Kauai County, Hawaii: Florida Surge county. In 2024, voted D+20%. Democratic peak: D+63 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+20MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Florida SurgeAkashic typology
- Population
- 73,7312024 5-year
- Median household income
- $97,6682024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 29.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 10.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+63 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+17 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Maui County, HI · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Kauai CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Kauai 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 | No data |
| 1920 | No data |
| 1924 | No data |
| 1928 | No data |
| 1932 | No data |
| 1936 | No data |
| 1940 | No data |
| 1944 | No data |
| 1948 | No data |
| 1952 | No data |
| 1956 | No data |
| 1960 | −9.9% |
| 1964 | +63.1% |
| 1968 | +25.7% |
| 1972 | −16.7% |
| 1976 | +12.6% |
| 1980 | +19.2% |
| 1984 | −2.1% |
| 1988 | +17.1% |
| 1992 | +23.2% |
| 1996 | +38.2% |
| 2000 | +31.6% |
| 2004 | +20.8% |
| 2008 | +52.1% |
| 2012 | +49.3% |
| 2016 | +33.7% |
| 2020 | +28.8% |
| 2024 | +19.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 17,675 | 11,803 | 30,064 | ||
| D | 21,225 | 11,582 | 33,497 | ||
| D | 16,456 | 7,574 | 26,335 | ||
| D | 18,641 | 6,121 | 25,372 | ||
| D | 20,416 | 6,245 | 27,224 | ||
| D | 14,916 | 9,740 | 24,876 | ||
| D | 13,470 | 6,583 | 21,773 | ||
| D | 13,357 | 5,325 | 21,020 | ||
| D | 10,715 | 6,274 | 19,127 | ||
| D | 11,770 | 8,298 | 20,266 | ||
| R | 8,862 | 9,249 | 18,332 | ||
| D | 9,081 | 5,883 | 16,621 | ||
| D | 8,105 | 6,278 | 14,522 | ||
| R | 5,401 | 7,571 | 12,972 | ||
| D | 7,051 | 4,140 | 11,346 | ||
| D | 8,713 | 1,971 | 10,684 | ||
| R | 4,636 | 5,655 | 10,291 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
6.8%
Irish
6.3%
English
6.0%
Italian
3.1%
French
1.8%
Scottish
1.3%
American
1.2%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 43.1 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
$97,668
Kauai County ranks in the top 5% of US counties.
Kauai County$97,668
Hawaii$100,389
United States$80,734
Kauai 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
9.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.5%
Working age (18–64)8.2%
Seniors (65+)10.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
81.7%
speak English only
Asian & Pacific Islander14.4%
Other Indo-European1.7%
Spanish1.2%
Other languages0.9%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 53.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Kauai's small, geographically isolated electorate leans Democratic by roughly 20 points in presidential races, but land use, water rights, and resort development consistently drive local contests more than national partisan cues.
The Democratic margin here once reached sixty-three points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved nine points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty points.
A population of 73,731, a 30% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $97,668 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Maui County and Mora 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.
Kauai County, Hawaii. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/15007/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Kauai County, Hawaii vote in 2024?
In 2024, Kauai County, Hawaii voted Democratic by 19.5 points (D+20), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 30,064 votes cast, 17,675 went Democratic and 11,803 went Republican.
What is Kauai County, Hawaii's political typology?
Akashic places Kauai County, Hawaii 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 14 times, Republican 3 times, and other 0 times.
When did Kauai County, Hawaii last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Kauai County, Hawaii voted Republican was 1984.
How many people live in Kauai County, Hawaii?
Kauai County, Hawaii has a population of 73,731 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Kauai County, Hawaii?
Median household income in Kauai County, Hawaii is $97,668 — above the national median of $80,734. The Hawaii state median is $100,389.
What is the political history of Kauai County, Hawaii?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Kauai County, Hawaii from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 3 went Republican. The county's typology — "Florida Surge" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.