Hardin County, Illinois: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+62%. Republican peak: R+62 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+62MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 3,6052024 5-year
- Median household income
- $54,2712024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 96.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 0.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+21 in 1992MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+62 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Union County, IL · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Hardin CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Hardin 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 | +2.6% |
| 1896 | +7.1% |
| 1900 | +5.3% |
| 1904 | −7.4% |
| 1908 | −8.6% |
| 1912 | −3.0% |
| 1916 | −5.6% |
| 1920 | −24.2% |
| 1924 | −0.7% |
| 1928 | −30.2% |
| 1932 | +1.6% |
| 1936 | −0.6% |
| 1940 | −8.3% |
| 1944 | −19.4% |
| 1948 | −11.5% |
| 1952 | −11.8% |
| 1956 | −14.1% |
| 1960 | −14.0% |
| 1964 | +10.6% |
| 1968 | −10.2% |
| 1972 | −25.3% |
| 1976 | +6.9% |
| 1980 | −13.1% |
| 1984 | −16.7% |
| 1988 | −6.9% |
| 1992 | +21.4% |
| 1996 | +20.4% |
| 2000 | −6.9% |
| 2004 | −23.7% |
| 2008 | −19.4% |
| 2012 | −34.0% |
| 2016 | −57.4% |
| 2020 | −57.4% |
| 2024 | −61.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 357 | 1,546 | 1,926 | ||
| R | 449 | 1,691 | 2,162 | ||
| R | 420 | 1,653 | 2,148 | ||
| R | 742 | 1,535 | 2,330 | ||
| R | 892 | 1,330 | 2,255 | ||
| R | 923 | 1,501 | 2,437 | ||
| R | 1,184 | 1,366 | 2,637 | ||
| D | 1,323 | 790 | 2,617 | ||
| D | 1,665 | 985 | 3,173 | ||
| R | 1,308 | 1,504 | 2,824 | ||
| R | 1,205 | 1,689 | 2,899 | ||
| R | 1,314 | 1,721 | 3,114 | ||
| D | 1,602 | 1,393 | 3,017 | ||
| R | 1,140 | 1,915 | 3,062 | ||
| R | 1,199 | 1,492 | 2,883 | ||
| D | 1,639 | 1,324 | 2,963 | ||
| R | 1,465 | 1,944 | 3,413 | ||
| R | 1,444 | 1,919 | 3,371 | ||
| R | 1,563 | 1,984 | 3,553 | ||
| R | 1,358 | 1,713 | 3,087 | ||
| R | 1,370 | 2,037 | 3,438 | ||
| R | 1,974 | 2,333 | 4,333 | ||
| R | 1,984 | 2,008 | 4,011 | ||
| D | 1,610 | 1,559 | 3,223 | ||
| R | 933 | 1,758 | 2,732 | ||
| R | 1,358 | 1,378 | 2,809 | ||
| R | 943 | 1,555 | 2,527 | ||
| R | 1,264 | 1,419 | 2,746 | ||
| R | 644 | 691 | 1,585 | ||
| R | 680 | 813 | 1,548 | ||
| R | 642 | 756 | 1,540 | ||
| D | 839 | 753 | 1,626 | ||
| D | 900 | 780 | 1,690 | ||
| D | 700 | 660 | 1,531 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.7%
English
19.4%
Irish
12.5%
American
6.3%
Scottish
2.3%
Polish
1.1%
French
0.6%
African American
1.1%
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: 53.6 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
$54,271
Hardin County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Hardin County$54,271
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Hardin County ranks in the bottom 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
11.0%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.8%
Working age (18–64)11.3%
Seniors (65+)8.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.7%
speak English only
Spanish0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Hardin County sits at the southeastern tip of Illinois along the Ohio River, where a sparse, rural population has produced some of the state's widest Republican presidential margins over the past decade.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at twenty-one points in 1992 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by seven points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-two points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $54,271 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 11% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Union County and Henry 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.
Hardin County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17069/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Hardin County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Hardin County, Illinois voted Republican by 61.7 points (R+62), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,926 votes cast, 357 went Democratic and 1,546 went Republican.
What is Hardin County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Hardin 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 8 times, Republican 26 times, and other 0 times.
When did Hardin County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Hardin County, Illinois voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Hardin County, Illinois?
Hardin County, Illinois has a population of 3,605 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Hardin County, Illinois?
Median household income in Hardin County, Illinois is $54,271 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Hardin County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Hardin County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.