Wayne County, Illinois: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+71%. Republican peak: R+71 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+71MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 15,9732024 5-year
- Median household income
- $55,5212024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 95.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+14 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+71 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Jefferson County, PA · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Wayne CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Wayne 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 | +0.4% |
| 1896 | +3.2% |
| 1900 | −0.9% |
| 1904 | −11.3% |
| 1908 | −2.6% |
| 1912 | +14.1% |
| 1916 | −4.3% |
| 1920 | −21.8% |
| 1924 | −7.4% |
| 1928 | −24.9% |
| 1932 | +14.4% |
| 1936 | +2.0% |
| 1940 | −8.1% |
| 1944 | −17.0% |
| 1948 | −10.0% |
| 1952 | −24.8% |
| 1956 | −22.9% |
| 1960 | −25.4% |
| 1964 | +4.6% |
| 1968 | −27.3% |
| 1972 | −39.6% |
| 1976 | −9.5% |
| 1980 | −28.8% |
| 1984 | −41.1% |
| 1988 | −27.1% |
| 1992 | −5.4% |
| 1996 | −12.0% |
| 2000 | −40.8% |
| 2004 | −47.8% |
| 2008 | −35.2% |
| 2012 | −58.1% |
| 2016 | −71.3% |
| 2020 | −70.5% |
| 2024 | −70.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,155 | 7,019 | 8,275 | ||
| R | 1,187 | 7,176 | 8,499 | ||
| R | 1,048 | 6,967 | 8,301 | ||
| R | 1,514 | 5,988 | 7,697 | ||
| R | 2,547 | 5,390 | 8,071 | ||
| R | 2,139 | 6,102 | 8,287 | ||
| R | 2,209 | 5,347 | 7,693 | ||
| R | 3,054 | 4,029 | 8,140 | ||
| R | 3,332 | 3,809 | 8,872 | ||
| R | 3,135 | 5,481 | 8,660 | ||
| R | 2,621 | 6,298 | 8,951 | ||
| R | 3,258 | 6,013 | 9,557 | ||
| R | 4,303 | 5,211 | 9,581 | ||
| R | 2,763 | 6,400 | 9,175 | ||
| R | 2,993 | 5,532 | 9,284 | ||
| D | 5,198 | 4,745 | 9,943 | ||
| R | 3,954 | 6,652 | 10,615 | ||
| R | 3,942 | 6,286 | 10,242 | ||
| R | 3,911 | 6,495 | 10,418 | ||
| R | 4,070 | 4,984 | 9,114 | ||
| R | 4,019 | 5,683 | 9,763 | ||
| R | 5,569 | 6,556 | 12,192 | ||
| D | 5,752 | 5,528 | 11,330 | ||
| D | 5,488 | 4,097 | 9,656 | ||
| R | 3,108 | 5,189 | 8,364 | ||
| R | 4,247 | 4,937 | 9,368 | ||
| R | 3,137 | 4,908 | 8,113 | ||
| R | 4,934 | 5,383 | 10,549 | ||
| D | 2,378 | 1,586 | 5,627 | ||
| R | 2,791 | 2,946 | 5,940 | ||
| R | 2,416 | 3,078 | 5,848 | ||
| R | 3,062 | 3,117 | 6,365 | ||
| D | 3,102 | 2,906 | 6,079 | ||
| D | 2,372 | 2,350 | 5,371 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
22.5%
English
15.7%
Irish
9.4%
American
8.1%
French
1.5%
Scottish
1.2%
Polish
0.6%
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: 42.8 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
$55,521
Wayne County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Wayne County$55,521
Illinois$83,390
United States$80,734
Wayne 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
16.1%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1822.6%
Working age (18–64)14.8%
Seniors (65+)10.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.2%
speak English only
Other Indo-European4.7%
Spanish1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 45.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Wayne County in southeastern Illinois delivered a 70-point Republican presidential margin in 2024, reflecting the rural, small-town character common to the Little Egypt region, where agricultural economies and sparse population density correlate with some of the state's most lopsided partisan results.
The Republican margin here reached seventy-one points in 2016. The 2024 margin was seventy-one points.
A population of 15,973, a 95% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $55,521 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Jefferson County and Mineral 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.
Wayne County, Illinois. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/17191/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More farm belt counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Wayne County, Illinois vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wayne County, Illinois voted Republican by 70.9 points (R+71), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,275 votes cast, 1,155 went Democratic and 7,019 went Republican.
What is Wayne County, Illinois's political typology?
Akashic places Wayne 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 Wayne County, Illinois last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wayne County, Illinois voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Wayne County, Illinois?
Wayne County, Illinois has a population of 15,973 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wayne County, Illinois?
Median household income in Wayne County, Illinois is $55,521 — below the national median of $80,734. The Illinois state median is $83,390.
What is the political history of Wayne County, Illinois?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wayne 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.