Wayne County, Indiana: Farm Belt county. In 2024, voted R+32%. Republican peak: R+48 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+32MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Farm BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 66,3972024 5-year
- Median household income
- $55,6922024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.5%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.9%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.0%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+17 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+48 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Brown County, IN · 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 | −19.9% |
| 1896 | −24.7% |
| 1900 | −24.6% |
| 1904 | −38.4% |
| 1908 | −19.0% |
| 1912 | +17.0% |
| 1916 | −9.4% |
| 1920 | −21.8% |
| 1924 | −27.4% |
| 1928 | −35.5% |
| 1932 | +2.3% |
| 1936 | +6.0% |
| 1940 | −3.1% |
| 1944 | −10.2% |
| 1948 | −17.6% |
| 1952 | −25.6% |
| 1956 | −24.0% |
| 1960 | −21.6% |
| 1964 | −0.2% |
| 1968 | −20.6% |
| 1972 | −47.5% |
| 1976 | −15.0% |
| 1980 | −26.3% |
| 1984 | −30.0% |
| 1988 | −23.1% |
| 1992 | −8.3% |
| 1996 | −5.0% |
| 2000 | −15.9% |
| 2004 | −21.0% |
| 2008 | −3.8% |
| 2012 | −14.6% |
| 2016 | −30.1% |
| 2020 | −29.1% |
| 2024 | −32.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 8,828 | 17,526 | 26,827 | ||
| R | 9,524 | 17,567 | 27,679 | ||
| R | 8,322 | 16,028 | 25,579 | ||
| R | 10,591 | 14,321 | 25,477 | ||
| R | 13,459 | 14,558 | 28,562 | ||
| R | 10,775 | 16,586 | 27,657 | ||
| R | 10,273 | 14,273 | 25,151 | ||
| R | 10,905 | 12,188 | 25,801 | ||
| R | 9,960 | 12,221 | 27,346 | ||
| R | 10,209 | 16,388 | 26,702 | ||
| R | 10,173 | 18,955 | 29,251 | ||
| R | 9,599 | 16,981 | 28,052 | ||
| R | 12,306 | 16,697 | 29,191 | ||
| R | 7,655 | 21,610 | 29,361 | ||
| R | 10,686 | 17,335 | 32,308 | ||
| R | 15,269 | 15,342 | 30,724 | ||
| R | 12,721 | 19,764 | 32,580 | ||
| R | 12,337 | 20,157 | 32,638 | ||
| R | 11,819 | 20,068 | 32,180 | ||
| R | 10,749 | 15,445 | 26,716 | ||
| R | 12,432 | 15,295 | 28,059 | ||
| R | 14,139 | 15,058 | 29,370 | ||
| D | 13,696 | 12,126 | 26,373 | ||
| D | 13,287 | 12,683 | 26,506 | ||
| R | 7,547 | 15,936 | 23,601 | ||
| R | 6,211 | 11,487 | 19,225 | ||
| R | 8,015 | 12,631 | 21,221 | ||
| R | 5,007 | 6,112 | 11,791 | ||
| O | 3,806 | 1,851 | 11,491 | ||
| R | 4,503 | 6,731 | 11,738 | ||
| R | 3,116 | 7,390 | 11,143 | ||
| R | 4,020 | 6,736 | 11,035 | ||
| R | 4,098 | 6,841 | 11,093 | ||
| R | 3,726 | 5,714 | 9,978 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.6%
English
14.8%
Irish
11.1%
American
8.4%
Italian
2.6%
Scottish
1.8%
Polish
0.7%
African American
3.1%
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: 41.0 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
$55,692
Wayne County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Wayne County$55,692
Indiana$71,957
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
17.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1824.0%
Working age (18–64)16.4%
Seniors (65+)12.7%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
94.1%
speak English only
Spanish3.3%
Other Indo-European2.0%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.5%
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 63.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Wayne County's presidential margins have widened steadily over the past two decades, reaching R+32.4 in 2024. Its county seat, Richmond, is a small manufacturing and college hub that once made the result more competitive.
The Republican margin here reached forty-eight points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-two points.
A population of 66,397, a 87% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $55,692 describe an agricultural county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Brown County and Hillsdale 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, Indiana. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/18177/. 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, Indiana vote in 2024?
In 2024, Wayne County, Indiana voted Republican by 32.4 points (R+32), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 26,827 votes cast, 8,828 went Democratic and 17,526 went Republican.
What is Wayne County, Indiana's political typology?
Akashic places Wayne County, Indiana 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 2 times, Republican 31 times, and other 1 times.
When did Wayne County, Indiana last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Wayne County, Indiana voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Wayne County, Indiana?
Wayne County, Indiana has a population of 66,397 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Wayne County, Indiana?
Median household income in Wayne County, Indiana is $55,692 — below the national median of $80,734. The Indiana state median is $71,957.
What is the political history of Wayne County, Indiana?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Wayne County, Indiana from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 2 went Democratic and 31 went Republican. The county's typology — "Farm Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.