Knox County, Illinois: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+9%. Republican peak: R+57 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+9MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 49,0462024 5-year
- Median household income
- $57,0302024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 81.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 8.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+21 in 1996MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Crawford County, WI · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Knox CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Knox County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | −28.4% |
| 1896 | −36.9% |
| 1900 | −39.1% |
| 1904 | −55.8% |
| 1908 | −34.3% |
| 1912 | +9.6% |
| 1916 | −22.3% |
| 1920 | −57.1% |
| 1924 | −52.6% |
| 1928 | −45.5% |
| 1932 | +0.2% |
| 1936 | −3.5% |
| 1940 | −16.1% |
| 1944 | −22.5% |
| 1948 | −21.0% |
| 1952 | −28.4% |
| 1956 | −32.2% |
| 1960 | −20.3% |
| 1964 | +7.7% |
| 1968 | −17.1% |
| 1972 | −29.8% |
| 1976 | −10.0% |
| 1980 | −23.5% |
| 1984 | −10.9% |
| 1988 | +8.1% |
| 1992 | +16.6% |
| 1996 | +20.7% |
| 2000 | +11.5% |
| 2004 | +9.3% |
| 2008 | +19.9% |
| 2012 | +17.3% |
| 2016 | −2.9% |
| 2020 | −5.6% |
| 2024 | −9.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 9,838 | 11,917 | 22,191 | ||
| R | 10,703 | 12,009 | 23,208 | ||
| R | 10,083 | 10,737 | 22,503 | ||
| D | 13,451 | 9,408 | 23,356 | ||
| D | 14,191 | 9,419 | 23,988 | ||
| D | 13,403 | 11,111 | 24,708 | ||
| D | 12,572 | 9,912 | 23,174 | ||
| D | 12,487 | 7,822 | 22,548 | ||
| D | 12,524 | 8,331 | 25,296 | ||
| D | 12,752 | 10,842 | 23,700 | ||
| R | 12,027 | 14,974 | 27,122 | ||
| R | 8,749 | 14,907 | 26,198 | ||
| R | 11,525 | 14,123 | 25,967 | ||
| R | 9,333 | 17,315 | 26,766 | ||
| R | 9,707 | 14,216 | 26,396 | ||
| D | 15,000 | 12,850 | 27,850 | ||
| R | 11,889 | 17,938 | 29,850 | ||
| R | 9,558 | 18,656 | 28,251 | ||
| R | 10,354 | 18,569 | 28,940 | ||
| R | 9,772 | 15,016 | 24,952 | ||
| R | 10,070 | 15,964 | 26,160 | ||
| R | 12,597 | 17,459 | 30,224 | ||
| R | 13,697 | 14,712 | 29,124 | ||
| D | 12,282 | 12,244 | 24,918 | ||
| R | 5,993 | 16,151 | 22,330 | ||
| R | 2,617 | 12,968 | 19,680 | ||
| R | 2,852 | 12,559 | 17,005 | ||
| R | 6,785 | 10,918 | 18,555 | ||
| O | 2,758 | 1,750 | 10,467 | ||
| R | 3,277 | 7,084 | 11,098 | ||
| R | 1,849 | 7,566 | 10,247 | ||
| R | 3,299 | 7,810 | 11,549 | ||
| R | 3,480 | 7,681 | 11,397 | ||
| R | 3,073 | 5,800 | 9,588 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.5%
Irish
13.7%
English
11.9%
American
4.8%
Italian
2.1%
Scottish
1.9%
French
1.4%
African American
6.5%
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: 42.6 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
$57,030
Knox County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Knox County$57,030
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Knox 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
14.6%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.9%
Working age (18–64)13.7%
Seniors (65+)13.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.8%
speak English only
Spanish2.6%
Other Indo-European1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
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 75.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Knox County, home to Galesburg and its storied railroad history, has shifted rightward over two decades as union-household demographics gave way to a smaller, older, less college-educated electorate — a pattern visible across Illinois's western tier.
The Democratic margin here peaked at twenty-one points in 1996. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was nine points.
A population of 49,046, a 82% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $57,030 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Crawford County and Vernon 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.
Knox County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17095/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Knox County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Knox County, Illinois voted Republican by 9.4 points (R+9), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 22,191 votes cast, 9,838 went Democratic and 11,917 went Republican.
What is Knox County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Knox 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 Knox County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Knox County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Knox County, Illinois?
Knox County, Illinois has a population of 49,046 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Knox County, Illinois?
Median household income in Knox County, Illinois is $57,030 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Knox County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Knox 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.