McCracken County, Kentucky: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+35%. Democratic peak: D+56 in 1964.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+35MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 67,5642024 5-year
- Median household income
- $64,3732024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 82.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 9.7%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+56 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+37 in 2016MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Pontotoc County, OK · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of McCracken CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for McCracken 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 | +15.9% |
| 1896 | +12.5% |
| 1900 | +9.1% |
| 1904 | +7.8% |
| 1908 | +15.9% |
| 1912 | +28.4% |
| 1916 | +17.0% |
| 1920 | +16.2% |
| 1924 | +8.5% |
| 1928 | −14.2% |
| 1932 | +48.4% |
| 1936 | +53.5% |
| 1940 | +52.8% |
| 1944 | +44.0% |
| 1948 | +53.8% |
| 1952 | +34.0% |
| 1956 | +33.1% |
| 1960 | +12.8% |
| 1964 | +55.9% |
| 1968 | +17.9% |
| 1972 | −18.9% |
| 1976 | +35.1% |
| 1980 | +12.7% |
| 1984 | −1.4% |
| 1988 | +0.2% |
| 1992 | +9.9% |
| 1996 | +9.7% |
| 2000 | −12.5% |
| 2004 | −23.0% |
| 2008 | −25.2% |
| 2012 | −32.5% |
| 2016 | −37.2% |
| 2020 | −31.7% |
| 2024 | −34.9% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 10,191 | 21,349 | 31,947 | ||
| R | 11,195 | 21,820 | 33,549 | ||
| R | 9,134 | 20,774 | 31,307 | ||
| R | 10,062 | 19,979 | 30,551 | ||
| R | 11,285 | 19,043 | 30,754 | ||
| R | 11,361 | 18,218 | 29,797 | ||
| R | 11,412 | 14,745 | 26,689 | ||
| D | 12,670 | 10,221 | 25,287 | ||
| D | 13,341 | 10,657 | 27,153 | ||
| D | 12,208 | 12,160 | 24,643 | ||
| R | 12,535 | 12,903 | 25,765 | ||
| D | 13,365 | 10,281 | 24,325 | ||
| D | 14,956 | 6,997 | 22,687 | ||
| R | 7,567 | 11,260 | 19,518 | ||
| D | 9,741 | 5,887 | 21,544 | ||
| D | 16,178 | 4,543 | 20,808 | ||
| D | 12,539 | 9,689 | 22,228 | ||
| D | 14,103 | 7,076 | 21,258 | ||
| D | 12,302 | 6,051 | 18,375 | ||
| D | 11,183 | 3,251 | 14,754 | ||
| D | 10,846 | 4,190 | 15,120 | ||
| D | 11,562 | 3,554 | 15,168 | ||
| D | 10,557 | 3,160 | 13,830 | ||
| D | 9,188 | 3,140 | 12,499 | ||
| R | 5,535 | 7,368 | 12,943 | ||
| D | 6,028 | 4,979 | 12,281 | ||
| D | 8,496 | 6,085 | 14,880 | ||
| D | 4,356 | 3,058 | 7,653 | ||
| D | 2,948 | 1,308 | 5,782 | ||
| D | 4,127 | 2,966 | 7,285 | ||
| D | 2,832 | 2,413 | 5,402 | ||
| D | 3,020 | 2,506 | 5,656 | ||
| D | 2,955 | 2,284 | 5,359 | ||
| D | 1,735 | 1,195 | 3,396 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
19.6%
American
11.2%
German
11.1%
Irish
8.2%
Italian
1.8%
Scottish
1.8%
French
1.5%
African American
7.8%
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: 42.3 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
$64,373
McCracken County ranks near the middle of US counties.
McCracken County$64,373
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
McCracken 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
15.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.9%
Working age (18–64)14.3%
Seniors (65+)10.1%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.9%
speak English only
Spanish1.4%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other Indo-European0.6%
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 22.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Home to Paducah, a small city historically tied to river trade and nuclear industry, McCracken County delivered a 35-point Republican margin in 2024 — consistent with the broader partisan shift that has reshaped western Kentucky over the past decade.
The Republican margin here reached thirty-seven points in 2016. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-five points.
A population of 67,564, a 82% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $64,373 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Pontotoc County and Navarro 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.
McCracken County, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/21145/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did McCracken County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, McCracken County, Kentucky voted Republican by 34.9 points (R+35), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 31,947 votes cast, 10,191 went Democratic and 21,349 went Republican.
What is McCracken County, Kentucky's political typology?
Akashic places McCracken County, Kentucky 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 24 times, Republican 10 times, and other 0 times.
When did McCracken County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which McCracken County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in McCracken County, Kentucky?
McCracken County, Kentucky has a population of 67,564 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in McCracken County, Kentucky?
Median household income in McCracken County, Kentucky is $64,373 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of McCracken County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in McCracken County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.