Brown County, Illinois: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+60%. Republican peak: R+60 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+60MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 6,3222024 5-year
- Median household income
- $67,9172024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 74.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 17.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+42 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+60 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Cherokee County, KS · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Brown CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Brown 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 | +24.2% |
| 1896 | +33.3% |
| 1900 | +32.6% |
| 1904 | +16.6% |
| 1908 | +25.0% |
| 1912 | +42.3% |
| 1916 | +27.9% |
| 1920 | +7.8% |
| 1924 | +13.0% |
| 1928 | −10.1% |
| 1932 | +41.9% |
| 1936 | +28.2% |
| 1940 | +8.1% |
| 1944 | +3.1% |
| 1948 | +7.2% |
| 1952 | −15.7% |
| 1956 | −7.4% |
| 1960 | −1.1% |
| 1964 | +21.2% |
| 1968 | −11.5% |
| 1972 | −19.1% |
| 1976 | +0.5% |
| 1980 | −26.4% |
| 1984 | −21.2% |
| 1988 | −4.0% |
| 1992 | +4.4% |
| 1996 | −2.4% |
| 2000 | −17.0% |
| 2004 | −30.3% |
| 2008 | −21.7% |
| 2012 | −30.7% |
| 2016 | −55.5% |
| 2020 | −57.2% |
| 2024 | −59.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 467 | 1,938 | 2,455 | ||
| R | 486 | 1,931 | 2,525 | ||
| R | 476 | 1,796 | 2,379 | ||
| R | 787 | 1,513 | 2,364 | ||
| R | 986 | 1,544 | 2,569 | ||
| R | 895 | 1,679 | 2,585 | ||
| R | 1,077 | 1,529 | 2,660 | ||
| R | 997 | 1,053 | 2,297 | ||
| D | 1,146 | 1,029 | 2,689 | ||
| R | 1,267 | 1,373 | 2,646 | ||
| R | 959 | 1,478 | 2,446 | ||
| R | 950 | 1,660 | 2,692 | ||
| D | 1,533 | 1,519 | 3,103 | ||
| R | 1,203 | 1,780 | 3,022 | ||
| R | 1,265 | 1,629 | 3,163 | ||
| D | 2,083 | 1,355 | 3,438 | ||
| R | 1,849 | 1,889 | 3,740 | ||
| R | 1,748 | 2,026 | 3,775 | ||
| R | 1,557 | 2,137 | 3,699 | ||
| D | 1,805 | 1,562 | 3,389 | ||
| D | 1,849 | 1,738 | 3,607 | ||
| D | 2,478 | 2,101 | 4,648 | ||
| D | 2,873 | 1,591 | 4,549 | ||
| D | 2,822 | 1,148 | 3,993 | ||
| R | 1,867 | 2,289 | 4,165 | ||
| D | 2,149 | 1,637 | 3,946 | ||
| D | 1,866 | 1,590 | 3,527 | ||
| D | 2,856 | 1,579 | 4,572 | ||
| D | 1,358 | 381 | 2,312 | ||
| D | 1,609 | 947 | 2,643 | ||
| D | 1,341 | 934 | 2,452 | ||
| D | 1,968 | 988 | 3,005 | ||
| D | 2,063 | 1,024 | 3,117 | ||
| D | 1,567 | 879 | 2,846 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
18.1%
Irish
8.8%
English
8.2%
American
7.5%
Polish
1.3%
Italian
1.2%
Scottish
0.9%
African American
14.3%
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: 41.0 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
$67,917
Brown County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Brown County$67,917
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Brown 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
9.2%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1810.3%
Working age (18–64)9.8%
Seniors (65+)2.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.0%
speak English only
Spanish5.3%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 72.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Brown County's rural, sparsely populated landscape has produced some of the widest presidential margins in the state, with fewer than 7,000 residents concentrated in small towns and farmland along the Illinois River bluffs.
The Democratic margin here peaked at forty-two points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty points.
A population of 6,322, a 75% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $67,917 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Cherokee County and Dallas 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.
Brown County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17009/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Brown County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Brown County, Illinois voted Republican by 59.9 points (R+60), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,455 votes cast, 467 went Democratic and 1,938 went Republican.
What is Brown County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Brown County, Illinois in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. 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 17 times, Republican 17 times, and other 0 times.
When did Brown County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Brown County, Illinois voted Democratic was 1992.
How many people live in Brown County, Illinois?
Brown County, Illinois has a population of 6,322 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Brown County, Illinois?
Median household income in Brown County, Illinois is $67,917 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Brown County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Brown County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.