Blackford County, Indiana: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+50%. Republican peak: R+50 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+50MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 11,9502024 5-year
- Median household income
- $51,3262024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+35 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+50 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Jay County, IN · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Blackford CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Blackford 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 | +4.7% |
| 1896 | +2.6% |
| 1900 | +1.6% |
| 1904 | −9.4% |
| 1908 | +8.9% |
| 1912 | +34.5% |
| 1916 | +7.3% |
| 1920 | −9.7% |
| 1924 | −6.6% |
| 1928 | −20.0% |
| 1932 | +16.8% |
| 1936 | +19.2% |
| 1940 | +9.9% |
| 1944 | +2.0% |
| 1948 | +11.6% |
| 1952 | −8.7% |
| 1956 | −9.9% |
| 1960 | −7.3% |
| 1964 | +24.3% |
| 1968 | −2.4% |
| 1972 | −25.2% |
| 1976 | +4.7% |
| 1980 | −12.4% |
| 1984 | −22.3% |
| 1988 | −19.3% |
| 1992 | −4.5% |
| 1996 | +5.2% |
| 2000 | −12.2% |
| 2004 | −28.7% |
| 2008 | −0.2% |
| 2012 | −16.5% |
| 2016 | −43.2% |
| 2020 | −46.1% |
| 2024 | −50.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,227 | 3,811 | 5,136 | ||
| R | 1,376 | 3,841 | 5,351 | ||
| R | 1,243 | 3,350 | 4,881 | ||
| R | 1,927 | 2,711 | 4,760 | ||
| R | 2,677 | 2,690 | 5,441 | ||
| R | 1,903 | 3,447 | 5,380 | ||
| R | 2,103 | 2,699 | 4,893 | ||
| D | 2,335 | 2,070 | 5,130 | ||
| R | 2,088 | 2,347 | 5,778 | ||
| R | 2,253 | 3,336 | 5,608 | ||
| R | 2,395 | 3,787 | 6,230 | ||
| R | 2,431 | 3,168 | 5,962 | ||
| D | 3,174 | 2,886 | 6,120 | ||
| R | 2,311 | 3,876 | 6,219 | ||
| R | 2,898 | 3,052 | 6,504 | ||
| D | 4,210 | 2,552 | 6,829 | ||
| R | 3,228 | 3,738 | 7,009 | ||
| R | 3,152 | 3,855 | 7,071 | ||
| R | 3,144 | 3,759 | 7,066 | ||
| D | 3,611 | 2,840 | 6,641 | ||
| D | 3,207 | 3,079 | 6,439 | ||
| D | 4,095 | 3,352 | 7,530 | ||
| D | 4,217 | 2,845 | 7,145 | ||
| D | 4,088 | 2,890 | 7,130 | ||
| R | 2,576 | 3,882 | 6,541 | ||
| R | 3,094 | 3,553 | 6,953 | ||
| R | 2,555 | 3,145 | 6,073 | ||
| D | 1,867 | 1,595 | 3,706 | ||
| D | 1,651 | 399 | 3,624 | ||
| D | 2,214 | 1,835 | 4,258 | ||
| R | 2,058 | 2,521 | 4,906 | ||
| D | 2,191 | 2,121 | 4,489 | ||
| D | 2,272 | 2,154 | 4,501 | ||
| D | 1,340 | 1,203 | 2,935 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
21.2%
Irish
15.9%
English
14.4%
American
9.8%
Italian
2.2%
French
1.9%
Scottish
1.9%
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: 43.1 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
$51,326
Blackford County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Blackford County$51,326
Indiana$71,957
United States$80,734
Blackford 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
16.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.3%
Working age (18–64)14.9%
Seniors (65+)18.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.3%
speak English only
Spanish1.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
Other languages0.2%
Other Indo-European0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 72.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Blackford County's roughly 14,000 residents have delivered lopsided Republican presidential margins for more than a decade, reflecting a broader rural northeast Indiana pattern where manufacturing decline and demographic homogeneity reinforce low electoral competitiveness.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at thirty-five points in 1912 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by twelve points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $51,326 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 16% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Jay County and Stark 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.
Blackford County, Indiana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/18009/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Blackford County, Indiana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Blackford County, Indiana voted Republican by 50.3 points (R+50), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 5,136 votes cast, 1,227 went Democratic and 3,811 went Republican.
What is Blackford County, Indiana's political typology?
Akashic places Blackford County, Indiana in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to Republican. 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 14 times, Republican 20 times, and other 0 times.
When did Blackford County, Indiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Blackford County, Indiana voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Blackford County, Indiana?
Blackford County, Indiana has a population of 11,950 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Blackford County, Indiana?
Median household income in Blackford County, Indiana is $51,326 — below the national median of $80,734. The Indiana state median is $71,957.
What is the political history of Blackford County, Indiana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Blackford County, Indiana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 14 went Democratic and 20 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.