Starke County, Indiana: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+52%. Republican peak: R+52 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+52MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 23,3652024 5-year
- Median household income
- $63,9602024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.5%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.3%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+16 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Renville County, MN · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Starke CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Starke 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 | +8.0% |
| 1896 | −3.0% |
| 1900 | −0.9% |
| 1904 | −13.9% |
| 1908 | −7.4% |
| 1912 | +15.0% |
| 1916 | −7.3% |
| 1920 | −28.5% |
| 1924 | −17.6% |
| 1928 | −15.4% |
| 1932 | +16.2% |
| 1936 | +4.9% |
| 1940 | −8.7% |
| 1944 | −12.2% |
| 1948 | −3.0% |
| 1952 | −19.5% |
| 1956 | −20.3% |
| 1960 | −6.9% |
| 1964 | +16.5% |
| 1968 | −9.6% |
| 1972 | −29.5% |
| 1976 | +4.3% |
| 1980 | −15.6% |
| 1984 | −16.1% |
| 1988 | −4.1% |
| 1992 | +6.8% |
| 1996 | +9.2% |
| 2000 | −2.4% |
| 2004 | −9.6% |
| 2008 | +3.2% |
| 2012 | −10.6% |
| 2016 | −41.6% |
| 2020 | −46.8% |
| 2024 | −52.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,436 | 7,889 | 10,478 | ||
| R | 2,650 | 7,466 | 10,290 | ||
| R | 2,489 | 6,367 | 9,316 | ||
| R | 3,809 | 4,738 | 8,769 | ||
| D | 4,778 | 4,473 | 9,466 | ||
| R | 3,987 | 4,846 | 8,937 | ||
| R | 4,136 | 4,349 | 8,701 | ||
| D | 3,854 | 3,108 | 8,150 | ||
| D | 3,695 | 3,100 | 8,758 | ||
| R | 4,104 | 4,458 | 8,606 | ||
| R | 3,674 | 5,104 | 8,889 | ||
| R | 3,615 | 5,035 | 9,110 | ||
| D | 4,753 | 4,354 | 9,241 | ||
| R | 2,994 | 5,520 | 8,567 | ||
| R | 3,208 | 4,011 | 8,365 | ||
| D | 4,838 | 3,466 | 8,321 | ||
| R | 3,995 | 4,592 | 8,619 | ||
| R | 3,349 | 5,063 | 8,447 | ||
| R | 3,274 | 4,871 | 8,196 | ||
| R | 3,312 | 3,518 | 6,960 | ||
| R | 2,791 | 3,574 | 6,415 | ||
| R | 2,917 | 3,473 | 6,412 | ||
| D | 3,143 | 2,846 | 6,032 | ||
| D | 3,420 | 2,449 | 6,010 | ||
| R | 2,016 | 2,759 | 4,813 | ||
| R | 1,555 | 2,329 | 4,394 | ||
| R | 1,467 | 2,683 | 4,264 | ||
| R | 1,334 | 1,550 | 2,969 | ||
| D | 1,208 | 787 | 2,800 | ||
| R | 1,305 | 1,521 | 2,915 | ||
| R | 1,134 | 1,523 | 2,796 | ||
| R | 1,315 | 1,340 | 2,704 | ||
| R | 1,214 | 1,289 | 2,527 | ||
| D | 1,003 | 850 | 1,917 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.3%
Irish
12.5%
English
9.8%
American
5.3%
Polish
4.6%
Italian
2.3%
Scottish
1.8%
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: 42.1 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
$63,960
Starke County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Starke County$63,960
Indiana$71,957
United States$80,734
Starke 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
13.4%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.0%
Working age (18–64)12.4%
Seniors (65+)11.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.0%
speak English only
Other Indo-European1.8%
Spanish1.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
Other languages0.1%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 72.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Starke County's agricultural flatlands and small-town demographic profile have pushed its presidential margins steadily rightward over the past decade, reaching R+52 in 2024 — roughly double its spread from 2012.
The Democratic margin here peaked at sixteen points in 1964. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved five points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-two points.
A population of 23,365, a 92% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $63,960 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Renville County and Oconto 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.
Starke County, Indiana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/18149/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Starke County, Indiana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Starke County, Indiana voted Republican by 52.0 points (R+52), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,478 votes cast, 2,436 went Democratic and 7,889 went Republican.
What is Starke County, Indiana's political typology?
Akashic places Starke County, Indiana in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. 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 9 times, Republican 25 times, and other 0 times.
When did Starke County, Indiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Starke County, Indiana voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Starke County, Indiana?
Starke County, Indiana has a population of 23,365 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Starke County, Indiana?
Median household income in Starke County, Indiana is $63,960 — below the national median of $80,734. The Indiana state median is $71,957.
What is the political history of Starke County, Indiana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Starke County, Indiana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 25 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.