Madera County, California: New American county. In 2024, voted R+21%. Democratic peak: D+53 in 1936.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+21MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 160,9402024 5-year
- Median household income
- $76,6272024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 37.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 60.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+53 in 1936MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+30 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Colusa County, CA · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Madera CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Madera 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 | No data |
| 1896 | +23.7% |
| 1900 | −1.8% |
| 1904 | −11.5% |
| 1908 | −1.7% |
| 1912 | +47.7% |
| 1916 | +16.0% |
| 1920 | −19.8% |
| 1924 | −30.0% |
| 1928 | −10.7% |
| 1932 | +44.9% |
| 1936 | +53.1% |
| 1940 | +36.4% |
| 1944 | +19.6% |
| 1948 | +20.2% |
| 1952 | +0.9% |
| 1956 | +15.5% |
| 1960 | +16.1% |
| 1964 | +35.6% |
| 1968 | +4.9% |
| 1972 | −8.4% |
| 1976 | +5.2% |
| 1980 | −14.2% |
| 1984 | −21.3% |
| 1988 | −10.8% |
| 1992 | −7.3% |
| 1996 | −17.1% |
| 2000 | −25.9% |
| 2004 | −29.3% |
| 2008 | −13.3% |
| 2012 | −17.1% |
| 2016 | −14.5% |
| 2020 | −11.6% |
| 2024 | −20.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 20,981 | 32,344 | 54,632 | ||
| R | 23,168 | 29,378 | 53,732 | ||
| R | 17,029 | 23,357 | 43,507 | ||
| R | 16,018 | 22,852 | 39,933 | ||
| R | 17,952 | 23,583 | 42,474 | ||
| R | 13,481 | 24,871 | 38,850 | ||
| R | 11,650 | 20,283 | 33,395 | ||
| R | 11,254 | 16,510 | 30,662 | ||
| R | 10,863 | 13,066 | 30,245 | ||
| R | 10,642 | 13,255 | 24,281 | ||
| R | 8,994 | 13,954 | 23,241 | ||
| R | 7,783 | 10,599 | 19,780 | ||
| D | 7,625 | 6,844 | 14,892 | ||
| R | 6,580 | 7,835 | 14,892 | ||
| D | 6,932 | 6,229 | 14,303 | ||
| D | 9,391 | 4,461 | 13,862 | ||
| D | 8,126 | 5,869 | 14,057 | ||
| D | 7,162 | 5,239 | 12,439 | ||
| D | 6,042 | 5,933 | 12,091 | ||
| D | 5,226 | 3,416 | 8,982 | ||
| D | 4,276 | 2,865 | 7,190 | ||
| D | 5,749 | 2,653 | 8,503 | ||
| D | 4,646 | 1,387 | 6,134 | ||
| D | 3,457 | 1,243 | 4,928 | ||
| R | 1,896 | 2,354 | 4,289 | ||
| O | 450 | 1,518 | 3,558 | ||
| R | 1,145 | 1,779 | 3,208 | ||
| D | 1,880 | 1,323 | 3,481 | ||
| O | 1,154 | 0 | 2,419 | ||
| R | 574 | 596 | 1,329 | ||
| R | 610 | 784 | 1,512 | ||
| R | 737 | 764 | 1,541 | ||
| D | 739 | 452 | 1,211 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
6.2%
English
5.7%
Irish
4.9%
Italian
2.7%
American
1.7%
French
1.1%
Scottish
1.1%
African American
2.1%
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: 34.6 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
$76,627
Madera County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Madera County$76,627
California$99,122
United States$80,734
Madera County ranks in the top 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
19.2%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1827.1%
Working age (18–64)16.2%
Seniors (65+)14.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
54.3%
speak English only
Spanish42.7%
Other Indo-European1.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.9%
Other languages0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Madera County's economy is anchored by farming, dairies, and timber in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and its majority-Hispanic, rural electorate has nonetheless returned Republican presidential margins exceeding 20 points in recent cycles.
Madera County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of fifty-three points in 1936. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved nine 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 38% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $76,627, and a population of 160,940. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Colusa County and Madison 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.
Madera County, California. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/06039/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in California
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Frequently asked questions
How did Madera County, California vote in 2024?
In 2024, Madera County, California voted Republican by 20.8 points (R+21), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 54,632 votes cast, 20,981 went Democratic and 32,344 went Republican.
What is Madera County, California's political typology?
Akashic places Madera County, California 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 13 times, Republican 18 times, and other 2 times.
When did Madera County, California last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Madera County, California voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Madera County, California?
Madera County, California has a population of 160,940 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Madera County, California?
Median household income in Madera County, California is $76,627 — below the national median of $80,734. The California state median is $99,122.
What is the political history of Madera County, California?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Madera County, California from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 18 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.