Bethel Census Area, Alaska: New American county. In 2024, voted D+12%. Democratic peak: D+73 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+12MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 18,3942024 5-year
- Median household income
- $73,9962024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 8.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+73 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+35 in 1960MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Kusilvak Census Area, AK · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Bethel Census AreaPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Bethel Census Area, 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 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | No data |
| 1916 | No data |
| 1920 | No data |
| 1924 | No data |
| 1928 | No data |
| 1932 | No data |
| 1936 | No data |
| 1940 | No data |
| 1944 | No data |
| 1948 | No data |
| 1952 | No data |
| 1956 | No data |
| 1960 | −34.7% |
| 1964 | +73.1% |
| 1968 | +14.8% |
| 1972 | +15.4% |
| 1976 | +2.3% |
| 1980 | +35.7% |
| 1984 | −6.4% |
| 1988 | −7.5% |
| 1992 | −0.0% |
| 1996 | +27.3% |
| 2000 | +4.3% |
| 2004 | −1.6% |
| 2008 | +8.6% |
| 2012 | +48.1% |
| 2016 | +33.0% |
| 2020 | +28.0% |
| 2024 | +12.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 2,209 | 1,677 | 4,411 | ||
| D | 3,092 | 1,668 | 5,084 | ||
| D | 2,772 | 1,116 | 5,014 | ||
| D | 3,415 | 1,122 | 4,770 | ||
| D | 2,695 | 2,250 | 5,172 | ||
| R | 2,118 | 2,188 | 4,510 | ||
| D | 2,227 | 2,022 | 4,799 | ||
| D | 2,784 | 1,467 | 4,818 | ||
| R | 1,841 | 1,842 | 4,590 | ||
| R | 1,671 | 1,952 | 3,766 | ||
| R | 2,103 | 2,401 | 4,665 | ||
| D | 2,063 | 858 | 3,371 | ||
| D | 1,410 | 1,345 | 2,865 | ||
| D | 1,424 | 1,033 | 2,545 | ||
| D | 1,292 | 939 | 2,389 | ||
| D | 1,649 | 256 | 1,906 | ||
| R | 381 | 786 | 1,167 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
3.1%
Irish
1.5%
English
1.5%
French
0.6%
Italian
0.5%
American
0.5%
African American
1.0%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 29.0 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
$73,996
Bethel Census Area ranks near the middle of US counties.
Bethel Census Area$73,996
Alaska$92,788
United States$80,734
Bethel Census Area ranks near the middle 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
25.6%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1832.2%
Working age (18–64)22.2%
Seniors (65+)17.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
41.8%
speak English only
Other languages55.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.3%
Other Indo-European1.1%
Spanish0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Bethel Census Area spans a roadless stretch of western Alaska where Yup'ik communities make up the majority of the population, producing Democratic margins that stand out sharply against the state's otherwise Republican-leaning presidential map.
Bethel Census Area has leaned Democratic in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of seventy-three points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved sixteen points toward the Republican candidate — part of the sharpest rightward shift recorded among any group of places in the country.
Its demographics describe the shift: a 8% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $73,996, and a population of 18,394. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Kusilvak Census Area and Imperial 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.
Bethel Census Area, Alaska. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/02050/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Alaska
More new american counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Bethel Census Area, Alaska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Bethel Census Area, Alaska voted Democratic by 12.1 points (D+12), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 4,411 votes cast, 2,209 went Democratic and 1,677 went Republican.
What is Bethel Census Area, Alaska's political typology?
Akashic places Bethel Census Area, Alaska in the "New American" typology — Communities where a large share of households speak a language other than English — multilingual, Democratic-leaning overall, yet the hardest-swinging bloc toward the Republican Party in 2024. 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 12 times, Republican 5 times, and other 0 times.
When did Bethel Census Area, Alaska last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Bethel Census Area, Alaska voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in Bethel Census Area, Alaska?
Bethel Census Area, Alaska has a population of 18,394 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Bethel Census Area, Alaska?
Median household income in Bethel Census Area, Alaska is $73,996 — below the national median of $80,734. The Alaska state median is $92,788.
What is the political history of Bethel Census Area, Alaska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Bethel Census Area, Alaska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 5 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.