San Diego County, California: New American county. In 2024, voted D+17%. Democratic peak: D+45 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+17MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 3,288,7742024 5-year
- Median household income
- $106,2682024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 48.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 34.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+45 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+43 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Ventura County, CA · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of San Diego CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for San Diego 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 | −8.6% |
| 1880 | −15.1% |
| 1884 | −16.3% |
| 1888 | −18.0% |
| 1892 | −15.4% |
| 1896 | +3.6% |
| 1900 | −16.2% |
| 1904 | −40.2% |
| 1908 | −32.1% |
| 1912 | +44.8% |
| 1916 | −0.4% |
| 1920 | −36.5% |
| 1924 | −42.6% |
| 1928 | −35.2% |
| 1932 | +12.1% |
| 1936 | +28.4% |
| 1940 | +12.3% |
| 1944 | +8.5% |
| 1948 | −1.6% |
| 1952 | −26.3% |
| 1956 | −29.3% |
| 1960 | −13.1% |
| 1964 | −0.6% |
| 1968 | −20.2% |
| 1972 | −27.5% |
| 1976 | −14.1% |
| 1980 | −33.5% |
| 1984 | −31.9% |
| 1988 | −21.8% |
| 1992 | +1.5% |
| 1996 | −1.5% |
| 2000 | −4.0% |
| 2004 | −6.1% |
| 2008 | +10.2% |
| 2012 | +7.6% |
| 2016 | +19.6% |
| 2020 | +22.8% |
| 2024 | +16.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 841,372 | 593,270 | 1,478,028 | ||
| D | 964,650 | 600,094 | 1,602,143 | ||
| D | 735,476 | 477,766 | 1,311,618 | ||
| D | 626,957 | 536,726 | 1,193,949 | ||
| D | 666,581 | 541,032 | 1,235,503 | ||
| R | 526,437 | 596,033 | 1,136,351 | ||
| R | 437,666 | 475,736 | 958,634 | ||
| R | 389,964 | 402,876 | 884,151 | ||
| D | 367,397 | 352,125 | 986,646 | ||
| R | 333,264 | 523,143 | 869,195 | ||
| R | 257,029 | 502,344 | 769,267 | ||
| R | 195,410 | 435,910 | 716,866 | ||
| R | 263,654 | 353,302 | 633,795 | ||
| R | 206,455 | 371,627 | 601,137 | ||
| R | 167,669 | 261,540 | 464,863 | ||
| R | 211,808 | 214,445 | 426,286 | ||
| R | 171,259 | 223,056 | 395,421 | ||
| R | 106,716 | 195,742 | 303,605 | ||
| R | 101,880 | 175,281 | 278,751 | ||
| R | 98,217 | 101,552 | 205,459 | ||
| D | 89,959 | 75,746 | 166,764 | ||
| D | 71,188 | 55,434 | 128,110 | ||
| D | 64,628 | 35,686 | 101,854 | ||
| D | 45,622 | 35,305 | 85,150 | ||
| R | 22,749 | 47,769 | 71,151 | ||
| R | 2,944 | 22,726 | 46,391 | ||
| R | 8,478 | 19,826 | 31,087 | ||
| R | 16,815 | 16,978 | 36,537 | ||
| O | 9,731 | 0 | 21,728 | ||
| R | 2,393 | 5,412 | 9,403 | ||
| R | 1,398 | 4,303 | 7,230 | ||
| R | 2,678 | 3,800 | 6,921 | ||
| D | 3,908 | 3,631 | 7,748 | ||
| R | 2,334 | 3,525 | 7,712 | ||
| R | 3,189 | 4,661 | 8,194 | ||
| R | 800 | 1,120 | 1,965 | ||
| R | 546 | 743 | 1,308 | ||
| R | 668 | 794 | 1,462 |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
9.1%
English
8.0%
Irish
7.8%
Italian
4.2%
American
2.5%
French
1.8%
Polish
1.6%
African American
3.8%
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: 37.3 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
$106,268
San Diego County ranks in the top 5% of US counties.
San Diego County$106,268
California$99,122
United States$80,734
San Diego County ranks in the top 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
10.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.8%
Working age (18–64)9.9%
Seniors (65+)10.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
62.7%
speak English only
Spanish24.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander7.8%
Other Indo-European3.7%
Other languages1.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 58.6% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
San Diego County's political center of gravity has shifted steadily leftward over two decades, driven by a growing Latino population and college-educated suburban voters in communities like Chula Vista and Carlsbad. The 2024 margin of D+16.8 marks its widest Democratic spread yet.
San Diego County has leaned Democratic in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of forty-five points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved six 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 48% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $106,268, and a population of 3,288,774. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Ventura County and Arapahoe 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.
San Diego County, California. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/06073/. 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 San Diego County, California vote in 2024?
In 2024, San Diego County, California voted Democratic by 16.8 points (D+17), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 1,478,028 votes cast, 841,372 went Democratic and 593,270 went Republican.
What is San Diego County, California's political typology?
Akashic places San Diego 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 11 times, Republican 26 times, and other 1 times.
When did San Diego County, California last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which San Diego County, California voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in San Diego County, California?
San Diego County, California has a population of 3,288,774 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in San Diego County, California?
Median household income in San Diego County, California is $106,268 — above the national median of $80,734. The California state median is $99,122.
What is the political history of San Diego County, California?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in San Diego County, California from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.