Columbia County, Florida: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+50%. Democratic peak: D+87 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+50MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 71,7892024 5-year
- Median household income
- $59,2052024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 71.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 16.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+87 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+60 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Union County, FL · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Columbia CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Columbia 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 | +4.4% |
| 1888 | No data |
| 1892 | No data |
| 1896 | No data |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | +28.1% |
| 1908 | +20.9% |
| 1912 | +67.8% |
| 1916 | +53.5% |
| 1920 | +70.4% |
| 1924 | +72.7% |
| 1928 | +50.0% |
| 1932 | +87.0% |
| 1936 | +86.8% |
| 1940 | +73.4% |
| 1944 | +64.2% |
| 1948 | +37.3% |
| 1952 | +22.5% |
| 1956 | +27.6% |
| 1960 | +27.7% |
| 1964 | −12.1% |
| 1968 | +2.7% |
| 1972 | −60.3% |
| 1976 | +25.4% |
| 1980 | +0.3% |
| 1984 | −34.8% |
| 1988 | −30.9% |
| 1992 | −6.4% |
| 1996 | −5.5% |
| 2000 | −21.2% |
| 2004 | −34.9% |
| 2008 | −33.8% |
| 2012 | −36.7% |
| 2016 | −44.5% |
| 2020 | −45.2% |
| 2024 | −50.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 8,248 | 25,104 | 33,586 | ||
| R | 8,914 | 23,836 | 33,042 | ||
| R | 7,601 | 20,368 | 28,707 | ||
| R | 8,462 | 18,429 | 27,163 | ||
| R | 9,171 | 18,670 | 28,128 | ||
| R | 8,031 | 16,758 | 24,991 | ||
| R | 7,049 | 10,968 | 18,514 | ||
| R | 6,691 | 7,588 | 16,326 | ||
| R | 5,528 | 6,492 | 14,954 | ||
| R | 4,073 | 7,761 | 11,916 | ||
| R | 4,261 | 8,814 | 13,075 | ||
| D | 5,680 | 5,643 | 11,648 | ||
| D | 6,683 | 3,947 | 10,766 | ||
| R | 1,664 | 6,723 | 8,387 | ||
| O | 1,750 | 1,553 | 7,349 | ||
| R | 3,249 | 4,145 | 7,394 | ||
| D | 3,695 | 2,094 | 5,789 | ||
| D | 3,246 | 1,841 | 5,087 | ||
| D | 3,229 | 2,041 | 5,270 | ||
| D | 1,797 | 553 | 3,332 | ||
| D | 2,467 | 537 | 3,004 | ||
| D | 2,888 | 443 | 3,331 | ||
| D | 2,783 | 196 | 2,979 | ||
| D | 2,497 | 174 | 2,671 | ||
| D | 1,276 | 418 | 1,716 | ||
| D | 776 | 85 | 951 | ||
| D | 1,248 | 162 | 1,543 | ||
| D | 861 | 226 | 1,186 | ||
| D | 520 | 66 | 670 | ||
| D | 465 | 279 | 892 | ||
| D | 595 | 317 | 988 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| D | 1,051 | 963 | 2,014 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — |
Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
15.9%
German
12.2%
Irish
11.6%
American
11.5%
Italian
3.1%
French
2.0%
Polish
1.6%
African American
13.0%
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: 40.7 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
$59,205
Columbia County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Columbia County$59,205
Florida$74,568
United States$80,734
Columbia 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
16.7%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.1%
Working age (18–64)15.2%
Seniors (65+)16.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.5%
speak English only
Spanish5.5%
Other Indo-European1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 43.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Columbia County, anchored by Lake City in north-central Florida, has shifted toward supermajority Republican margins over the past decade, reflecting a broader realignment across the rural South that has reshaped the state's electoral map.
The Republican margin here reached sixty points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty points.
A median household income of $59,205, a 72% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 71,789 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Union County and Murray 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.
Columbia County, Florida. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/12023/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More sunbelt conservative counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Columbia County, Florida vote in 2024?
In 2024, Columbia County, Florida voted Republican by 50.2 points (R+50), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 33,586 votes cast, 8,248 went Democratic and 25,104 went Republican.
What is Columbia County, Florida's political typology?
Akashic places Columbia 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 18 times, Republican 13 times, and other 1 times.
When did Columbia County, Florida last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Columbia County, Florida voted Democratic was 1980.
How many people live in Columbia County, Florida?
Columbia County, Florida has a population of 71,789 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Columbia County, Florida?
Median household income in Columbia County, Florida is $59,205 — below the national median of $80,734. The Florida state median is $74,568.
What is the political history of Columbia County, Florida?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Columbia County, Florida from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 18 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.