Effingham County, Illinois: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+60%. Republican peak: R+60 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+60MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 34,5222024 5-year
- Median household income
- $80,4042024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 95.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+37 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+60 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Christian County, MO · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Effingham CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Effingham 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 | +28.5% |
| 1896 | +21.5% |
| 1900 | +23.1% |
| 1904 | +10.1% |
| 1908 | +19.6% |
| 1912 | +36.5% |
| 1916 | +16.7% |
| 1920 | −16.4% |
| 1924 | +8.1% |
| 1928 | +4.3% |
| 1932 | +37.3% |
| 1936 | +16.4% |
| 1940 | +0.4% |
| 1944 | −8.4% |
| 1948 | +1.2% |
| 1952 | −15.8% |
| 1956 | −21.5% |
| 1960 | −6.1% |
| 1964 | +14.7% |
| 1968 | −18.4% |
| 1972 | −32.8% |
| 1976 | −9.3% |
| 1980 | −35.3% |
| 1984 | −42.8% |
| 1988 | −29.7% |
| 1992 | −7.4% |
| 1996 | −20.2% |
| 2000 | −38.9% |
| 2004 | −45.4% |
| 2008 | −36.0% |
| 2012 | −52.0% |
| 2016 | −59.9% |
| 2020 | −59.2% |
| 2024 | −60.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,617 | 15,124 | 19,084 | ||
| R | 3,716 | 15,006 | 19,083 | ||
| R | 3,083 | 13,635 | 17,609 | ||
| R | 3,861 | 12,501 | 16,613 | ||
| R | 5,262 | 11,323 | 16,835 | ||
| R | 4,388 | 11,774 | 16,278 | ||
| R | 4,225 | 9,855 | 14,485 | ||
| R | 4,825 | 7,696 | 14,204 | ||
| R | 5,221 | 6,329 | 14,981 | ||
| R | 4,553 | 8,431 | 13,066 | ||
| R | 3,841 | 9,617 | 13,504 | ||
| R | 4,229 | 9,104 | 13,808 | ||
| R | 5,952 | 7,194 | 13,391 | ||
| R | 4,431 | 8,752 | 13,193 | ||
| R | 4,496 | 6,698 | 11,972 | ||
| D | 6,782 | 5,044 | 11,826 | ||
| R | 5,676 | 6,410 | 12,092 | ||
| R | 4,455 | 6,904 | 11,380 | ||
| R | 4,745 | 6,530 | 11,300 | ||
| D | 4,940 | 4,823 | 9,859 | ||
| R | 4,587 | 5,441 | 10,119 | ||
| D | 5,988 | 5,941 | 12,006 | ||
| D | 6,030 | 4,293 | 10,583 | ||
| D | 6,503 | 2,933 | 9,569 | ||
| D | 4,239 | 3,882 | 8,214 | ||
| D | 3,814 | 3,159 | 8,063 | ||
| R | 2,985 | 4,176 | 7,267 | ||
| D | 4,529 | 3,207 | 7,939 | ||
| D | 2,575 | 1,002 | 4,309 | ||
| D | 2,826 | 1,877 | 4,830 | ||
| D | 2,303 | 1,863 | 4,365 | ||
| D | 2,979 | 1,853 | 4,883 | ||
| D | 2,953 | 1,895 | 4,913 | ||
| D | 2,744 | 1,472 | 4,471 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
42.6%
American
9.3%
English
9.2%
Irish
8.5%
French
2.0%
Italian
1.9%
Scottish
1.2%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 40.0 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
$80,404
Effingham County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Effingham County$80,404
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Effingham County ranks in the top 25% 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
10.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.5%
Working age (18–64)8.8%
Seniors (65+)7.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.8%
speak English only
Spanish1.8%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 42.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Effingham County, anchored by its small city of the same name at the crossroads of I-57 and I-70, delivered a 60-point Republican presidential margin in 2024—among the widest gaps in a state whose statewide results ran in the opposite direction.
The Republican margin here reached sixty points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty points.
A population of 34,522, a 96% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $80,404 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Christian County and Wilson 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.
Effingham County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17049/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Effingham County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Effingham County, Illinois voted Republican by 60.3 points (R+60), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 19,084 votes cast, 3,617 went Democratic and 15,124 went Republican.
What is Effingham County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Effingham County, Illinois in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. 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 20 times, and other 0 times.
When did Effingham County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Effingham County, Illinois voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Effingham County, Illinois?
Effingham County, Illinois has a population of 34,522 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Effingham County, Illinois?
Median household income in Effingham County, Illinois is $80,404 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Effingham County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Effingham County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.