Prairie County, Arkansas: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+66%. Democratic peak: D+83 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+66MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 8,0642024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,6462024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 83.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 9.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+83 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+66 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Cross County, AR · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Prairie CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Prairie 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 | +21.8% |
| 1896 | +28.7% |
| 1900 | +26.5% |
| 1904 | −0.7% |
| 1908 | +14.7% |
| 1912 | +22.8% |
| 1916 | +23.7% |
| 1920 | +6.5% |
| 1924 | +29.1% |
| 1928 | +23.9% |
| 1932 | +82.9% |
| 1936 | +64.7% |
| 1940 | +52.1% |
| 1944 | +41.1% |
| 1948 | +45.3% |
| 1952 | +31.2% |
| 1956 | +24.1% |
| 1960 | +35.9% |
| 1964 | +10.2% |
| 1968 | +5.1% |
| 1972 | −42.9% |
| 1976 | +55.4% |
| 1980 | +1.9% |
| 1984 | −25.0% |
| 1988 | −7.1% |
| 1992 | +30.6% |
| 1996 | +33.2% |
| 2000 | −8.5% |
| 2004 | −12.9% |
| 2008 | −34.8% |
| 2012 | −40.5% |
| 2016 | −50.1% |
| 2020 | −61.0% |
| 2024 | −65.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 524 | 2,628 | 3,200 | ||
| R | 654 | 2,786 | 3,495 | ||
| R | 814 | 2,505 | 3,375 | ||
| R | 880 | 2,153 | 3,141 | ||
| R | 1,048 | 2,223 | 3,381 | ||
| R | 1,562 | 2,030 | 3,624 | ||
| R | 1,563 | 1,862 | 3,507 | ||
| D | 2,211 | 1,025 | 3,575 | ||
| D | 2,366 | 1,154 | 3,956 | ||
| R | 1,688 | 1,947 | 3,656 | ||
| R | 1,437 | 2,407 | 3,876 | ||
| D | 1,928 | 1,855 | 3,895 | ||
| D | 2,836 | 813 | 3,649 | ||
| R | 873 | 2,186 | 3,059 | ||
| O | 875 | 693 | 3,582 | ||
| D | 1,812 | 1,476 | 3,310 | ||
| D | 1,680 | 734 | 2,636 | ||
| D | 1,504 | 917 | 2,440 | ||
| D | 1,664 | 871 | 2,541 | ||
| D | 1,020 | 260 | 1,678 | ||
| D | 1,117 | 465 | 1,585 | ||
| D | 1,069 | 336 | 1,408 | ||
| D | 1,321 | 282 | 1,606 | ||
| D | 1,743 | 158 | 1,911 | ||
| D | 1,000 | 613 | 1,621 | ||
| D | 730 | 386 | 1,181 | ||
| D | 962 | 842 | 1,845 | ||
| D | 1,061 | 655 | 1,716 | ||
| D | 647 | 376 | 1,186 | ||
| D | 1,103 | 812 | 1,974 | ||
| R | 639 | 648 | 1,315 | ||
| D | 856 | 496 | 1,361 | ||
| D | 1,145 | 633 | 1,783 | ||
| D | 960 | 604 | 1,636 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
15.5%
German
12.5%
English
10.7%
American
5.8%
Scottish
1.2%
Italian
0.8%
French
0.7%
African American
7.9%
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: 45.7 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
$51,646
Prairie County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Prairie County$51,646
Arkansas$60,773
United States$80,734
Prairie 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
11.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.3%
Working age (18–64)12.3%
Seniors (65+)13.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.7%
speak English only
Spanish1.9%
Other Indo-European0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 51.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Prairie County's population has declined steadily for decades, leaving a sparse, agriculture-dominated electorate that delivered a 65-point Republican margin in 2024 — among the widest gaps in the state.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at eighty-three points in 1932 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by nine points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-six points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $51,646 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 12% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Cross County and Perry 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.
Prairie County, Arkansas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/05117/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Prairie County, Arkansas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Prairie County, Arkansas voted Republican by 65.8 points (R+66), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,200 votes cast, 524 went Democratic and 2,628 went Republican.
What is Prairie County, Arkansas's political typology?
Akashic places Prairie County, Arkansas in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to Republican. 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 22 times, Republican 11 times, and other 1 times.
When did Prairie County, Arkansas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Prairie County, Arkansas voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Prairie County, Arkansas?
Prairie County, Arkansas has a population of 8,064 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Prairie County, Arkansas?
Median household income in Prairie County, Arkansas is $51,646 — below the national median of $80,734. The Arkansas state median is $60,773.
What is the political history of Prairie County, Arkansas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Prairie County, Arkansas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 22 went Democratic and 11 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.