Saline County, Illinois: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+49%. Republican peak: R+50 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+49MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 23,2132024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,1172024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 91.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+27 in 1992MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Waller County, TX · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Saline CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Saline 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 | −7.9% |
| 1896 | −6.3% |
| 1900 | −6.5% |
| 1904 | −20.3% |
| 1908 | −10.9% |
| 1912 | +16.6% |
| 1916 | −8.1% |
| 1920 | −25.4% |
| 1924 | −15.8% |
| 1928 | −8.5% |
| 1932 | +20.8% |
| 1936 | +6.1% |
| 1940 | +0.6% |
| 1944 | −10.5% |
| 1948 | +0.3% |
| 1952 | −8.4% |
| 1956 | −8.1% |
| 1960 | −12.8% |
| 1964 | +18.9% |
| 1968 | −6.7% |
| 1972 | −18.8% |
| 1976 | +11.1% |
| 1980 | −11.1% |
| 1984 | −8.6% |
| 1988 | +7.0% |
| 1992 | +27.1% |
| 1996 | +21.1% |
| 2000 | −4.3% |
| 2004 | −20.0% |
| 2008 | −8.9% |
| 2012 | −29.0% |
| 2016 | −50.1% |
| 2020 | −47.9% |
| 2024 | −49.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,634 | 7,830 | 10,605 | ||
| R | 2,789 | 8,103 | 11,089 | ||
| R | 2,572 | 8,276 | 11,384 | ||
| R | 3,701 | 6,806 | 10,720 | ||
| R | 5,083 | 6,099 | 11,428 | ||
| R | 4,697 | 7,057 | 11,814 | ||
| R | 5,427 | 5,933 | 11,650 | ||
| D | 6,156 | 3,693 | 11,665 | ||
| D | 7,258 | 3,667 | 13,254 | ||
| D | 6,676 | 5,798 | 12,521 | ||
| R | 6,038 | 7,176 | 13,251 | ||
| R | 5,683 | 7,157 | 13,265 | ||
| D | 7,472 | 5,970 | 13,493 | ||
| R | 5,226 | 7,660 | 12,918 | ||
| R | 5,985 | 6,913 | 13,849 | ||
| D | 8,337 | 5,691 | 14,028 | ||
| R | 6,835 | 8,853 | 15,707 | ||
| R | 7,215 | 8,481 | 15,716 | ||
| R | 7,771 | 9,206 | 17,006 | ||
| D | 7,718 | 7,676 | 15,485 | ||
| R | 7,351 | 9,083 | 16,539 | ||
| D | 10,692 | 10,567 | 21,377 | ||
| D | 10,253 | 9,055 | 19,616 | ||
| D | 9,725 | 6,294 | 16,473 | ||
| R | 6,337 | 7,525 | 13,983 | ||
| R | 4,037 | 6,084 | 12,937 | ||
| R | 3,500 | 6,722 | 12,692 | ||
| R | 5,930 | 7,061 | 13,954 | ||
| D | 3,599 | 2,254 | 8,111 | ||
| R | 2,471 | 3,125 | 5,996 | ||
| R | 1,758 | 2,735 | 4,804 | ||
| R | 2,186 | 2,495 | 4,756 | ||
| R | 2,296 | 2,605 | 4,933 | ||
| R | 1,828 | 2,171 | 4,351 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
Irish
17.2%
German
14.8%
English
12.9%
American
7.6%
Scottish
2.9%
Italian
2.2%
French
1.6%
African American
2.5%
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: 43.8 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
$53,117
Saline County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Saline County$53,117
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Saline County ranks in the bottom 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
18.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.7%
Working age (18–64)19.1%
Seniors (65+)11.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.0%
speak English only
Spanish0.8%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 41.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Saline County, tucked in southern Illinois's former coal belt, has shifted dramatically toward Republican presidential candidates over the past two decades, posting a 49-point margin in 2024 despite the state's Democratic lean overall.
The Republican margin here reached fifty points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-nine points.
A population of 23,213, a 92% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $53,117 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Waller County and Christian 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.
Saline County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17165/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Saline County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Saline County, Illinois voted Republican by 49.0 points (R+49), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,605 votes cast, 2,634 went Democratic and 7,830 went Republican.
What is Saline County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Saline 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 24 times, and other 0 times.
When did Saline County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Saline County, Illinois voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Saline County, Illinois?
Saline County, Illinois has a population of 23,213 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Saline County, Illinois?
Median household income in Saline County, Illinois is $53,117 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Saline County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Saline County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.