Stephenson County, Illinois: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+19%. Republican peak: R+53 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+19MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 43,7682024 5-year
- Median household income
- $64,0432024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 79.6%2024 5-year
- Black
- 8.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+27 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+53 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Boone County, IL · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Stephenson CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Stephenson 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 | +1.9% |
| 1896 | −10.9% |
| 1900 | −7.8% |
| 1904 | −18.6% |
| 1908 | −5.9% |
| 1912 | +27.4% |
| 1916 | −21.4% |
| 1920 | −53.0% |
| 1924 | −38.1% |
| 1928 | −36.3% |
| 1932 | +8.7% |
| 1936 | +2.9% |
| 1940 | −22.3% |
| 1944 | −21.2% |
| 1948 | −17.4% |
| 1952 | −37.2% |
| 1956 | −38.3% |
| 1960 | −26.4% |
| 1964 | +8.0% |
| 1968 | −24.0% |
| 1972 | −35.9% |
| 1976 | −23.4% |
| 1980 | −22.5% |
| 1984 | −35.6% |
| 1988 | −20.5% |
| 1992 | −5.1% |
| 1996 | −9.5% |
| 2000 | −13.7% |
| 2004 | −15.5% |
| 2008 | +6.7% |
| 2012 | −1.6% |
| 2016 | −16.3% |
| 2020 | −15.7% |
| 2024 | −19.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 8,278 | 12,347 | 20,995 | ||
| R | 9,055 | 12,521 | 22,111 | ||
| R | 7,768 | 11,083 | 20,343 | ||
| R | 10,165 | 10,512 | 21,128 | ||
| D | 11,349 | 9,909 | 21,605 | ||
| R | 8,913 | 12,212 | 21,320 | ||
| R | 8,062 | 10,715 | 19,378 | ||
| R | 7,145 | 8,871 | 18,125 | ||
| R | 7,899 | 9,005 | 21,656 | ||
| R | 7,460 | 11,342 | 18,945 | ||
| R | 6,723 | 14,237 | 21,131 | ||
| R | 6,195 | 10,779 | 20,388 | ||
| R | 7,192 | 11,678 | 19,137 | ||
| R | 6,404 | 13,584 | 20,019 | ||
| R | 7,040 | 11,821 | 19,928 | ||
| D | 10,854 | 9,252 | 20,106 | ||
| R | 8,055 | 13,872 | 21,995 | ||
| R | 6,349 | 14,245 | 20,614 | ||
| R | 6,605 | 14,446 | 21,086 | ||
| R | 7,409 | 10,564 | 18,122 | ||
| R | 7,755 | 11,948 | 19,821 | ||
| R | 8,911 | 14,040 | 23,045 | ||
| D | 10,567 | 9,943 | 21,342 | ||
| D | 10,728 | 8,963 | 20,198 | ||
| R | 5,579 | 11,992 | 17,643 | ||
| R | 2,452 | 8,638 | 16,216 | ||
| R | 2,772 | 9,570 | 12,821 | ||
| R | 5,463 | 8,620 | 14,744 | ||
| D | 3,850 | 1,367 | 9,060 | ||
| R | 4,076 | 4,605 | 9,041 | ||
| R | 3,275 | 4,876 | 8,611 | ||
| R | 3,983 | 4,677 | 8,910 | ||
| R | 3,776 | 4,728 | 8,729 | ||
| D | 3,717 | 3,574 | 7,643 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
36.8%
Irish
13.0%
English
10.1%
Italian
3.1%
American
3.1%
Polish
2.2%
French
1.2%
African American
6.9%
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: 45.3 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
$64,043
Stephenson County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Stephenson County$64,043
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Stephenson 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
13.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.9%
Working age (18–64)12.8%
Seniors (65+)9.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.2%
speak English only
Spanish2.0%
Other Indo-European1.3%
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 39.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Stephenson County sits in Illinois's northwestern corner, anchored by Freeport, and has voted Republican in every presidential race since 2000 by double-digit margins, reflecting broader rural consolidation across the Driftless-adjacent Midwest.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-three points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was nineteen points.
A population of 43,768, a 80% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $64,043 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Boone County and Halifax 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.
Stephenson County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17177/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Stephenson County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Stephenson County, Illinois voted Republican by 19.4 points (R+19), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 20,995 votes cast, 8,278 went Democratic and 12,347 went Republican.
What is Stephenson County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Stephenson 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 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Stephenson County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Stephenson County, Illinois voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Stephenson County, Illinois?
Stephenson County, Illinois has a population of 43,768 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Stephenson County, Illinois?
Median household income in Stephenson County, Illinois is $64,043 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Stephenson County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Stephenson County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.