McCreary County, Kentucky
Precinct data
Results by precinct
18 precincts · 6,212 votes
Precinct boundaries and identifiers are cycle-specific. This table does not join rows across years without a validated crosswalk.
| Precinct -B101B101 | 98 | 970 | 6 | 1,074 | 9.1% | 90.3% | R+81.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precinct -D101D101 | 80 | 497 | 3 | 580 | 13.8% | 85.7% | R+71.9 |
| Precinct -A102A102 | 63 | 493 | 3 | 559 | 11.3% | 88.2% | R+76.9 |
| Precinct -A101A101 | 85 | 448 | 1 | 534 | 15.9% | 83.9% | R+68.0 |
| Precinct -F104F104 | 64 | 463 | 6 | 533 | 12.0% | 86.9% | R+74.9 |
| Precinct -A104A104 | 37 | 352 | 4 | 393 | 9.4% | 89.6% | R+80.2 |
| Precinct -B102B102 | 29 | 300 | 2 | 331 | 8.8% | 90.6% | R+81.9 |
| Precinct -D104D104 | 27 | 261 | 0 | 288 | 9.4% | 90.6% | R+81.3 |
| Precinct -F105F105 | 27 | 221 | 5 | 253 | 10.7% | 87.4% | R+76.7 |
| Precinct -B104B104 | 18 | 226 | 2 | 246 | 7.3% | 91.9% | R+84.6 |
| Precinct -F108F108 | 8 | 237 | 1 | 246 | 3.3% | 96.3% | R+93.1 |
| Precinct -D105D105 | 13 | 226 | 2 | 241 | 5.4% | 93.8% | R+88.4 |
| Precinct -F103F103 | 22 | 215 | 1 | 238 | 9.2% | 90.3% | R+81.1 |
| Precinct -D103D103 | 24 | 191 | 0 | 215 | 11.2% | 88.8% | R+77.7 |
| Precinct -D106D106 | 22 | 110 | 2 | 134 | 16.4% | 82.1% | R+65.7 |
| Precinct -F109F109 | 5 | 118 | 0 | 123 | 4.1% | 95.9% | R+91.9 |
| Precinct -F106F106 | 16 | 98 | 0 | 114 | 14.0% | 86.0% | R+71.9 |
| Precinct -A105A105 | 3 | 105 | 2 | 110 | 2.7% | 95.5% | R+92.7 |
Presidential margin, 1912–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1912 | −15.1% |
| 1916 | −65.9% |
| 1920 | −68.7% |
| 1924 | −57.7% |
| 1928 | −78.4% |
| 1932 | −47.3% |
| 1936 | −45.4% |
| 1940 | −43.4% |
| 1944 | −59.0% |
| 1948 | −52.7% |
| 1952 | −56.2% |
| 1956 | −64.8% |
| 1960 | −59.8% |
| 1964 | −21.8% |
| 1968 | −48.4% |
| 1972 | −63.4% |
| 1976 | −28.1% |
| 1980 | −45.4% |
| 1984 | −42.4% |
| 1988 | −35.3% |
| 1992 | −26.6% |
| 1996 | −17.0% |
| 2000 | −39.7% |
| 2004 | −45.5% |
| 2008 | −52.2% |
| 2012 | −61.2% |
| 2016 | −75.3% |
| 2020 | −76.7% |
| 2024 | −78.7% |
U.S. Senate
| Year | Won | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | R | 14.4%629 | 85.6%3,738 | 4,367 |
| 2020 | R | 13.9%889 | 81.0%5,179 | 6,390 |
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Registration leans Republican; the presidential vote runs 21 points more Democratic.
10,876 registered voters · 2024
Who moves in and out
Net migration over time, and who arrivals are — where they came from and what those places vote
+235 net domestic migration · 2025
Net −658 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Arrivals reported $33,550 in average income, against $45,770 for residents who stayed — 27% lower. (IRS SOI, 2022–23)
The places arrivals came from lean R+66.5 on average — 12 points more Democratic-leaning than McCreary County, KY itself (R+78.7).
Where arrivals came from lean of each source
- Pulaski County, KY48R+65.2
- Whitley County, KY22R+69.3
Where departures went households, 2022–23
- Pulaski County, KY45
- Scott County, TN24
Migration is one input to a place’s political change, not its cause — a shift can also come from residents changing their minds, generational turnover, or turnout. These figures describe the places people moved between; they do not measure how any mover voted.
| Year | Net domestic migration |
|---|---|
| 2011 | −99 |
| 2012 | −275 |
| 2013 | −146 |
| 2014 | −43 |
| 2015 | −8 |
| 2016 | −373 |
| 2017 | −144 |
| 2018 | −55 |
| 2019 | −54 |
| 2021 | +12 |
| 2022 | +104 |
| 2023 | +336 |
| 2024 | −148 |
| 2025 | +235 |
McCreary County, tucked into the Cumberland Plateau along the Tennessee line, recorded an R+78.7 margin in 2024 — among the widest in the state — reflecting a coal-country demographic shift that has moved rural Appalachian Kentucky sharply in one direction over the past two decades.
Across the recorded series it reached a Republican high of 78.7 points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved 2.0 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 78.7 points.
A population of 16,867, a 89% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $33,750 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Brantley County and Holmes County.
The counties whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Browse places by community — income, education, race & ethnicity, language — all community cuts →
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 →
McCreary County, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/21147/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.