Decatur County, Kansas: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+69%. Republican peak: R+71 in 2016.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+69MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 2,7262024 5-year
- Median household income
- $53,8702024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 92.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+41 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+71 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Lincoln County, KS · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Decatur CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Decatur 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 | −61.3% |
| 1896 | +26.8% |
| 1900 | +15.3% |
| 1904 | −39.5% |
| 1908 | +15.4% |
| 1912 | +40.6% |
| 1916 | +39.2% |
| 1920 | −8.1% |
| 1924 | −11.7% |
| 1928 | −34.1% |
| 1932 | +24.8% |
| 1936 | +15.5% |
| 1940 | −13.1% |
| 1944 | −20.4% |
| 1948 | −4.8% |
| 1952 | −49.6% |
| 1956 | −37.5% |
| 1960 | −27.9% |
| 1964 | −2.5% |
| 1968 | −39.8% |
| 1972 | −44.9% |
| 1976 | −9.5% |
| 1980 | −53.3% |
| 1984 | −57.5% |
| 1988 | −23.2% |
| 1992 | −17.4% |
| 1996 | −45.4% |
| 2000 | −47.2% |
| 2004 | −57.5% |
| 2008 | −54.7% |
| 2012 | −62.1% |
| 2016 | −70.8% |
| 2020 | −69.6% |
| 2024 | −68.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 215 | 1,217 | 1,454 | ||
| R | 218 | 1,260 | 1,498 | ||
| R | 178 | 1,210 | 1,457 | ||
| R | 266 | 1,218 | 1,532 | ||
| R | 343 | 1,189 | 1,548 | ||
| R | 355 | 1,355 | 1,740 | ||
| R | 424 | 1,255 | 1,759 | ||
| R | 417 | 1,255 | 1,844 | ||
| R | 576 | 940 | 2,089 | ||
| R | 793 | 1,291 | 2,148 | ||
| R | 467 | 1,770 | 2,265 | ||
| R | 443 | 1,642 | 2,250 | ||
| R | 1,011 | 1,232 | 2,336 | ||
| R | 616 | 1,707 | 2,431 | ||
| R | 652 | 1,654 | 2,516 | ||
| R | 1,314 | 1,382 | 2,712 | ||
| R | 1,038 | 1,846 | 2,892 | ||
| R | 920 | 2,028 | 2,957 | ||
| R | 821 | 2,451 | 3,288 | ||
| R | 1,402 | 1,545 | 3,005 | ||
| R | 1,159 | 1,758 | 2,934 | ||
| R | 1,546 | 2,018 | 3,593 | ||
| D | 2,362 | 1,727 | 4,104 | ||
| D | 2,422 | 1,439 | 3,969 | ||
| R | 1,129 | 2,314 | 3,478 | ||
| R | 1,218 | 1,621 | 3,457 | ||
| R | 1,221 | 1,448 | 2,809 | ||
| D | 2,431 | 1,007 | 3,631 | ||
| D | 955 | 256 | 1,720 | ||
| D | 1,250 | 898 | 2,283 | ||
| R | 411 | 1,215 | 2,035 | ||
| D | 1,158 | 848 | 2,030 | ||
| D | 1,032 | 594 | 1,633 | ||
| R | 0 | 983 | 1,604 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
36.5%
English
11.3%
Irish
9.0%
American
4.0%
French
3.3%
Scottish
1.0%
African American
0.9%
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: 50.1 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
$53,870
Decatur County ranks in the bottom 25% of US counties.
Decatur County$53,870
Kansas$74,275
United States$80,734
Decatur 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
12.7%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1827.6%
Working age (18–64)8.9%
Seniors (65+)8.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.3%
speak English only
Spanish2.4%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 40.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Decatur County, anchored by the small city of Oberlin in the state's northwest corner, recorded an R+69 presidential margin in 2024 — among the widest gaps in a state already defined by its rural Republican tilt.
The Republican margin here reached seventy-one points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Democratic candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-nine points.
A population of 2,726, a 93% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $53,870 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lincoln County and Kingman 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.
Decatur County, Kansas. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/20039/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Decatur County, Kansas vote in 2024?
In 2024, Decatur County, Kansas voted Republican by 68.9 points (R+69), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 1,454 votes cast, 215 went Democratic and 1,217 went Republican.
What is Decatur County, Kansas's political typology?
Akashic places Decatur County, Kansas in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. 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 7 times, Republican 27 times, and other 0 times.
When did Decatur County, Kansas last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Decatur County, Kansas voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Decatur County, Kansas?
Decatur County, Kansas has a population of 2,726 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Decatur County, Kansas?
Median household income in Decatur County, Kansas is $53,870 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kansas state median is $74,275.
What is the political history of Decatur County, Kansas?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Decatur County, Kansas from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 7 went Democratic and 27 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.