Porter County, Indiana: Industrial Catholic Metro county. In 2024, voted R+10%. Republican peak: R+51 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+10MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Industrial Catholic MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 174,8182024 5-year
- Median household income
- $87,9722024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 83.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 11.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+7 in 2008MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+51 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Wood County, OH · similarity 0.97
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Porter CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Porter 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 | −5.7% |
| 1896 | −16.8% |
| 1900 | −20.2% |
| 1904 | −36.2% |
| 1908 | −23.4% |
| 1912 | −3.7% |
| 1916 | −21.2% |
| 1920 | −50.9% |
| 1924 | −48.0% |
| 1928 | −41.5% |
| 1932 | −0.8% |
| 1936 | −6.0% |
| 1940 | −17.2% |
| 1944 | −21.4% |
| 1948 | −26.2% |
| 1952 | −38.0% |
| 1956 | −45.6% |
| 1960 | −18.6% |
| 1964 | −5.5% |
| 1968 | −25.8% |
| 1972 | −49.8% |
| 1976 | −21.1% |
| 1980 | −36.7% |
| 1984 | −28.9% |
| 1988 | −21.1% |
| 1992 | −2.8% |
| 1996 | +2.0% |
| 2000 | −7.4% |
| 2004 | −8.3% |
| 2008 | +7.2% |
| 2012 | +3.9% |
| 2016 | −6.7% |
| 2020 | −6.1% |
| 2024 | −10.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 37,213 | 46,109 | 84,969 | ||
| R | 39,746 | 45,008 | 86,509 | ||
| R | 33,531 | 38,719 | 78,008 | ||
| D | 37,252 | 34,406 | 73,303 | ||
| D | 39,178 | 33,857 | 73,916 | ||
| R | 29,388 | 34,794 | 64,873 | ||
| R | 26,790 | 31,157 | 59,378 | ||
| D | 24,044 | 22,931 | 54,601 | ||
| R | 21,022 | 22,644 | 57,067 | ||
| R | 19,390 | 29,790 | 49,345 | ||
| R | 17,862 | 32,505 | 50,682 | ||
| R | 12,869 | 30,055 | 46,816 | ||
| R | 16,468 | 25,489 | 42,658 | ||
| R | 8,943 | 26,877 | 36,030 | ||
| R | 8,914 | 17,328 | 32,582 | ||
| R | 12,975 | 14,480 | 27,607 | ||
| R | 10,733 | 15,666 | 26,474 | ||
| R | 5,574 | 14,970 | 20,589 | ||
| R | 5,909 | 13,194 | 19,190 | ||
| R | 5,161 | 8,907 | 14,318 | ||
| R | 5,528 | 8,561 | 14,146 | ||
| R | 5,840 | 8,270 | 14,161 | ||
| R | 5,560 | 6,278 | 11,936 | ||
| R | 5,542 | 5,631 | 11,382 | ||
| R | 2,921 | 7,107 | 10,090 | ||
| R | 1,640 | 5,613 | 8,284 | ||
| R | 1,671 | 5,570 | 7,664 | ||
| R | 1,871 | 2,913 | 4,919 | ||
| R | 1,352 | 1,510 | 4,280 | ||
| R | 1,789 | 2,940 | 4,910 | ||
| R | 1,437 | 3,162 | 4,763 | ||
| R | 1,848 | 2,797 | 4,702 | ||
| R | 2,026 | 2,853 | 4,914 | ||
| R | 1,937 | 2,187 | 4,398 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
18.9%
Irish
14.9%
English
10.0%
Polish
7.8%
Italian
4.9%
American
4.2%
Scottish
1.9%
African American
3.6%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 40.8 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
$87,972
Porter County ranks in the top 10% of US counties.
Porter County$87,972
Indiana$71,957
United States$80,734
Porter County ranks in the top 10% 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
9.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.9%
Working age (18–64)9.1%
Seniors (65+)7.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
92.7%
speak English only
Spanish4.3%
Other Indo-European1.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other languages0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 61.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Porter County sits at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, blending Chicago-area suburban commuters with small-town and rural voters — a mix that produced a 10.5-point Republican presidential margin in 2024 after decades of competitive swings.
Its margins are typically close. The Democratic margin reached seven points in 2008; the Republican margin reached fifty-one points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was ten points.
Its demographics sit near national norms: a 84% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $87,972, and a 10% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Wood County and Berks 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.
Porter County, Indiana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/18127/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More industrial catholic metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Porter County, Indiana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Porter County, Indiana voted Republican by 10.5 points (R+10), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 84,969 votes cast, 37,213 went Democratic and 46,109 went Republican.
What is Porter County, Indiana's political typology?
Akashic places Porter County, Indiana in the "Industrial Catholic Metro" typology — Mid-size industrial metros with Catholic ethnic roots — among the most competitive, swing-prone ground in the country. 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 3 times, Republican 31 times, and other 0 times.
When did Porter County, Indiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Porter County, Indiana voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Porter County, Indiana?
Porter County, Indiana has a population of 174,818 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Porter County, Indiana?
Median household income in Porter County, Indiana is $87,972 — above the national median of $80,734. The Indiana state median is $71,957.
What is the political history of Porter County, Indiana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Porter County, Indiana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 3 went Democratic and 31 went Republican. The county's typology — "Industrial Catholic Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.