Rio Grande County, Colorado: Florida Surge county. In 2024, voted R+23%. Democratic peak: D+77 in 1896.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+23MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Florida SurgeAkashic typology
- Population
- 11,3212024 5-year
- Median household income
- $64,4112024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 73.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 40.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+77 in 1896MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+49 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Leake County, MS · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Rio Grande CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Rio Grande 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 | −20.2% |
| 1884 | −21.1% |
| 1888 | −26.2% |
| 1892 | −48.8% |
| 1896 | +76.9% |
| 1900 | +19.2% |
| 1904 | −33.3% |
| 1908 | +0.7% |
| 1912 | +21.0% |
| 1916 | +32.0% |
| 1920 | −24.8% |
| 1924 | −22.1% |
| 1928 | −29.2% |
| 1932 | +23.1% |
| 1936 | +15.3% |
| 1940 | −15.5% |
| 1944 | −31.8% |
| 1948 | −6.1% |
| 1952 | −40.5% |
| 1956 | −32.2% |
| 1960 | −17.2% |
| 1964 | +11.9% |
| 1968 | −21.0% |
| 1972 | −44.0% |
| 1976 | −27.4% |
| 1980 | −32.8% |
| 1984 | −47.3% |
| 1988 | −25.5% |
| 1992 | −8.5% |
| 1996 | −9.5% |
| 2000 | −27.7% |
| 2004 | −26.1% |
| 2008 | −8.9% |
| 2012 | −8.0% |
| 2016 | −19.6% |
| 2020 | −18.5% |
| 2024 | −23.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,306 | 3,743 | 6,194 | ||
| R | 2,495 | 3,660 | 6,305 | ||
| R | 2,001 | 3,085 | 5,534 | ||
| R | 2,478 | 2,918 | 5,533 | ||
| R | 2,448 | 2,930 | 5,444 | ||
| R | 2,006 | 3,448 | 5,526 | ||
| R | 1,707 | 3,111 | 5,075 | ||
| R | 1,720 | 2,129 | 4,301 | ||
| R | 1,541 | 1,927 | 4,533 | ||
| R | 1,545 | 2,626 | 4,235 | ||
| R | 1,104 | 3,122 | 4,262 | ||
| R | 1,370 | 2,844 | 4,488 | ||
| R | 1,475 | 2,627 | 4,212 | ||
| R | 1,029 | 2,787 | 3,999 | ||
| R | 1,562 | 2,442 | 4,187 | ||
| D | 2,161 | 1,699 | 3,867 | ||
| R | 1,782 | 2,524 | 4,312 | ||
| R | 1,441 | 2,816 | 4,264 | ||
| R | 1,350 | 3,201 | 4,566 | ||
| R | 1,814 | 2,049 | 3,876 | ||
| R | 1,325 | 2,567 | 3,900 | ||
| R | 2,242 | 3,075 | 5,357 | ||
| D | 2,574 | 1,884 | 4,524 | ||
| D | 2,539 | 1,557 | 4,258 | ||
| R | 1,226 | 2,254 | 3,520 | ||
| R | 922 | 1,572 | 2,938 | ||
| R | 985 | 1,660 | 2,721 | ||
| D | 1,756 | 886 | 2,717 | ||
| D | 1,286 | 698 | 2,794 | ||
| D | 1,139 | 1,122 | 2,313 | ||
| R | 690 | 1,417 | 2,181 | ||
| D | 1,118 | 752 | 1,907 | ||
| D | 1,428 | 176 | 1,628 | ||
| O | 0 | 539 | 1,104 | ||
| R | 261 | 454 | 738 | ||
| R | 289 | 448 | 753 | ||
| R | 198 | 298 | 496 | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
16.7%
English
12.9%
Irish
8.8%
Italian
3.4%
Scottish
2.2%
American
2.1%
French
1.3%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 41.7 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
$64,411
Rio Grande County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Rio Grande County$64,411
Colorado$95,470
United States$80,734
Rio Grande County ranks near the middle 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
18.0%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1823.4%
Working age (18–64)17.0%
Seniors (65+)13.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
82.9%
speak English only
Spanish16.0%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Rio Grande sits in Colorado's high-desert San Luis Valley, where irrigated potato and barley farming dominate the economy. Voters have shifted steadily toward Republican margins over the past decade, hitting R+23 in 2024.
The Democratic margin here once reached seventy-seven points in 1896. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-three points.
A population of 11,321, a 73% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $64,411 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Leake County and Monroe 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.
Rio Grande County, Colorado. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/08105/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Rio Grande County, Colorado vote in 2024?
In 2024, Rio Grande County, Colorado voted Republican by 23.2 points (R+23), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 6,194 votes cast, 2,306 went Democratic and 3,743 went Republican.
What is Rio Grande County, Colorado's political typology?
Akashic places Rio Grande County, Colorado in the "Florida Surge" typology — Florida coastal and retiree counties that moved sharply Republican across the Trump era. 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 8 times, Republican 28 times, and other 1 times.
When did Rio Grande County, Colorado last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Rio Grande County, Colorado voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Rio Grande County, Colorado?
Rio Grande County, Colorado has a population of 11,321 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Rio Grande County, Colorado?
Median household income in Rio Grande County, Colorado is $64,411 — below the national median of $80,734. The Colorado state median is $95,470.
What is the political history of Rio Grande County, Colorado?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Rio Grande County, Colorado from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Florida Surge" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.