Kankakee County, Illinois: Sunbelt Conservative county. In 2024, voted R+21%. Republican peak: R+62 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+21MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Sunbelt ConservativeAkashic typology
- Population
- 106,6352024 5-year
- Median household income
- $71,2812024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 73.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 14.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 12.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+13 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+62 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Lenawee County, MI · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Kankakee CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Kankakee 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 | −12.4% |
| 1896 | −38.7% |
| 1900 | −36.3% |
| 1904 | −54.8% |
| 1908 | −40.4% |
| 1912 | −7.4% |
| 1916 | −26.5% |
| 1920 | −61.9% |
| 1924 | −54.0% |
| 1928 | −7.4% |
| 1932 | +10.8% |
| 1936 | +8.4% |
| 1940 | −7.6% |
| 1944 | −14.7% |
| 1948 | −16.2% |
| 1952 | −23.2% |
| 1956 | −32.9% |
| 1960 | −8.5% |
| 1964 | +12.8% |
| 1968 | −14.5% |
| 1972 | −33.3% |
| 1976 | −10.9% |
| 1980 | −22.5% |
| 1984 | −21.6% |
| 1988 | −14.5% |
| 1992 | +4.5% |
| 1996 | +6.3% |
| 2000 | −2.2% |
| 2004 | −10.5% |
| 2008 | +4.6% |
| 2012 | −3.4% |
| 2016 | −13.0% |
| 2020 | −16.5% |
| 2024 | −20.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 18,399 | 28,285 | 47,569 | ||
| R | 20,271 | 28,532 | 50,040 | ||
| R | 18,971 | 25,129 | 47,305 | ||
| R | 21,595 | 23,136 | 45,654 | ||
| D | 24,750 | 22,527 | 48,016 | ||
| R | 20,003 | 24,739 | 45,036 | ||
| R | 19,180 | 20,049 | 40,183 | ||
| D | 16,820 | 14,595 | 35,241 | ||
| D | 17,229 | 15,411 | 40,071 | ||
| R | 15,147 | 20,316 | 35,755 | ||
| R | 15,246 | 23,807 | 39,665 | ||
| R | 14,626 | 23,810 | 40,873 | ||
| R | 18,394 | 23,003 | 42,108 | ||
| R | 13,434 | 26,866 | 40,373 | ||
| R | 14,460 | 20,025 | 38,250 | ||
| D | 20,792 | 16,082 | 36,874 | ||
| R | 17,115 | 20,311 | 37,452 | ||
| R | 11,088 | 21,993 | 33,128 | ||
| R | 12,636 | 20,279 | 33,005 | ||
| R | 11,305 | 15,699 | 27,201 | ||
| R | 11,342 | 15,256 | 26,688 | ||
| R | 13,716 | 15,998 | 29,838 | ||
| D | 13,162 | 10,935 | 26,538 | ||
| D | 13,555 | 10,873 | 24,792 | ||
| R | 10,247 | 11,905 | 22,279 | ||
| R | 2,488 | 12,462 | 18,471 | ||
| R | 2,828 | 12,853 | 16,201 | ||
| R | 6,096 | 10,594 | 16,993 | ||
| R | 2,532 | 3,178 | 8,728 | ||
| R | 2,461 | 5,999 | 8,763 | ||
| R | 1,652 | 6,162 | 8,224 | ||
| R | 2,674 | 5,798 | 8,597 | ||
| R | 2,370 | 5,471 | 8,022 | ||
| R | 2,763 | 3,577 | 6,573 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
19.6%
Irish
11.3%
English
7.1%
Polish
5.6%
French
5.5%
Italian
4.8%
American
3.2%
African American
11.4%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 39.0 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
$71,281
Kankakee County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Kankakee County$71,281
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Kankakee 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
12.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1815.5%
Working age (18–64)11.4%
Seniors (65+)9.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
89.1%
speak English only
Spanish9.5%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
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 52.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Kankakee County, anchored by its small industrial city on the river of the same name, has drifted steadily rightward over two decades — its 2024 presidential margin of R+20.8 reflects a broader rural and exurban realignment across downstate Illinois.
The Republican margin here reached sixty-two points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-one points.
A median household income of $71,281, a 73% non-Hispanic-white share, and a population of 106,635 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lenawee County and McDonough 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.
Kankakee County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17091/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Kankakee County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Kankakee County, Illinois voted Republican by 20.8 points (R+21), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 47,569 votes cast, 18,399 went Democratic and 28,285 went Republican.
What is Kankakee County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Kankakee County, Illinois in the "Sunbelt Conservative" typology — Affluent, predominantly white Sunbelt counties — reliably 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 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Kankakee County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Kankakee County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Kankakee County, Illinois?
Kankakee County, Illinois has a population of 106,635 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Kankakee County, Illinois?
Median household income in Kankakee County, Illinois is $71,281 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Kankakee County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Kankakee County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Sunbelt Conservative" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.