† 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
GroupSwarthmorePennsylvaniaUnited States
Irish25.6%14.8%9.4%
Italian16.6%10.6%4.8%
German13.6%21.6%12.5%
English8.9%8.3%9.5%
Polish4.0%5.4%2.2%
American3.1%4.4%5.3%
Scottish1.6%1.1%1.3%
French1.2%—1.6%
African American†8.4%8.7%9.9%
African0.5%0.4%0.5%
Liberian0.4%——
Jamaican0.3%0.3%0.4%
Haitian0.2%0.2%0.3%
Asian Indian1.8%1.2%1.4%
Chinese1.4%0.9%1.3%
Vietnamese0.8%0.3%0.6%
Korean0.5%0.2%0.4%
Filipino0.3%0.2%0.9%
Pakistani0.3%——
Bangladeshi0.3%——
Cambodian0.2%——
Puerto Rican2.2%3.7%1.8%
Mexican1.2%1.4%11.3%
Ecuadorian0.7%——
Honduran0.4%—0.3%
Cuban0.3%0.2%0.7%
Dominican0.3%1.4%0.7%
Colombian0.3%0.2%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
Swarthmore
Pennsylvania
United States
Median age
28.3
41.2
39.1
Age 18–24
28.2%
8.9%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
16.0%
19.5%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Swarthmore
Pennsylvania
United States
Median household income
$152,361
$77,971
$84,427
Poverty rate
1.8%
11.7%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
81.5%
35.2%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Swarthmore
Pennsylvania
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
14.5%
12.4%
22.3%
Spanish
4.5%
5.6%
13.6%
French (incl. Cajun & Haitian)
3.0%
0.5%
0.7%
Chinese (incl. Mandarin & Cantonese)
2.9%
0.8%
1.1%
Other languages
1.7%
0.5%
0.8%
Religious landscape
Measure
Swarthmore
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.
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
presidential history
Presidential margin, 2004–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
2004
+64.7%
2008
+67.5%
2012
+62.0%
2016
+75.5%
2020
+77.5%
2024
+78.0%
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
88.4%Harris3,864
10.4%Trump456
1.2%
D+78.0
D+0.4
D+79.4
4,372
D
88.5%Biden3,520
10.9%Trump435
0.6%
D+77.5
D+2.0
D+73.1
3,979
D
86.7%Clinton3,451
11.2%Trump446
2.1%
D+75.5
D+13.5
D+73.4
3,980
D
80.5%Obama3,149
18.5%Romney723
1.0%
D+62.0
R+5.5
D+58.2
3,912
D
83.4%Obama3,354
15.9%McCain638
0.7%
D+67.5
D+2.9
D+60.3
4,022
D
82.3%Kerry3,047
17.6%Bush652
0.1%
D+64.7
—
D+67.1
3,703
Swarthmore Borough, anchored by its namesake liberal-arts college, posts unusually high voter-participation rates for a community of roughly 6,500 and sits within Delaware County's increasingly competitive suburban corridor southwest of Philadelphia.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 78.0 points in 2024. The 2024 margin was 78.0 points.
A population of 6,550, a 71% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $152,361 describe the city. The city's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Ardmore and Grandview Heights.
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, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania voted Democratic by 78.0 points (D+78.0), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 4,372 votes cast, 3,864 went Democratic and 456 went Republican.
How many people live in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania?
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania has a population of 6,550 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania?
Median household income in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania is $152,361 — above the national median of $80,734. The Pennsylvania state median is $77,971.
What is the political history of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania?
Akashic tracks 6 presidential elections in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 0 went Republican.
