Bent County, Colorado: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+39%. Democratic peak: D+49 in 1896.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+39MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 5,5492024 5-year
- Median household income
- $50,1792024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 67.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 32.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+49 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+45 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Meade County, KY · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Bent CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Bent 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 | +16.1% |
| 1884 | +7.4% |
| 1888 | −10.2% |
| 1892 | −40.3% |
| 1896 | +49.3% |
| 1900 | −2.0% |
| 1904 | −31.2% |
| 1908 | −5.3% |
| 1912 | +16.1% |
| 1916 | +26.7% |
| 1920 | −24.8% |
| 1924 | −25.3% |
| 1928 | −44.8% |
| 1932 | +18.5% |
| 1936 | +16.4% |
| 1940 | −3.8% |
| 1944 | −3.3% |
| 1948 | +12.1% |
| 1952 | −19.3% |
| 1956 | −14.5% |
| 1960 | −15.3% |
| 1964 | +29.7% |
| 1968 | −3.9% |
| 1972 | −31.1% |
| 1976 | +4.5% |
| 1980 | −13.4% |
| 1984 | −20.7% |
| 1988 | +2.6% |
| 1992 | +10.0% |
| 1996 | +5.9% |
| 2000 | −15.9% |
| 2004 | −25.7% |
| 2008 | −14.5% |
| 2012 | −13.4% |
| 2016 | −31.0% |
| 2020 | −33.9% |
| 2024 | −38.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 645 | 1,496 | 2,189 | ||
| R | 732 | 1,503 | 2,274 | ||
| R | 590 | 1,188 | 1,927 | ||
| R | 815 | 1,075 | 1,942 | ||
| R | 799 | 1,077 | 1,920 | ||
| R | 785 | 1,338 | 2,155 | ||
| R | 783 | 1,096 | 1,963 | ||
| D | 1,046 | 917 | 2,199 | ||
| D | 985 | 759 | 2,257 | ||
| D | 1,088 | 1,032 | 2,167 | ||
| R | 859 | 1,314 | 2,199 | ||
| R | 894 | 1,206 | 2,330 | ||
| D | 1,268 | 1,156 | 2,480 | ||
| R | 787 | 1,525 | 2,372 | ||
| R | 1,126 | 1,228 | 2,587 | ||
| D | 1,737 | 937 | 2,696 | ||
| R | 1,228 | 1,671 | 2,904 | ||
| R | 1,283 | 1,718 | 3,001 | ||
| R | 1,317 | 1,950 | 3,283 | ||
| D | 1,658 | 1,296 | 2,984 | ||
| R | 1,456 | 1,556 | 3,021 | ||
| R | 1,759 | 1,899 | 3,675 | ||
| D | 1,821 | 1,299 | 3,181 | ||
| D | 1,948 | 1,327 | 3,353 | ||
| R | 741 | 1,957 | 2,713 | ||
| R | 804 | 1,511 | 2,791 | ||
| R | 937 | 1,584 | 2,611 | ||
| D | 1,473 | 833 | 2,394 | ||
| O | 730 | 420 | 1,930 | ||
| R | 819 | 915 | 1,804 | ||
| R | 416 | 812 | 1,270 | ||
| R | 546 | 569 | 1,127 | ||
| D | 591 | 197 | 800 | ||
| O | 0 | 162 | 402 | ||
| R | 1,074 | 1,338 | 2,594 | ||
| D | 446 | 382 | 863 | ||
| D | 242 | 174 | 422 | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
9.2%
English
7.7%
Irish
7.1%
American
5.2%
Scottish
3.6%
Italian
2.4%
French
0.6%
African American
2.6%
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: 40.6 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
$50,179
Bent County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Bent County$50,179
Colorado$95,470
United States$80,734
Bent 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
28.4%
Nearly half of children live in poverty.
Children under 1844.4%
Working age (18–64)24.6%
Seniors (65+)21.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
91.1%
speak English only
Spanish7.6%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 86.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Bent County's roughly 6,000 residents are spread across southeastern Colorado's high plains, and its presidential margins have leaned heavily Republican for decades — the 2024 gap of nearly 39 points is consistent with the region's long-running pattern.
The Republican margin here reached forty-five points in 1928. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-nine points.
A median household income of $50,179, a 67% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 5,549 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Meade County and Nelson 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.
Bent County, Colorado. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/08011/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More sunbelt conservative counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Bent County, Colorado vote in 2024?
In 2024, Bent County, Colorado voted Republican by 38.9 points (R+39), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,189 votes cast, 645 went Democratic and 1,496 went Republican.
What is Bent County, Colorado's political typology?
Akashic places Bent County, Colorado in the "Sunbelt Conservative" typology — Affluent, predominantly white Sunbelt counties — reliably 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 12 times, Republican 23 times, and other 2 times.
When did Bent County, Colorado last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Bent County, Colorado voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Bent County, Colorado?
Bent County, Colorado has a population of 5,549 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Bent County, Colorado?
Median household income in Bent County, Colorado is $50,179 — below the national median of $80,734. The Colorado state median is $95,470.
What is the political history of Bent County, Colorado?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Bent County, Colorado from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 12 went Democratic and 23 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.