Henderson County, Illinois: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+39%. Republican peak: R+56 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+39MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 6,1932024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,2272024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+20 in 1996MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+56 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Ashtabula County, OH · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Henderson CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Henderson 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 | −17.8% |
| 1896 | −28.4% |
| 1900 | −27.8% |
| 1904 | −37.8% |
| 1908 | −29.2% |
| 1912 | +3.1% |
| 1916 | −21.2% |
| 1920 | −56.0% |
| 1924 | −52.5% |
| 1928 | −43.0% |
| 1932 | +13.1% |
| 1936 | −3.2% |
| 1940 | −24.4% |
| 1944 | −26.9% |
| 1948 | −22.7% |
| 1952 | −32.1% |
| 1956 | −30.2% |
| 1960 | −20.5% |
| 1964 | +9.9% |
| 1968 | −14.2% |
| 1972 | −21.3% |
| 1976 | −1.3% |
| 1980 | −19.6% |
| 1984 | −7.5% |
| 1988 | +9.4% |
| 1992 | +17.4% |
| 1996 | +19.9% |
| 2000 | +8.3% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +17.7% |
| 2012 | +12.2% |
| 2016 | −28.4% |
| 2020 | −33.0% |
| 2024 | −38.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,026 | 2,369 | 3,464 | ||
| R | 1,187 | 2,394 | 3,656 | ||
| R | 1,155 | 2,155 | 3,518 | ||
| D | 1,978 | 1,541 | 3,568 | ||
| D | 2,215 | 1,541 | 3,814 | ||
| D | 2,269 | 1,857 | 4,153 | ||
| D | 2,030 | 1,708 | 3,866 | ||
| D | 1,953 | 1,233 | 3,619 | ||
| D | 2,013 | 1,310 | 4,048 | ||
| D | 2,085 | 1,726 | 3,821 | ||
| R | 1,969 | 2,289 | 4,278 | ||
| R | 1,609 | 2,443 | 4,246 | ||
| R | 2,152 | 2,210 | 4,407 | ||
| R | 1,744 | 2,689 | 4,436 | ||
| R | 1,635 | 2,224 | 4,148 | ||
| D | 2,271 | 1,863 | 4,134 | ||
| R | 1,697 | 2,572 | 4,273 | ||
| R | 1,469 | 2,743 | 4,215 | ||
| R | 1,458 | 2,839 | 4,303 | ||
| R | 1,465 | 2,336 | 3,838 | ||
| R | 1,550 | 2,695 | 4,255 | ||
| R | 1,977 | 3,264 | 5,281 | ||
| R | 2,496 | 2,663 | 5,220 | ||
| D | 2,372 | 1,815 | 4,266 | ||
| R | 1,065 | 2,695 | 3,790 | ||
| R | 803 | 2,879 | 3,951 | ||
| R | 740 | 2,747 | 3,584 | ||
| R | 1,611 | 2,528 | 4,318 | ||
| O | 721 | 648 | 2,328 | ||
| R | 820 | 1,547 | 2,486 | ||
| R | 708 | 1,668 | 2,540 | ||
| R | 976 | 1,772 | 2,859 | ||
| R | 962 | 1,756 | 2,796 | ||
| R | 921 | 1,352 | 2,417 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.9%
Irish
13.8%
English
10.5%
American
7.7%
French
2.2%
Italian
1.4%
Scottish
1.1%
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: 50.2 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
$62,227
Henderson County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Henderson County$62,227
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Henderson 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
13.9%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1825.8%
Working age (18–64)11.5%
Seniors (65+)10.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.9%
speak English only
Other languages0.5%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Spanish0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 74.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Henderson County's rural northwest Illinois landscape and dwindling population track closely with a decades-long shift toward lopsided Republican margins, hitting R+38.8 in 2024 despite the county casting fewer than 3,500 total votes.
The Democratic margin here peaked at twenty points in 1996. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved six points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-nine points.
A population of 6,193, a 94% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $62,227 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Ashtabula County and Chickasaw 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.
Henderson County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17071/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Henderson County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Henderson County, Illinois voted Republican by 38.8 points (R+39), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,464 votes cast, 1,026 went Democratic and 2,369 went Republican.
What is Henderson County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Henderson 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 9 times, Republican 24 times, and other 1 times.
When did Henderson County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Henderson County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Henderson County, Illinois?
Henderson County, Illinois has a population of 6,193 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Henderson County, Illinois?
Median household income in Henderson County, Illinois is $62,227 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Henderson County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Henderson County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.