Perry County, Illinois: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+52%. Republican peak: R+52 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+52MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 20,6392024 5-year
- Median household income
- $62,1182024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+31 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Saline County, MO · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Perry CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Perry 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 | +3.4% |
| 1896 | +0.6% |
| 1900 | −0.3% |
| 1904 | −21.2% |
| 1908 | +1.7% |
| 1912 | +16.2% |
| 1916 | −3.6% |
| 1920 | −27.0% |
| 1924 | −7.4% |
| 1928 | +4.0% |
| 1932 | +31.5% |
| 1936 | +12.2% |
| 1940 | −5.1% |
| 1944 | −14.2% |
| 1948 | −0.6% |
| 1952 | −10.4% |
| 1956 | −14.1% |
| 1960 | −15.0% |
| 1964 | +21.5% |
| 1968 | −8.5% |
| 1972 | −26.1% |
| 1976 | +6.1% |
| 1980 | −14.6% |
| 1984 | −12.1% |
| 1988 | +6.0% |
| 1992 | +26.2% |
| 1996 | +21.3% |
| 2000 | +0.6% |
| 2004 | −7.9% |
| 2008 | −3.9% |
| 2012 | −17.7% |
| 2016 | −44.5% |
| 2020 | −46.7% |
| 2024 | −51.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,146 | 6,949 | 9,248 | ||
| R | 2,612 | 7,313 | 10,071 | ||
| R | 2,462 | 6,855 | 9,874 | ||
| R | 3,819 | 5,507 | 9,549 | ||
| R | 4,701 | 5,086 | 9,995 | ||
| R | 4,770 | 5,589 | 10,425 | ||
| D | 4,862 | 4,802 | 9,942 | ||
| D | 5,347 | 3,237 | 9,921 | ||
| D | 6,009 | 3,105 | 11,086 | ||
| D | 5,167 | 4,576 | 9,781 | ||
| R | 4,584 | 5,852 | 10,472 | ||
| R | 4,337 | 5,888 | 10,610 | ||
| D | 5,976 | 5,286 | 11,395 | ||
| R | 4,084 | 6,968 | 11,064 | ||
| R | 4,449 | 5,384 | 10,983 | ||
| D | 6,639 | 4,287 | 10,926 | ||
| R | 4,958 | 6,708 | 11,672 | ||
| R | 4,901 | 6,513 | 11,414 | ||
| R | 5,340 | 6,580 | 11,923 | ||
| R | 5,043 | 5,109 | 10,226 | ||
| R | 4,677 | 6,236 | 10,946 | ||
| R | 6,539 | 7,243 | 13,837 | ||
| D | 7,043 | 5,482 | 12,768 | ||
| D | 7,400 | 3,778 | 11,502 | ||
| D | 5,029 | 4,636 | 9,766 | ||
| R | 3,007 | 3,693 | 9,289 | ||
| R | 2,478 | 4,598 | 7,864 | ||
| R | 4,445 | 4,796 | 9,625 | ||
| D | 2,107 | 1,341 | 4,732 | ||
| D | 2,482 | 2,392 | 5,170 | ||
| R | 1,466 | 2,451 | 4,655 | ||
| R | 2,321 | 2,336 | 4,841 | ||
| D | 2,370 | 2,342 | 4,822 | ||
| D | 1,980 | 1,840 | 4,169 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
23.1%
English
10.6%
Irish
10.2%
American
4.7%
Polish
4.5%
Italian
3.5%
French
2.5%
African American
6.1%
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: 42.0 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
$62,118
Perry County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Perry County$62,118
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Perry 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
16.9%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1827.7%
Working age (18–64)14.5%
Seniors (65+)9.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.4%
speak English only
Spanish2.3%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 56.1% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Perry County's shift from Democratic-leaning labor politics to a 51-point Republican presidential margin reflects a broader realignment in southern Illinois's post-coal communities over the past two decades.
The Democratic margin here peaked at thirty-one points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-two points.
A population of 20,639, a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $62,118 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Saline County and Harrison 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.
Perry County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17145/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Perry County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Perry County, Illinois voted Republican by 51.9 points (R+52), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 9,248 votes cast, 2,146 went Democratic and 6,949 went Republican.
What is Perry County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Perry 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 13 times, Republican 21 times, and other 0 times.
When did Perry County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Perry County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2000.
How many people live in Perry County, Illinois?
Perry County, Illinois has a population of 20,639 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Perry County, Illinois?
Median household income in Perry County, Illinois is $62,118 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Perry County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Perry County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 13 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.