Breathitt County, Kentucky: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+59%. Democratic peak: D+75 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+59MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 13,2762024 5-year
- Median household income
- $34,8082024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 96.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.6%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+75 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+59 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Mingo County, WV · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Breathitt CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Breathitt 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 | +26.4% |
| 1896 | +21.5% |
| 1900 | +29.7% |
| 1904 | +29.6% |
| 1908 | −1.6% |
| 1912 | +25.7% |
| 1916 | +13.1% |
| 1920 | +5.2% |
| 1924 | +24.6% |
| 1928 | +13.3% |
| 1932 | +53.4% |
| 1936 | +37.9% |
| 1940 | +42.5% |
| 1944 | +40.4% |
| 1948 | +54.8% |
| 1952 | +42.0% |
| 1956 | +14.5% |
| 1960 | +24.7% |
| 1964 | +75.1% |
| 1968 | +34.1% |
| 1972 | +18.3% |
| 1976 | +55.3% |
| 1980 | +43.1% |
| 1984 | +9.2% |
| 1988 | +22.2% |
| 1992 | +41.1% |
| 1996 | +44.7% |
| 2000 | +16.1% |
| 2004 | +13.2% |
| 2008 | −9.3% |
| 2012 | −35.1% |
| 2016 | −42.8% |
| 2020 | −52.4% |
| 2024 | −59.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,002 | 4,036 | 5,118 | ||
| R | 1,301 | 4,265 | 5,661 | ||
| R | 1,537 | 3,991 | 5,738 | ||
| R | 1,562 | 3,318 | 5,008 | ||
| R | 2,205 | 2,671 | 5,030 | ||
| D | 3,327 | 2,542 | 5,944 | ||
| D | 2,902 | 2,084 | 5,073 | ||
| D | 3,106 | 1,058 | 4,578 | ||
| D | 3,496 | 1,303 | 5,336 | ||
| D | 3,387 | 2,149 | 5,580 | ||
| D | 3,435 | 2,855 | 6,309 | ||
| D | 3,916 | 1,532 | 5,532 | ||
| D | 3,544 | 1,014 | 4,576 | ||
| D | 2,677 | 1,846 | 4,541 | ||
| D | 2,954 | 1,361 | 4,678 | ||
| D | 4,714 | 669 | 5,383 | ||
| D | 3,307 | 1,996 | 5,303 | ||
| D | 3,246 | 2,423 | 5,673 | ||
| D | 3,383 | 1,381 | 4,764 | ||
| D | 3,295 | 957 | 4,264 | ||
| D | 2,922 | 1,230 | 4,183 | ||
| D | 3,977 | 1,602 | 5,590 | ||
| D | 3,980 | 1,790 | 5,781 | ||
| D | 4,524 | 1,371 | 5,902 | ||
| D | 3,017 | 2,309 | 5,326 | ||
| D | 2,826 | 1,708 | 4,544 | ||
| D | 2,737 | 2,464 | 5,232 | ||
| D | 2,067 | 1,584 | 3,676 | ||
| D | 1,682 | 910 | 2,999 | ||
| R | 1,567 | 1,620 | 3,219 | ||
| D | 1,537 | 829 | 2,392 | ||
| D | 1,573 | 850 | 2,434 | ||
| D | 1,204 | 776 | 1,994 | ||
| D | 977 | 566 | 1,554 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
30.8%
English
22.5%
Irish
8.2%
German
3.8%
Italian
1.0%
Scottish
1.0%
French
0.6%
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: 42.8 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
$34,808
Breathitt County ranks in the bottom 5% of US counties.
Breathitt County$34,808
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Breathitt County ranks in the bottom 5% 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
33.1%
Nearly half of children live in poverty.
Children under 1842.1%
Working age (18–64)32.1%
Seniors (65+)15.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.3%
speak English only
Spanish0.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 82.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Breathitt County, once a reliably Democratic coal-country stronghold in the Cumberland Plateau, has shifted dramatically in presidential voting since 2008, posting margins above R+50 in recent cycles as the regional realignment among working-class voters accelerated.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at seventy-five points in 1964 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2008 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by nine points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved seven points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-nine points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $34,808 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 33% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Mingo County and Clay 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.
Breathitt County, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/21025/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Breathitt County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Breathitt County, Kentucky voted Republican by 59.3 points (R+59), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 5,118 votes cast, 1,002 went Democratic and 4,036 went Republican.
What is Breathitt County, Kentucky's political typology?
Akashic places Breathitt County, Kentucky 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 28 times, Republican 6 times, and other 0 times.
When did Breathitt County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Breathitt County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 2004.
How many people live in Breathitt County, Kentucky?
Breathitt County, Kentucky has a population of 13,276 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Breathitt County, Kentucky?
Median household income in Breathitt County, Kentucky is $34,808 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Breathitt County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Breathitt County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 28 went Democratic and 6 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.