† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
20042024
Boundary by 2024 margin · Precinct returns · VEST · 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
GroupBethlehemPennsylvaniaUnited States
German18.3%21.6%12.5%
Irish9.9%14.8%9.4%
Italian9.2%10.6%4.8%
American7.4%4.4%5.3%
English5.5%8.3%9.5%
Polish3.5%5.4%2.2%
Hungarian1.8%——
Slovak1.4%0.8%—
Puerto Rican13.4%3.7%1.8%
Dominican6.0%1.4%0.7%
Mexican2.1%1.4%11.3%
Colombian1.1%0.2%0.4%
Ecuadorian0.9%——
Guatemalan0.6%0.2%0.5%
Peruvian0.6%——
Cuban0.5%0.2%0.7%
African American†6.1%8.7%9.9%
Jamaican0.8%0.3%0.4%
Haitian0.6%0.2%0.3%
African0.5%0.4%0.5%
Asian Indian1.1%1.2%1.4%
Chinese0.6%0.9%1.3%
Pakistani0.3%——
Filipino0.3%0.2%0.9%
Vietnamese0.3%0.3%0.6%
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
Bethlehem
Pennsylvania
United States
Median age
36.1
41.2
39.1
Age 18–24
16.3%
8.9%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
18.8%
19.5%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Bethlehem
Pennsylvania
United States
Median household income
$68,879
$77,971
$84,427
Poverty rate
15.7%
11.7%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
36.0%
35.2%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Bethlehem
Pennsylvania
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
23.6%
12.4%
22.3%
Spanish
17.8%
5.6%
13.6%
Other Indo-European
1.9%
1.7%
2.0%
Chinese (incl. Mandarin & Cantonese)
1.0%
0.8%
1.1%
Religious landscape
Measure
Bethlehem
Pennsylvania
United States
Catholic
—
21.9%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
—
9.3%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
—
53.1%
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.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
presidential history
Presidential margin, 2004–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
2004
+24.8%
2008
+35.4%
2012
+31.3%
2016
+30.2%
2020
+32.3%
2024
+28.4%
DemocraticRepublican
6 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. Third-party votes in 2012 are allocated from certified county totals by this place's share of each county's two-party vote — that cycle's precinct source records two-party splits. † 2004 sub-county results are estimated: the source's block-level detail for this cycle was unreliable — either county/municipality-level consolidated reporting (COVID-era) or a precinct-to-block allocation that misplaced votes — so the figures are allocated from the constituent county totals in proportion to the place and scaled to certified totals.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
63.7%Harris23,886
35.3%Trump13,237
1.0%
D+28.4
R+3.9
D+29.9
37,492
D
65.5%Biden23,692
33.2%Trump12,016
1.3%
D+32.3
D+2.1
D+27.8
36,167
D
63.0%Clinton20,163
32.8%Trump10,498
4.1%
D+30.2
R+1.1
D+28.1
31,986
D
64.9%Obama19,503
33.6%Romney10,088
1.5%
D+31.3
R+4.1
D+27.5
30,038
D
67.0%Obama21,616
31.6%McCain10,186
1.5%
D+35.4
D+10.6
D+28.1
32,281
D
61.9%Kerry18,203
37.0%Bush10,895
1.1%
D+24.8
—
D+27.3
29,421
Bethlehem's political identity has tracked its demographic transformation: as its Latino share has grown past 40%, a city once anchored by Bethlehem Steel's unionized workforce has trended reliably Democratic in statewide contests by double-digit margins.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 35.4 points in 2008. Between 2020 and 2024 the city moved 3.9 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 28.4 points.
A population of 77,956, a 55% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $68,879 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lancaster and Orlando.
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, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania voted Democratic by 28.4 points (D+28.4), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 37,492 votes cast, 23,886 went Democratic and 13,237 went Republican.
How many people live in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has a population of 77,956 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is $68,879 — below the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 0 went Republican.
