Bay County, Florida: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+47%. Democratic peak: D+77 in 1940.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+47MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 186,3932024 5-year
- Median household income
- $73,5332024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 75.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 9.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 9.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+77 in 1940MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+68 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Whitfield County, GA · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Bay CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Bay 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 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | No data |
| 1916 | +37.8% |
| 1920 | +17.9% |
| 1924 | +41.7% |
| 1928 | +9.8% |
| 1932 | +72.5% |
| 1936 | +71.1% |
| 1940 | +76.6% |
| 1944 | +69.7% |
| 1948 | +58.0% |
| 1952 | +29.2% |
| 1956 | +27.0% |
| 1960 | +32.1% |
| 1964 | −24.2% |
| 1968 | −4.5% |
| 1972 | −67.6% |
| 1976 | +2.2% |
| 1980 | −24.8% |
| 1984 | −51.5% |
| 1988 | −46.0% |
| 1992 | −21.9% |
| 1996 | −21.9% |
| 2000 | −33.6% |
| 2004 | −43.1% |
| 2008 | −40.7% |
| 2012 | −43.6% |
| 2016 | −46.2% |
| 2020 | −43.5% |
| 2024 | −47.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 25,178 | 71,480 | 97,737 | ||
| R | 25,614 | 66,097 | 93,024 | ||
| R | 21,797 | 62,194 | 87,453 | ||
| R | 22,051 | 56,876 | 79,861 | ||
| R | 23,653 | 56,683 | 81,127 | ||
| R | 21,068 | 53,404 | 75,024 | ||
| R | 18,873 | 38,682 | 58,876 | ||
| R | 17,068 | 28,365 | 51,694 | ||
| R | 12,846 | 22,842 | 45,689 | ||
| R | 11,603 | 31,796 | 43,851 | ||
| R | 9,384 | 29,356 | 38,744 | ||
| R | 12,389 | 20,948 | 34,561 | ||
| D | 14,858 | 14,208 | 29,484 | ||
| R | 3,914 | 20,245 | 24,159 | ||
| O | 4,020 | 5,121 | 24,302 | ||
| R | 7,846 | 12,849 | 20,695 | ||
| D | 10,579 | 5,435 | 16,014 | ||
| D | 8,645 | 4,971 | 13,616 | ||
| D | 8,789 | 4,812 | 13,601 | ||
| D | 5,168 | 928 | 7,312 | ||
| D | 6,317 | 1,126 | 7,443 | ||
| D | 5,153 | 684 | 5,837 | ||
| D | 3,202 | 541 | 3,743 | ||
| D | 2,692 | 429 | 3,121 | ||
| D | 1,190 | 974 | 2,200 | ||
| D | 838 | 318 | 1,248 | ||
| D | 818 | 551 | 1,490 | ||
| D | 725 | 279 | 1,180 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
13.9%
Irish
11.0%
German
10.6%
American
8.8%
Italian
3.8%
French
2.8%
Scottish
2.3%
African American
7.9%
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: 41.0 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
$73,533
Bay County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Bay County$73,533
Florida$74,568
United States$80,734
Bay 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
11.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.3%
Working age (18–64)10.7%
Seniors (65+)8.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.1%
speak English only
Spanish6.7%
Other Indo-European2.1%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.4%
Other languages0.7%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 63.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Bay County's R+47.4 margin in 2024 ranks among the most lopsided in Florida, reflecting a predominantly white, military-adjacent population centered on Panama City and the Tyndall Air Force Base corridor.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-eight points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-seven points.
A median household income of $73,533, a 75% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 186,393 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Whitfield County and Cole 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.
Bay County, Florida. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/12005/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More sunbelt conservative counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Bay County, Florida vote in 2024?
In 2024, Bay County, Florida voted Republican by 47.4 points (R+47), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 97,737 votes cast, 25,178 went Democratic and 71,480 went Republican.
What is Bay County, Florida's political typology?
Akashic places Bay County, Florida 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 13 times, Republican 14 times, and other 1 times.
When did Bay County, Florida last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Bay County, Florida voted Democratic was 1976.
How many people live in Bay County, Florida?
Bay County, Florida has a population of 186,393 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Bay County, Florida?
Median household income in Bay County, Florida is $73,533 — below the national median of $80,734. The Florida state median is $74,568.
What is the political history of Bay County, Florida?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Bay County, Florida from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.