Meade County, Kentucky: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+52%. Republican peak: R+52 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+52MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 30,1582024 5-year
- Median household income
- $74,3552024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 88.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+49 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Nelson County, KY · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Meade CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Meade 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 | +42.1% |
| 1896 | +31.5% |
| 1900 | +22.8% |
| 1904 | +19.3% |
| 1908 | +19.6% |
| 1912 | +39.8% |
| 1916 | +23.8% |
| 1920 | +19.7% |
| 1924 | +23.6% |
| 1928 | +2.7% |
| 1932 | +40.3% |
| 1936 | +44.4% |
| 1940 | +35.9% |
| 1944 | +27.4% |
| 1948 | +41.9% |
| 1952 | +23.4% |
| 1956 | +9.4% |
| 1960 | +13.3% |
| 1964 | +48.9% |
| 1968 | +12.9% |
| 1972 | −23.3% |
| 1976 | +26.2% |
| 1980 | +7.7% |
| 1984 | −20.7% |
| 1988 | −5.5% |
| 1992 | +10.1% |
| 1996 | +10.7% |
| 2000 | −19.0% |
| 2004 | −31.3% |
| 2008 | −21.0% |
| 2012 | −22.8% |
| 2016 | −46.1% |
| 2020 | −46.4% |
| 2024 | −52.0% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 3,279 | 10,630 | 14,123 | ||
| R | 3,632 | 10,185 | 14,113 | ||
| R | 3,026 | 8,660 | 12,231 | ||
| R | 4,122 | 6,606 | 10,916 | ||
| R | 4,343 | 6,691 | 11,206 | ||
| R | 3,724 | 7,152 | 10,951 | ||
| R | 3,596 | 5,319 | 9,071 | ||
| D | 3,653 | 2,855 | 7,449 | ||
| D | 3,387 | 2,641 | 7,365 | ||
| R | 3,079 | 3,441 | 6,545 | ||
| R | 2,503 | 3,820 | 6,347 | ||
| D | 3,205 | 2,740 | 6,059 | ||
| D | 3,030 | 1,755 | 4,868 | ||
| R | 1,541 | 2,492 | 4,090 | ||
| D | 1,926 | 1,385 | 4,200 | ||
| D | 3,076 | 1,055 | 4,136 | ||
| D | 2,385 | 1,826 | 4,211 | ||
| D | 2,016 | 1,670 | 3,692 | ||
| D | 2,040 | 1,265 | 3,310 | ||
| D | 1,915 | 773 | 2,725 | ||
| D | 1,828 | 1,040 | 2,880 | ||
| D | 2,114 | 995 | 3,121 | ||
| D | 2,102 | 785 | 2,966 | ||
| D | 2,488 | 1,050 | 3,564 | ||
| D | 1,700 | 1,610 | 3,317 | ||
| D | 1,802 | 1,106 | 2,955 | ||
| D | 2,195 | 1,468 | 3,693 | ||
| D | 1,317 | 803 | 2,164 | ||
| D | 1,145 | 337 | 2,032 | ||
| D | 1,295 | 863 | 2,201 | ||
| D | 1,245 | 834 | 2,134 | ||
| D | 1,470 | 919 | 2,421 | ||
| D | 1,519 | 781 | 2,342 | ||
| D | 1,171 | 416 | 1,792 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
14.3%
Irish
13.9%
German
12.0%
American
11.4%
Italian
2.0%
Scottish
1.6%
French
1.3%
African American
2.7%
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: 39.5 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
$74,355
Meade County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Meade County$74,355
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Meade 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
12.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.1%
Working age (18–64)10.2%
Seniors (65+)11.4%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
97.4%
speak English only
Spanish1.5%
Other Indo-European0.9%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.1%
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 51.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Meade County, wedged between Fort Knox and the Ohio River, has shifted dramatically toward Republican presidential candidates over the past two decades, posting a 52-point margin in 2024 that reflects broader rural realignment across western Kentucky.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at forty-nine points in 1964 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by nineteen points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved six points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-two points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $74,355 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 12% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Nelson County and Harrison 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.
Meade County, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/21163/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Meade County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Meade County, Kentucky voted Republican by 52.0 points (R+52), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 14,123 votes cast, 3,279 went Democratic and 10,630 went Republican.
What is Meade County, Kentucky's political typology?
Akashic places Meade 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 24 times, Republican 10 times, and other 0 times.
When did Meade County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Meade County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Meade County, Kentucky?
Meade County, Kentucky has a population of 30,158 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Meade County, Kentucky?
Median household income in Meade County, Kentucky is $74,355 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Meade County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Meade County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 24 went Democratic and 10 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.