Desha County, Arkansas: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted R+5%. Democratic peak: D+92 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+5MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 10,7862024 5-year
- Median household income
- $37,6622024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 44.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 49.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+92 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+34 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Chicot County, AR · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Desha CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Desha 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 | No data |
| 1880 | No data |
| 1884 | No data |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | +14.7% |
| 1896 | +14.8% |
| 1900 | +31.7% |
| 1904 | +42.5% |
| 1908 | +32.2% |
| 1912 | +48.5% |
| 1916 | +44.5% |
| 1920 | +43.5% |
| 1924 | +34.1% |
| 1928 | +53.1% |
| 1932 | +89.6% |
| 1936 | +92.4% |
| 1940 | +80.2% |
| 1944 | +72.6% |
| 1948 | +62.3% |
| 1952 | +50.4% |
| 1956 | +41.3% |
| 1960 | +36.6% |
| 1964 | +26.1% |
| 1968 | +22.7% |
| 1972 | −34.0% |
| 1976 | +51.0% |
| 1980 | +28.0% |
| 1984 | +3.8% |
| 1988 | +9.7% |
| 1992 | +45.1% |
| 1996 | +49.5% |
| 2000 | +26.1% |
| 2004 | +24.1% |
| 2008 | +12.2% |
| 2012 | +12.4% |
| 2016 | +7.4% |
| 2020 | +2.3% |
| 2024 | −4.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,638 | 1,805 | 3,505 | ||
| D | 2,016 | 1,921 | 4,164 | ||
| D | 2,228 | 1,919 | 4,191 | ||
| D | 2,443 | 1,896 | 4,420 | ||
| D | 2,569 | 1,999 | 4,678 | ||
| D | 2,851 | 1,729 | 4,647 | ||
| D | 2,776 | 1,603 | 4,495 | ||
| D | 3,230 | 978 | 4,553 | ||
| D | 3,815 | 1,279 | 5,621 | ||
| D | 2,859 | 2,334 | 5,435 | ||
| D | 2,918 | 2,696 | 5,878 | ||
| D | 3,748 | 2,057 | 6,037 | ||
| D | 4,228 | 1,372 | 5,600 | ||
| R | 1,665 | 3,385 | 5,058 | ||
| O | 2,270 | 972 | 5,716 | ||
| D | 3,294 | 1,930 | 5,236 | ||
| D | 2,502 | 1,063 | 3,936 | ||
| D | 2,935 | 1,204 | 4,191 | ||
| D | 3,150 | 1,037 | 4,192 | ||
| D | 2,122 | 233 | 3,033 | ||
| D | 1,175 | 186 | 1,362 | ||
| D | 1,370 | 146 | 1,526 | ||
| D | 1,411 | 55 | 1,468 | ||
| D | 1,549 | 81 | 1,639 | ||
| D | 1,082 | 331 | 1,415 | ||
| D | 540 | 209 | 970 | ||
| D | 931 | 360 | 1,314 | ||
| D | 960 | 369 | 1,329 | ||
| D | 314 | 52 | 540 | ||
| D | 518 | 263 | 792 | ||
| D | 204 | 82 | 287 | ||
| D | 328 | 168 | 505 | ||
| D | 396 | 290 | 716 | ||
| D | 407 | 298 | 741 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
7.1%
American
5.3%
Irish
2.5%
German
1.4%
African American
39.2%
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: 41.6 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
$37,662
Desha County ranks in the bottom 5% of US counties.
Desha County$37,662
Arkansas$60,773
United States$80,734
Desha County ranks in the bottom 5% 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
28.3%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1839.0%
Working age (18–64)25.2%
Seniors (65+)20.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.3%
speak English only
Spanish6.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 33.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Desha County sits in the Arkansas Delta lowlands, where a substantial Black population and a declining rural white working class have historically produced competitive results — though the 2024 presidential margin settled at R+4.8, reflecting a decade-long rightward drift in small Delta counties.
The Democratic margin here reached ninety-two points in 1936. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was five 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 $37,662 and a 28% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Chicot County and St. Francis 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.
Desha County, Arkansas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/05041/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More black belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Desha County, Arkansas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Desha County, Arkansas voted Republican by 4.8 points (R+5), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,505 votes cast, 1,638 went Democratic and 1,805 went Republican.
What is Desha County, Arkansas's political typology?
Akashic places Desha County, Arkansas 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 31 times, Republican 2 times, and other 1 times.
When did Desha County, Arkansas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Desha County, Arkansas voted Democratic was 2020.
How many people live in Desha County, Arkansas?
Desha County, Arkansas has a population of 10,786 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Desha County, Arkansas?
Median household income in Desha County, Arkansas is $37,662 — below the national median of $80,734. The Arkansas state median is $60,773.
What is the political history of Desha County, Arkansas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Desha County, Arkansas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 31 went Democratic and 2 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.