Clarke County, Alabama: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted R+17%. Democratic peak: D+97 in 1940.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+17MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 22,5432024 5-year
- Median household income
- $49,2492024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 51.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 44.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+97 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+83 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Attala County, MS · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Clarke CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Clarke County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
—
Margin—
Turnout—
Harris +50Trump +50
Real precinct boundaries. Hover for vote totals.
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1876–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1876 | +11.3% |
| 1880 | +21.2% |
| 1884 | +8.1% |
| 1888 | +11.8% |
| 1892 | +40.0% |
| 1896 | +62.4% |
| 1900 | +69.0% |
| 1904 | +85.1% |
| 1908 | +89.7% |
| 1912 | +94.1% |
| 1916 | +95.7% |
| 1920 | +92.9% |
| 1924 | +85.2% |
| 1928 | +27.9% |
| 1932 | +95.5% |
| 1936 | +95.5% |
| 1940 | +97.4% |
| 1944 | +88.1% |
| 1948 | −2.2% |
| 1952 | +41.1% |
| 1956 | +22.3% |
| 1960 | −3.5% |
| 1964 | −82.8% |
| 1968 | +14.2% |
| 1972 | −43.5% |
| 1976 | +6.8% |
| 1980 | +1.8% |
| 1984 | −16.9% |
| 1988 | −14.9% |
| 1992 | −4.0% |
| 1996 | +0.5% |
| 2000 | −12.2% |
| 2004 | −18.5% |
| 2008 | −11.6% |
| 2012 | −8.2% |
| 2016 | −10.7% |
| 2020 | −11.9% |
| 2024 | −17.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 4,927 | 6,965 | 11,958 | ||
| R | 5,755 | 7,324 | 13,135 | ||
| R | 5,749 | 7,140 | 12,988 | ||
| R | 6,334 | 7,470 | 13,851 | ||
| R | 5,914 | 7,466 | 13,435 | ||
| R | 4,627 | 6,730 | 11,394 | ||
| R | 4,679 | 5,988 | 10,752 | ||
| D | 4,831 | 4,785 | 10,118 | ||
| R | 5,023 | 5,495 | 11,717 | ||
| R | 4,217 | 5,708 | 10,020 | ||
| R | 4,452 | 6,282 | 10,811 | ||
| D | 5,249 | 5,059 | 10,663 | ||
| D | 4,737 | 4,126 | 9,006 | ||
| R | 2,031 | 5,256 | 7,414 | ||
| O | 1,717 | 488 | 8,626 | ||
| R | 0 | 4,460 | 5,384 | ||
| R | 1,878 | 2,016 | 3,967 | ||
| D | 1,962 | 1,246 | 3,215 | ||
| D | 3,121 | 1,303 | 4,425 | ||
| O | 0 | 47 | 2,110 | ||
| D | 2,263 | 142 | 2,408 | ||
| D | 3,753 | 48 | 3,802 | ||
| D | 2,673 | 60 | 2,735 | ||
| D | 2,408 | 53 | 2,465 | ||
| D | 1,662 | 936 | 2,598 | ||
| D | 1,059 | 78 | 1,152 | ||
| D | 1,253 | 43 | 1,302 | ||
| D | 1,397 | 25 | 1,434 | ||
| D | 1,024 | 13 | 1,074 | ||
| D | 1,169 | 56 | 1,241 | ||
| D | 1,131 | 79 | 1,236 | ||
| D | 2,066 | 372 | 2,456 | ||
| D | 2,243 | 502 | 2,792 | ||
| D | 1,561 | 371 | 2,974 | ||
| D | 1,566 | 1,235 | 2,801 | ||
| D | 1,045 | 888 | 1,933 | ||
| D | 1,138 | 740 | 1,878 | ||
| D | 1,406 | 1,120 | 2,526 |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
8.5%
American
5.6%
Irish
4.8%
German
2.3%
Scottish
1.6%
French
1.5%
Italian
1.0%
African American
35.8%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander combined.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
2024 ACS
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 42.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Median household income
Inflation-adjusted dollars
$49,249
Clarke County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Clarke County$49,249
Alabama$63,999
United States$80,734
Clarke County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties by median household income.
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
20.1%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1827.2%
Working age (18–64)19.1%
Seniors (65+)9.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.2%
speak English only
Spanish1.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Other Indo-European0.1%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 24.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Clarke County's population has declined steadily over recent decades as timber-dependent communities contracted, leaving a sparse, rural electorate that has swung heavily toward Republican presidential candidates in each successive cycle.
The Democratic margin here reached ninety-seven points in 1940. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was seventeen points. The recent movement, modest against a deep Democratic baseline, mirrors a broader rightward drift across the Black Belt.
The economic context is part of the story: a median household income of $49,249 and a 20% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Attala County and Winston County.
Most similar counties
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.
Clarke County, Alabama. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/01025/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More black belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Clarke County, Alabama vote in 2024?
In 2024, Clarke County, Alabama voted Republican by 17.0 points (R+17), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 11,958 votes cast, 4,927 went Democratic and 6,965 went Republican.
What is Clarke County, Alabama's political typology?
Akashic places Clarke County, Alabama in the "Black Belt" typology — Black-majority counties of the rural South — long the most Democratic ground in the region, now trending Republican at the margins. The typology is a data-driven cluster built from vote share, vote swing, race and ethnicity, income, language spoken at home, religion, and ancestry. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the county has voted Democratic 23 times, Republican 13 times, and other 2 times.
When did Clarke County, Alabama last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Clarke County, Alabama voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Clarke County, Alabama?
Clarke County, Alabama has a population of 22,543 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Clarke County, Alabama?
Median household income in Clarke County, Alabama is $49,249 — below the national median of $80,734. The Alabama state median is $63,999.
What is the political history of Clarke County, Alabama?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Clarke County, Alabama from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 23 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.