Whitley County, Kentucky: Evangelical Deep South county. In 2024, voted R+69%. Republican peak: R+69 in 2024.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+69MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Evangelical Deep SouthAkashic typology
- Population
- 36,9202024 5-year
- Median household income
- $44,6152024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 95.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 1.1%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+21 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+69 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Tipton County, TN · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Whitley CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Whitley 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 | −46.1% |
| 1896 | −55.8% |
| 1900 | −56.8% |
| 1904 | −63.6% |
| 1908 | −56.2% |
| 1912 | +21.1% |
| 1916 | −53.5% |
| 1920 | −64.4% |
| 1924 | −47.9% |
| 1928 | −66.6% |
| 1932 | −26.6% |
| 1936 | −28.7% |
| 1940 | −22.9% |
| 1944 | −46.1% |
| 1948 | −31.0% |
| 1952 | −40.7% |
| 1956 | −48.9% |
| 1960 | −43.7% |
| 1964 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | −37.1% |
| 1972 | −50.6% |
| 1976 | −18.2% |
| 1980 | −28.1% |
| 1984 | −37.1% |
| 1988 | −31.7% |
| 1992 | −11.5% |
| 1996 | −11.5% |
| 2000 | −28.9% |
| 2004 | −40.9% |
| 2008 | −47.7% |
| 2012 | −57.7% |
| 2016 | −67.1% |
| 2020 | −65.2% |
| 2024 | −69.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,237 | 12,687 | 15,075 | ||
| R | 2,552 | 12,567 | 15,356 | ||
| R | 2,067 | 11,312 | 13,774 | ||
| R | 2,683 | 10,232 | 13,072 | ||
| R | 3,484 | 10,015 | 13,704 | ||
| R | 3,985 | 9,559 | 13,629 | ||
| R | 4,101 | 7,502 | 11,774 | ||
| R | 4,174 | 5,402 | 10,680 | ||
| R | 4,600 | 5,998 | 12,167 | ||
| R | 3,794 | 7,337 | 11,188 | ||
| R | 3,575 | 7,851 | 11,516 | ||
| R | 3,889 | 7,007 | 11,077 | ||
| R | 4,212 | 6,100 | 10,392 | ||
| R | 2,199 | 6,788 | 9,062 | ||
| R | 2,134 | 5,639 | 9,439 | ||
| D | 4,782 | 4,779 | 9,599 | ||
| R | 2,961 | 7,553 | 10,514 | ||
| R | 2,656 | 7,759 | 10,438 | ||
| R | 2,958 | 7,030 | 10,011 | ||
| R | 2,932 | 5,611 | 8,653 | ||
| R | 2,352 | 6,378 | 8,731 | ||
| R | 4,078 | 6,502 | 10,596 | ||
| R | 3,175 | 5,733 | 8,920 | ||
| R | 3,576 | 6,186 | 9,820 | ||
| R | 1,610 | 8,060 | 9,680 | ||
| R | 1,413 | 4,716 | 6,897 | ||
| R | 1,556 | 7,235 | 8,819 | ||
| R | 1,171 | 3,919 | 5,138 | ||
| D | 1,388 | 723 | 3,159 | ||
| R | 1,111 | 4,023 | 5,184 | ||
| R | 658 | 3,174 | 3,956 | ||
| R | 989 | 3,634 | 4,656 | ||
| R | 862 | 3,130 | 4,064 | ||
| R | 619 | 1,734 | 2,417 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
13.7%
American
10.2%
Irish
9.8%
German
8.5%
Italian
1.4%
Scottish
1.2%
Polish
0.7%
African American
0.9%
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: 35.2 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
$44,615
Whitley County ranks in the bottom 10% of US counties.
Whitley County$44,615
Kentucky$63,726
United States$80,734
Whitley 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
26.3%
Children face higher poverty than working-age adults.
Children under 1831.0%
Working age (18–64)25.1%
Seniors (65+)19.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
99.1%
speak English only
Spanish0.4%
Other Indo-European0.3%
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 42.2% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Whitley County, nestled in southeastern Kentucky's Cumberland foothills, recorded an R+69.3 presidential margin in 2024, placing it among the state's most one-sided jurisdictions in a region where coal-era Democratic loyalty has largely inverted over the past two decades.
The Republican margin here reached its widest at sixty-nine points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-nine points.
A median household income of $44,615, a 26% poverty rate, and a 95% non-Hispanic-white share describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Tipton County and Stephens 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.
Whitley County, Kentucky. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/21235/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More evangelical deep south counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Whitley County, Kentucky vote in 2024?
In 2024, Whitley County, Kentucky voted Republican by 69.3 points (R+69), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 15,075 votes cast, 2,237 went Democratic and 12,687 went Republican.
What is Whitley County, Kentucky's political typology?
Akashic places Whitley County, Kentucky in the "Evangelical Deep South" typology — Deeply Republican, heavily Baptist counties of the Deep South. 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 2 times, Republican 32 times, and other 0 times.
When did Whitley County, Kentucky last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Whitley County, Kentucky voted Democratic was 1964.
How many people live in Whitley County, Kentucky?
Whitley County, Kentucky has a population of 36,920 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Whitley County, Kentucky?
Median household income in Whitley County, Kentucky is $44,615 — below the national median of $80,734. The Kentucky state median is $63,726.
What is the political history of Whitley County, Kentucky?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Whitley County, Kentucky from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 2 went Democratic and 32 went Republican. The county's typology — "Evangelical Deep South" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.