Union County, Illinois: Evangelical Deep South county. In 2024, voted R+43%. Republican peak: R+43 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+43MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Evangelical Deep SouthAkashic typology
- Population
- 16,9972024 5-year
- Median household income
- $55,7282024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 89.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 5.5%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+36 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+43 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Hardin County, IL · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Union CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Union 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 | +29.4% |
| 1896 | +23.6% |
| 1900 | +25.9% |
| 1904 | +11.1% |
| 1908 | +22.0% |
| 1912 | +33.1% |
| 1916 | +24.1% |
| 1920 | +7.9% |
| 1924 | +18.3% |
| 1928 | +10.6% |
| 1932 | +36.3% |
| 1936 | +20.0% |
| 1940 | +8.2% |
| 1944 | +3.0% |
| 1948 | +7.3% |
| 1952 | −4.0% |
| 1956 | +1.8% |
| 1960 | −1.3% |
| 1964 | +24.7% |
| 1968 | −3.4% |
| 1972 | −18.9% |
| 1976 | +17.2% |
| 1980 | −6.0% |
| 1984 | −10.6% |
| 1988 | −0.6% |
| 1992 | +18.5% |
| 1996 | +13.3% |
| 2000 | −4.8% |
| 2004 | −17.5% |
| 2008 | −11.9% |
| 2012 | −21.9% |
| 2016 | −39.3% |
| 2020 | −40.2% |
| 2024 | −43.2% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,285 | 5,837 | 8,226 | ||
| R | 2,579 | 6,161 | 8,904 | ||
| R | 2,402 | 5,790 | 8,616 | ||
| R | 3,137 | 4,957 | 8,318 | ||
| R | 3,918 | 5,003 | 9,116 | ||
| R | 3,735 | 5,333 | 9,119 | ||
| R | 3,982 | 4,397 | 8,660 | ||
| D | 4,252 | 3,147 | 8,282 | ||
| D | 4,681 | 3,003 | 9,083 | ||
| R | 4,197 | 4,244 | 8,479 | ||
| R | 3,815 | 4,721 | 8,564 | ||
| R | 3,781 | 4,289 | 8,441 | ||
| D | 5,003 | 3,531 | 8,578 | ||
| R | 3,428 | 5,034 | 8,480 | ||
| R | 3,603 | 3,889 | 8,372 | ||
| D | 5,208 | 3,142 | 8,350 | ||
| R | 4,321 | 4,432 | 8,763 | ||
| D | 4,359 | 4,204 | 8,569 | ||
| R | 4,296 | 4,658 | 8,963 | ||
| D | 4,479 | 3,864 | 8,398 | ||
| D | 4,367 | 4,114 | 8,527 | ||
| D | 5,804 | 4,915 | 10,800 | ||
| D | 6,260 | 4,165 | 10,461 | ||
| D | 6,157 | 2,859 | 9,085 | ||
| D | 4,149 | 3,352 | 7,530 | ||
| D | 3,783 | 2,579 | 6,586 | ||
| D | 3,660 | 3,119 | 6,847 | ||
| D | 5,171 | 3,135 | 8,440 | ||
| D | 2,648 | 1,194 | 4,387 | ||
| D | 2,690 | 1,695 | 4,529 | ||
| D | 1,967 | 1,537 | 3,887 | ||
| D | 2,900 | 1,695 | 4,645 | ||
| D | 2,998 | 1,842 | 4,892 | ||
| D | 2,663 | 1,427 | 4,202 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
20.3%
English
11.4%
Irish
8.7%
American
5.0%
Scottish
2.4%
Polish
1.8%
Italian
1.6%
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: 44.3 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
$55,728
Union County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Union County$55,728
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Union 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
20.2%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1826.2%
Working age (18–64)20.0%
Seniors (65+)8.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.4%
speak English only
Spanish5.0%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 55.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Union County sits in Illinois's rugged southern tip, where the Shawnee National Forest dominates the landscape and a dwindling rural population has shifted presidential margins decisively rightward over the past two decades, reaching R+43.2 in 2024.
The Republican margin here reached its widest at forty-three points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-three points.
A median household income of $55,728, a 20% poverty rate, and a 90% non-Hispanic-white share describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Hardin County and Henry 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.
Union County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17181/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Union County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Union County, Illinois voted Republican by 43.2 points (R+43), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,226 votes cast, 2,285 went Democratic and 5,837 went Republican.
What is Union County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Union County, Illinois in the "Evangelical Deep South" typology — Deeply Republican, heavily Baptist counties of the Deep South. 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 20 times, Republican 14 times, and other 0 times.
When did Union County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Union County, Illinois voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Union County, Illinois?
Union County, Illinois has a population of 16,997 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Union County, Illinois?
Median household income in Union County, Illinois is $55,728 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Union County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Union County, Illinois from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 20 went Democratic and 14 went Republican. The county's typology — "Evangelical Deep South" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.