San Luis Obispo County, California: Diversifying Metro county. In 2024, voted D+11%. Democratic peak: D+40 in 1912.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+11MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Diversifying MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 281,5552024 5-year
- Median household income
- $97,4462024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 69.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 25.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+40 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+40 in 1924MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Larimer County, CO · similarity 0.95
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of San Luis Obispo CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for San Luis Obispo 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 | +10.0% |
| 1880 | −5.8% |
| 1884 | −6.8% |
| 1888 | −3.1% |
| 1892 | −6.2% |
| 1896 | +10.1% |
| 1900 | +4.4% |
| 1904 | −23.1% |
| 1908 | −15.8% |
| 1912 | +40.5% |
| 1916 | +9.6% |
| 1920 | −37.4% |
| 1924 | −39.6% |
| 1928 | −23.4% |
| 1932 | +37.2% |
| 1936 | +23.8% |
| 1940 | +8.1% |
| 1944 | +1.7% |
| 1948 | −11.3% |
| 1952 | −31.0% |
| 1956 | −17.4% |
| 1960 | −8.7% |
| 1964 | +19.8% |
| 1968 | −9.5% |
| 1972 | −15.3% |
| 1976 | −5.3% |
| 1980 | −26.1% |
| 1984 | −28.7% |
| 1988 | −13.1% |
| 1992 | +3.6% |
| 1996 | −6.3% |
| 2000 | −11.3% |
| 2004 | −7.2% |
| 2008 | +5.3% |
| 2012 | +1.0% |
| 2016 | +8.0% |
| 2020 | +13.1% |
| 2024 | +10.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 81,314 | 64,932 | 150,812 | ||
| D | 88,310 | 67,436 | 159,714 | ||
| D | 67,107 | 56,164 | 137,202 | ||
| D | 61,258 | 59,967 | 125,966 | ||
| D | 68,176 | 61,055 | 133,155 | ||
| R | 58,742 | 67,995 | 129,050 | ||
| R | 44,526 | 56,859 | 108,886 | ||
| R | 40,395 | 46,733 | 100,500 | ||
| D | 40,136 | 36,384 | 104,619 | ||
| R | 35,667 | 46,613 | 83,467 | ||
| R | 26,946 | 49,035 | 76,950 | ||
| R | 20,508 | 38,631 | 69,527 | ||
| R | 24,926 | 27,785 | 54,298 | ||
| R | 20,779 | 28,566 | 51,033 | ||
| R | 15,828 | 19,420 | 37,881 | ||
| D | 22,252 | 14,906 | 37,186 | ||
| R | 14,975 | 17,862 | 33,055 | ||
| R | 11,407 | 16,223 | 27,748 | ||
| R | 8,761 | 16,733 | 25,691 | ||
| R | 8,135 | 10,325 | 19,304 | ||
| D | 8,068 | 7,793 | 15,936 | ||
| D | 8,499 | 7,204 | 15,920 | ||
| D | 7,889 | 4,812 | 12,906 | ||
| D | 7,933 | 3,449 | 12,062 | ||
| R | 3,336 | 5,425 | 8,920 | ||
| R | 731 | 3,804 | 7,761 | ||
| R | 1,606 | 4,123 | 6,725 | ||
| D | 3,539 | 2,854 | 7,099 | ||
| O | 2,248 | 0 | 5,553 | ||
| R | 1,381 | 2,008 | 3,956 | ||
| R | 1,167 | 2,015 | 3,667 | ||
| D | 1,713 | 1,564 | 3,414 | ||
| D | 2,056 | 1,671 | 3,820 | ||
| R | 1,199 | 1,433 | 3,761 | ||
| R | 1,585 | 1,689 | 3,400 | ||
| R | 1,069 | 1,233 | 2,397 | ||
| R | 729 | 830 | 1,736 | ||
| D | 944 | 772 | 1,716 |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
14.9%
English
14.4%
Irish
12.7%
Italian
6.3%
Scottish
2.8%
French
2.5%
American
2.2%
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: 40.4 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
$97,446
San Luis Obispo County ranks in the top 5% of US counties.
San Luis Obispo County$97,446
California$99,122
United States$80,734
San Luis Obispo 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
12.9%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.6%
Working age (18–64)13.5%
Seniors (65+)8.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
82.5%
speak English only
Spanish13.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.0%
Other Indo-European1.7%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the county's electorate skews younger and more educated than its Central Coast neighbors, a demographic mix that has steadily widened its Democratic presidential margin over the past two decades.
The Democratic margin here reached forty points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was eleven points.
A population of 281,555, a 69% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $97,446 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Larimer County and Jefferson 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 Luis Obispo County, California. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/06079/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in California
More diversifying metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did San Luis Obispo County, California vote in 2024?
In 2024, San Luis Obispo County, California voted Democratic by 10.9 points (D+11), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 150,812 votes cast, 81,314 went Democratic and 64,932 went Republican.
What is San Luis Obispo County, California's political typology?
Akashic places San Luis Obispo County, California in the "Diversifying Metro" typology — Mid-size metropolitan counties growing more diverse and trending Democratic. 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 15 times, Republican 22 times, and other 1 times.
When did San Luis Obispo County, California last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which San Luis Obispo County, California voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in San Luis Obispo County, California?
San Luis Obispo County, California has a population of 281,555 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in San Luis Obispo County, California?
Median household income in San Luis Obispo County, California is $97,446 — above the national median of $80,734. The California state median is $99,122.
What is the political history of San Luis Obispo County, California?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in San Luis Obispo County, California from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The county's typology — "Diversifying Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.