Calhoun County, Illinois: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+56%. Republican peak: R+56 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+56MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 4,3302024 5-year
- Median household income
- $93,2032024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 0.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+28 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+56 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Macoupin County, IL · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Calhoun CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Calhoun 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 | +17.6% |
| 1896 | +19.2% |
| 1900 | +14.5% |
| 1904 | +5.0% |
| 1908 | +9.8% |
| 1912 | +18.8% |
| 1916 | +0.5% |
| 1920 | −31.5% |
| 1924 | −0.9% |
| 1928 | −1.4% |
| 1932 | +28.3% |
| 1936 | +4.3% |
| 1940 | −21.4% |
| 1944 | −21.1% |
| 1948 | −5.1% |
| 1952 | −13.7% |
| 1956 | −11.6% |
| 1960 | −1.4% |
| 1964 | +16.7% |
| 1968 | −6.8% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | +6.3% |
| 1980 | −13.2% |
| 1984 | −6.6% |
| 1988 | +11.0% |
| 1992 | +27.6% |
| 1996 | +24.4% |
| 2000 | +3.1% |
| 2004 | +1.8% |
| 2008 | +7.5% |
| 2012 | −14.0% |
| 2016 | −38.2% |
| 2020 | −49.4% |
| 2024 | −55.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 560 | 2,059 | 2,680 | ||
| R | 677 | 2,046 | 2,773 | ||
| R | 739 | 1,721 | 2,571 | ||
| R | 1,080 | 1,440 | 2,576 | ||
| D | 1,423 | 1,221 | 2,699 | ||
| D | 1,367 | 1,317 | 2,706 | ||
| D | 1,310 | 1,229 | 2,602 | ||
| D | 1,676 | 941 | 3,013 | ||
| D | 1,519 | 745 | 2,803 | ||
| D | 1,544 | 1,238 | 2,790 | ||
| R | 1,443 | 1,648 | 3,107 | ||
| R | 1,208 | 1,591 | 2,895 | ||
| D | 1,549 | 1,364 | 2,943 | ||
| R | 1,299 | 1,705 | 3,017 | ||
| R | 1,329 | 1,542 | 3,139 | ||
| D | 1,805 | 1,288 | 3,093 | ||
| R | 1,608 | 1,654 | 3,267 | ||
| R | 1,498 | 1,892 | 3,391 | ||
| R | 1,454 | 1,915 | 3,371 | ||
| R | 1,377 | 1,526 | 2,923 | ||
| R | 1,271 | 1,956 | 3,241 | ||
| R | 1,625 | 2,516 | 4,158 | ||
| D | 2,058 | 1,883 | 4,102 | ||
| D | 2,229 | 1,239 | 3,504 | ||
| R | 1,551 | 1,594 | 3,178 | ||
| R | 1,115 | 1,136 | 2,361 | ||
| R | 703 | 1,367 | 2,109 | ||
| D | 1,181 | 1,168 | 2,408 | ||
| D | 602 | 373 | 1,218 | ||
| D | 905 | 735 | 1,726 | ||
| D | 815 | 730 | 1,707 | ||
| D | 1,175 | 873 | 2,079 | ||
| D | 1,176 | 795 | 1,986 | ||
| D | 840 | 563 | 1,578 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
49.7%
English
11.2%
Irish
8.7%
Italian
4.6%
American
4.5%
Scottish
3.4%
French
1.0%
African American
1.2%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 48.8 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
$93,203
Calhoun County ranks in the top 10% of US counties.
Calhoun County$93,203
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Calhoun County ranks in the top 10% 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
6.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 186.1%
Working age (18–64)6.6%
Seniors (65+)4.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.6%
speak English only
Spanish0.2%
Other Indo-European0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Calhoun County, wedged between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers with no bridge access on one side, is one of Illinois's least populous counties and has shifted decisively toward Republican presidential candidates over the past two decades, posting a 55-point margin in 2024.
The Democratic margin here peaked at twenty-eight points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-six points.
A population of 4,330, a 94% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $93,203 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Macoupin County and Washington 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.
Calhoun County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17013/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Calhoun County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Calhoun County, Illinois voted Republican by 55.9 points (R+56), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,680 votes cast, 560 went Democratic and 2,059 went Republican.
What is Calhoun County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Calhoun 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 Calhoun County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Calhoun County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Calhoun County, Illinois?
Calhoun County, Illinois has a population of 4,330 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Calhoun County, Illinois?
Median household income in Calhoun County, Illinois is $93,203 — above the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Calhoun County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Calhoun 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.