Putnam County, Illinois: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+23%. Republican peak: R+58 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+23MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 5,6012024 5-year
- Median household income
- $75,5902024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 6.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+19 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+58 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- LaSalle County, IL · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Putnam CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Putnam 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 | −4.1% |
| 1896 | −18.7% |
| 1900 | −23.5% |
| 1904 | −34.4% |
| 1908 | −31.8% |
| 1912 | +1.4% |
| 1916 | −28.5% |
| 1920 | −57.5% |
| 1924 | −49.8% |
| 1928 | −22.8% |
| 1932 | +19.0% |
| 1936 | +0.1% |
| 1940 | −19.5% |
| 1944 | −27.4% |
| 1948 | −21.4% |
| 1952 | −25.2% |
| 1956 | −30.7% |
| 1960 | −11.3% |
| 1964 | +9.2% |
| 1968 | −14.5% |
| 1972 | −19.8% |
| 1976 | −7.7% |
| 1980 | −23.5% |
| 1984 | −12.5% |
| 1988 | +2.7% |
| 1992 | +18.3% |
| 1996 | +15.8% |
| 2000 | +6.9% |
| 2004 | +2.4% |
| 2008 | +15.6% |
| 2012 | +1.8% |
| 2016 | −19.9% |
| 2020 | −19.3% |
| 2024 | −22.8% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,254 | 2,014 | 3,334 | ||
| R | 1,338 | 1,993 | 3,395 | ||
| R | 1,147 | 1,767 | 3,112 | ||
| D | 1,559 | 1,502 | 3,143 | ||
| D | 1,900 | 1,378 | 3,337 | ||
| D | 1,704 | 1,623 | 3,352 | ||
| D | 1,657 | 1,437 | 3,179 | ||
| D | 1,425 | 987 | 2,764 | ||
| D | 1,574 | 969 | 3,308 | ||
| D | 1,601 | 1,516 | 3,139 | ||
| R | 1,487 | 1,912 | 3,413 | ||
| R | 1,158 | 1,959 | 3,414 | ||
| R | 1,344 | 1,572 | 2,959 | ||
| R | 1,112 | 1,665 | 2,787 | ||
| R | 988 | 1,351 | 2,505 | ||
| D | 1,359 | 1,131 | 2,490 | ||
| R | 1,160 | 1,457 | 2,619 | ||
| R | 913 | 1,724 | 2,641 | ||
| R | 1,010 | 1,691 | 2,703 | ||
| R | 905 | 1,405 | 2,336 | ||
| R | 865 | 1,521 | 2,396 | ||
| R | 1,195 | 1,778 | 2,985 | ||
| D | 1,437 | 1,435 | 2,901 | ||
| D | 1,554 | 1,050 | 2,651 | ||
| R | 869 | 1,387 | 2,270 | ||
| R | 260 | 1,364 | 2,218 | ||
| R | 362 | 1,623 | 2,192 | ||
| R | 785 | 1,444 | 2,311 | ||
| O | 424 | 403 | 1,462 | ||
| R | 413 | 834 | 1,324 | ||
| R | 355 | 753 | 1,158 | ||
| R | 450 | 738 | 1,224 | ||
| R | 479 | 706 | 1,216 | ||
| R | 514 | 561 | 1,144 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
31.4%
Italian
14.1%
Irish
12.8%
English
9.9%
Polish
6.1%
American
4.3%
French
2.7%
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: 47.4 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
$75,590
Putnam County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Putnam County$75,590
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Putnam County ranks in the top 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
8.1%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.9%
Working age (18–64)8.1%
Seniors (65+)4.6%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.2%
speak English only
Spanish2.6%
Other Indo-European0.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Putnam County, straddling the Illinois River valley between Bureau and Marshall counties, delivered its 2024 presidential margin of R+22.8 on a voting-age base of roughly 4,500 — making individual precinct swings unusually visible in statewide models.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-eight points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-three points.
A population of 5,601, a 91% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $75,590 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of LaSalle County and Adams 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.
Putnam County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17155/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Putnam County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Putnam County, Illinois voted Republican by 22.8 points (R+23), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 3,334 votes cast, 1,254 went Democratic and 2,014 went Republican.
What is Putnam County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Putnam County, Illinois in the "Farm Belt" typology — Rural Plains and Midwest farm counties — Republican, with modest recent movement. 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 10 times, Republican 23 times, and other 1 times.
When did Putnam County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Putnam County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Putnam County, Illinois?
Putnam County, Illinois has a population of 5,601 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Putnam County, Illinois?
Median household income in Putnam County, Illinois is $75,590 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Putnam County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Putnam County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 23 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.