Gallatin County, Illinois: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+54%. Republican peak: R+54 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+54MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 4,8192024 5-year
- Median household income
- $59,2192024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 96.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+46 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+54 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Macoupin County, IL · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Gallatin CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Gallatin 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 | +14.7% |
| 1896 | +16.7% |
| 1900 | +16.4% |
| 1904 | +4.4% |
| 1908 | +12.8% |
| 1912 | +20.8% |
| 1916 | +18.4% |
| 1920 | −4.2% |
| 1924 | +13.0% |
| 1928 | +7.8% |
| 1932 | +45.5% |
| 1936 | +29.4% |
| 1940 | +11.9% |
| 1944 | +2.4% |
| 1948 | +14.2% |
| 1952 | −3.3% |
| 1956 | +1.2% |
| 1960 | +4.5% |
| 1964 | +34.2% |
| 1968 | +4.2% |
| 1972 | −7.6% |
| 1976 | +27.0% |
| 1980 | −0.6% |
| 1984 | +5.5% |
| 1988 | +21.5% |
| 1992 | +35.0% |
| 1996 | +35.8% |
| 2000 | +8.1% |
| 2004 | −1.4% |
| 2008 | +13.1% |
| 2012 | −18.0% |
| 2016 | −47.5% |
| 2020 | −52.2% |
| 2024 | −53.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 561 | 1,923 | 2,530 | ||
| R | 622 | 2,019 | 2,675 | ||
| R | 657 | 1,942 | 2,707 | ||
| R | 1,029 | 1,492 | 2,573 | ||
| D | 1,587 | 1,212 | 2,859 | ||
| R | 1,573 | 1,619 | 3,225 | ||
| D | 1,878 | 1,591 | 3,558 | ||
| D | 2,113 | 856 | 3,513 | ||
| D | 2,371 | 990 | 3,944 | ||
| D | 2,455 | 1,580 | 4,063 | ||
| D | 2,164 | 1,939 | 4,112 | ||
| R | 1,678 | 1,700 | 3,466 | ||
| D | 2,611 | 1,499 | 4,123 | ||
| R | 1,844 | 2,148 | 4,001 | ||
| D | 1,980 | 1,802 | 4,190 | ||
| D | 2,845 | 1,394 | 4,239 | ||
| D | 2,386 | 2,179 | 4,570 | ||
| D | 2,230 | 2,179 | 4,415 | ||
| R | 2,153 | 2,300 | 4,461 | ||
| D | 2,385 | 1,789 | 4,200 | ||
| D | 2,175 | 2,073 | 4,295 | ||
| D | 3,293 | 2,588 | 5,929 | ||
| D | 3,701 | 2,004 | 5,774 | ||
| D | 3,469 | 1,279 | 4,813 | ||
| D | 2,343 | 2,002 | 4,373 | ||
| D | 2,385 | 1,792 | 4,576 | ||
| R | 2,000 | 2,184 | 4,373 | ||
| D | 2,920 | 1,985 | 5,079 | ||
| D | 1,697 | 1,051 | 3,111 | ||
| D | 1,845 | 1,411 | 3,378 | ||
| D | 1,540 | 1,401 | 3,134 | ||
| D | 2,004 | 1,432 | 3,498 | ||
| D | 2,067 | 1,468 | 3,579 | ||
| D | 1,675 | 1,211 | 3,158 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
18.4%
German
17.2%
English
12.5%
American
8.2%
French
3.6%
Italian
2.3%
Scottish
1.3%
African American
0.9%
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: 46.7 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
$59,219
Gallatin County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Gallatin County$59,219
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Gallatin 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
13.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.2%
Working age (18–64)14.4%
Seniors (65+)7.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.9%
speak English only
Spanish1.3%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 57.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Gallatin County, tucked into southeastern Illinois along the Wabash River, delivered an R+53.8 margin in 2024—among the widest in a state where statewide results run sharply the other direction. Its population of roughly 6,400 has declined steadily as coal and agriculture shed jobs.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at forty-six points in 1932 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2012 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by eighteen points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-four points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $59,219 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 14% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Macoupin County and Braxton 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.
Gallatin County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17059/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Gallatin County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Gallatin County, Illinois voted Republican by 53.8 points (R+54), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,530 votes cast, 561 went Democratic and 1,923 went Republican.
What is Gallatin County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Gallatin County, Illinois in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to 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 25 times, Republican 9 times, and other 0 times.
When did Gallatin County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Gallatin County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Gallatin County, Illinois?
Gallatin County, Illinois has a population of 4,819 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Gallatin County, Illinois?
Median household income in Gallatin County, Illinois is $59,219 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Gallatin County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Gallatin County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 25 went Democratic and 9 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.