leverage cities in close statewide races, with Democratic margins routinely exceeding 80 points in presidential cycles.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 85.8 points in 2012. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 9.3 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 64.7 points.
A population of 121,127, a 16% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $46,411 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of New Haven and Trenton.
Akashic
Political twins — cities
The cities 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.
In 2024, Hartford, Connecticut voted Democratic by 64.7 points (D+64.7), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 28,634 votes cast, 23,418 went Democratic and 4,884 went Republican.
How many people live in Hartford, Connecticut?
Hartford, Connecticut has a population of 121,127 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Hartford, Connecticut?
Median household income in Hartford, Connecticut is $46,411 — below the national median of $80,734. The Connecticut state median is $95,781.
What is the political history of Hartford, Connecticut?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Hartford, Connecticut from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 0 went Republican.
