Powell County, Kentucky: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+54%. Republican peak: R+54 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+54MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 13,0382024 5-year
- Median household income
- $40,3092024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.7%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+24 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+54 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Dunklin County, MO · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Powell CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Powell 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 | +12.6% |
| 1896 | +4.7% |
| 1900 | +6.1% |
| 1904 | +6.4% |
| 1908 | +2.7% |
| 1912 | +22.2% |
| 1916 | +12.6% |
| 1920 | +10.8% |
| 1924 | +12.7% |
| 1928 | −22.6% |
| 1932 | +22.2% |
| 1936 | +8.5% |
| 1940 | +12.2% |
| 1944 | +6.3% |
| 1948 | +14.9% |
| 1952 | +10.2% |
| 1956 | +0.1% |
| 1960 | −14.7% |
| 1964 | +24.0% |
| 1968 | −8.2% |
| 1972 | −17.7% |
| 1976 | +23.5% |
| 1980 | +7.7% |
| 1984 | −18.0% |
| 1988 | −0.4% |
| 1992 | +10.2% |
| 1996 | +14.9% |
| 2000 | −5.7% |
| 2004 | −8.8% |
| 2008 | −15.5% |
| 2012 | −25.6% |
| 2016 | −45.2% |
| 2020 | −48.6% |
| 2024 | −54.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,174 | 4,092 | 5,369 | ||
| R | 1,367 | 4,041 | 5,505 | ||
| R | 1,272 | 3,513 | 4,957 | ||
| R | 1,620 | 2,766 | 4,481 | ||
| R | 2,065 | 2,837 | 4,972 | ||
| R | 2,249 | 2,687 | 4,960 | ||
| R | 2,008 | 2,258 | 4,362 | ||
| D | 2,156 | 1,526 | 4,239 | ||
| D | 2,323 | 1,809 | 5,041 | ||
| R | 2,113 | 2,128 | 4,258 | ||
| R | 1,575 | 2,269 | 3,857 | ||
| D | 2,006 | 1,716 | 3,767 | ||
| D | 1,859 | 1,148 | 3,029 | ||
| R | 1,230 | 1,766 | 3,024 | ||
| R | 934 | 1,157 | 2,718 | ||
| D | 1,622 | 993 | 2,625 | ||
| R | 1,122 | 1,508 | 2,630 | ||
| D | 1,343 | 1,339 | 2,685 | ||
| D | 1,218 | 992 | 2,213 | ||
| D | 975 | 719 | 1,713 | ||
| D | 1,023 | 902 | 1,931 | ||
| D | 1,266 | 989 | 2,270 | ||
| D | 1,185 | 998 | 2,197 | ||
| D | 1,300 | 826 | 2,135 | ||
| R | 732 | 1,160 | 1,892 | ||
| D | 939 | 724 | 1,689 | ||
| D | 1,038 | 835 | 1,884 | ||
| D | 757 | 587 | 1,344 | ||
| D | 647 | 381 | 1,197 | ||
| D | 739 | 699 | 1,464 | ||
| D | 738 | 647 | 1,413 | ||
| D | 788 | 696 | 1,499 | ||
| D | 688 | 625 | 1,341 | ||
| D | 580 | 446 | 1,062 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
16.4%
English
14.4%
Irish
10.2%
German
7.3%
French
2.9%
Italian
0.8%
Polish
0.8%
African American
1.6%
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: 39.3 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
$40,309
Powell County ranks in the bottom 10% of US counties.
Powell County$40,309
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Powell County ranks in the bottom 10% 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
22.5%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1828.7%
Working age (18–64)20.0%
Seniors (65+)25.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
98.4%
speak English only
Spanish1.0%
Other Indo-European0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 64.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Powell County, nestled in the foothills of the Daniel Boone National Forest, recorded a 54-point Republican presidential margin in 2024, reflecting the deep partisan realignment that has reshaped rural Appalachian Kentucky over the past two decades.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at twenty-four 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 six points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved six points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-four points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $40,309 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 23% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Dunklin County and Mason 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.
Powell County, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/21197/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Powell County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Powell County, Kentucky voted Republican by 54.3 points (R+54), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 5,369 votes cast, 1,174 went Democratic and 4,092 went Republican.
What is Powell County, Kentucky's political typology?
Akashic places Powell 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 21 times, Republican 13 times, and other 0 times.
When did Powell County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Powell County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Powell County, Kentucky?
Powell County, Kentucky has a population of 13,038 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Powell County, Kentucky?
Median household income in Powell County, Kentucky is $40,309 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Powell County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Powell County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 21 went Democratic and 13 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.