Webster County, Kentucky: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+57%. Republican peak: R+57 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+57MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 12,8422024 5-year
- Median household income
- $59,6282024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 88.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 4.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 7.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+51 in 1964MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+57 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Union County, KY · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Webster CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Webster 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 | +14.8% |
| 1896 | +24.7% |
| 1900 | +14.3% |
| 1904 | +18.2% |
| 1908 | +15.0% |
| 1912 | +2.3% |
| 1916 | +12.3% |
| 1920 | +15.2% |
| 1924 | +4.8% |
| 1928 | +0.9% |
| 1932 | +36.1% |
| 1936 | +41.3% |
| 1940 | +33.1% |
| 1944 | +28.6% |
| 1948 | +49.4% |
| 1952 | +30.8% |
| 1956 | +21.0% |
| 1960 | +12.0% |
| 1964 | +50.8% |
| 1968 | +13.6% |
| 1972 | −16.4% |
| 1976 | +42.7% |
| 1980 | +28.3% |
| 1984 | +9.6% |
| 1988 | +16.5% |
| 1992 | +34.8% |
| 1996 | +25.2% |
| 2000 | −4.2% |
| 2004 | −16.3% |
| 2008 | −11.7% |
| 2012 | −33.7% |
| 2016 | −54.4% |
| 2020 | −51.6% |
| 2024 | −57.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,153 | 4,339 | 5,556 | ||
| R | 1,412 | 4,506 | 5,993 | ||
| R | 1,240 | 4,397 | 5,805 | ||
| R | 1,765 | 3,607 | 5,470 | ||
| R | 2,390 | 3,037 | 5,540 | ||
| R | 2,304 | 3,207 | 5,547 | ||
| R | 2,388 | 2,599 | 5,072 | ||
| D | 2,852 | 1,568 | 5,102 | ||
| D | 3,380 | 1,408 | 5,665 | ||
| D | 3,019 | 2,159 | 5,202 | ||
| D | 3,042 | 2,504 | 5,580 | ||
| D | 3,506 | 1,939 | 5,535 | ||
| D | 3,523 | 1,402 | 4,970 | ||
| R | 1,712 | 2,396 | 4,162 | ||
| D | 2,114 | 1,446 | 4,905 | ||
| D | 3,741 | 1,217 | 4,964 | ||
| D | 3,179 | 2,498 | 5,677 | ||
| D | 3,050 | 1,948 | 5,253 | ||
| D | 3,516 | 1,858 | 5,386 | ||
| D | 3,288 | 1,087 | 4,459 | ||
| D | 3,324 | 1,840 | 5,189 | ||
| D | 4,197 | 2,107 | 6,321 | ||
| D | 4,788 | 1,983 | 6,792 | ||
| D | 4,833 | 2,257 | 7,138 | ||
| D | 3,591 | 3,527 | 7,127 | ||
| D | 3,449 | 3,131 | 6,651 | ||
| D | 4,831 | 3,554 | 8,415 | ||
| D | 2,673 | 2,082 | 4,803 | ||
| O | 998 | 905 | 4,028 | ||
| D | 2,491 | 1,828 | 4,415 | ||
| D | 2,134 | 1,453 | 3,746 | ||
| D | 2,481 | 1,849 | 4,406 | ||
| D | 2,471 | 1,484 | 3,994 | ||
| D | 1,278 | 839 | 2,965 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
17.3%
American
10.8%
Irish
7.2%
German
5.5%
French
1.1%
Italian
0.9%
Scottish
0.9%
African American
3.3%
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
$59,628
Webster County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Webster County$59,628
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Webster 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
13.5%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.5%
Working age (18–64)13.7%
Seniors (65+)27.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.8%
speak English only
Spanish5.6%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 40.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Webster County, a rural coal-country community in western Kentucky, recorded an R+57.3 presidential margin in 2024—reflecting a broader realignment that has made once-competitive Appalachian-adjacent counties among the most Republican-leaning in the state.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at fifty-one 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 four points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved six points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was fifty-seven points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $59,628 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 14% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Union County and Saline 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.
Webster County, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/21233/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Webster County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Webster County, Kentucky voted Republican by 57.3 points (R+57), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 5,556 votes cast, 1,153 went Democratic and 4,339 went Republican.
What is Webster County, Kentucky's political typology?
Akashic places Webster 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 25 times, Republican 8 times, and other 1 times.
When did Webster County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Webster County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Webster County, Kentucky?
Webster County, Kentucky has a population of 12,842 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Webster County, Kentucky?
Median household income in Webster County, Kentucky is $59,628 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Webster County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Webster County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 25 went Democratic and 8 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.