Somerset County, Maryland: Black Belt county. In 2024, voted R+17%. Republican peak: R+38 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+17MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Black BeltAkashic typology
- Population
- 24,8222024 5-year
- Median household income
- $64,9432024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 52.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 38.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 4.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+26 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+38 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Richmond County, NY · similarity 0.98
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Somerset CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Somerset 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 | −6.6% |
| 1896 | −16.1% |
| 1900 | No data |
| 1904 | No data |
| 1908 | No data |
| 1912 | +26.1% |
| 1916 | −10.9% |
| 1920 | −16.1% |
| 1924 | −5.2% |
| 1928 | −37.8% |
| 1932 | +13.3% |
| 1936 | −7.3% |
| 1940 | +4.7% |
| 1944 | −9.6% |
| 1948 | −0.3% |
| 1952 | −2.0% |
| 1956 | −22.3% |
| 1960 | −1.0% |
| 1964 | +17.9% |
| 1968 | −7.2% |
| 1972 | −35.8% |
| 1976 | +3.2% |
| 1980 | +0.4% |
| 1984 | −29.7% |
| 1988 | −18.3% |
| 1992 | −3.0% |
| 1996 | +8.9% |
| 2000 | +2.3% |
| 2004 | −9.5% |
| 2008 | −2.6% |
| 2012 | +1.9% |
| 2016 | −11.7% |
| 2020 | −14.8% |
| 2024 | −17.3% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 4,054 | 5,805 | 10,137 | ||
| R | 4,241 | 5,739 | 10,147 | ||
| R | 4,196 | 5,341 | 9,791 | ||
| D | 5,240 | 5,042 | 10,399 | ||
| R | 4,779 | 5,037 | 9,924 | ||
| R | 4,034 | 4,884 | 8,994 | ||
| D | 3,785 | 3,609 | 7,604 | ||
| D | 3,557 | 2,919 | 7,169 | ||
| R | 3,210 | 3,450 | 7,936 | ||
| R | 2,911 | 4,222 | 7,165 | ||
| R | 2,439 | 4,508 | 6,970 | ||
| D | 3,342 | 3,312 | 6,937 | ||
| D | 3,472 | 3,254 | 6,726 | ||
| R | 2,036 | 4,342 | 6,449 | ||
| R | 2,319 | 2,829 | 7,047 | ||
| D | 4,527 | 3,155 | 7,682 | ||
| R | 3,948 | 4,030 | 7,978 | ||
| R | 3,031 | 4,770 | 7,801 | ||
| R | 3,951 | 4,113 | 8,103 | ||
| R | 3,112 | 3,129 | 6,299 | ||
| R | 3,125 | 3,790 | 6,915 | ||
| D | 4,352 | 3,954 | 8,390 | ||
| R | 4,116 | 4,770 | 8,958 | ||
| D | 4,811 | 3,675 | 8,545 | ||
| R | 2,277 | 5,071 | 7,395 | ||
| R | 2,903 | 3,230 | 6,310 | ||
| R | 2,634 | 3,658 | 6,354 | ||
| R | 1,885 | 2,364 | 4,403 | ||
| D | 2,457 | 1,528 | 3,553 | ||
| — | 2,446 | 1,021 | 103 | ||
| — | 3,696 | 1,174 | 25 | ||
| — | 1,584 | 2,089 | 6 | ||
| R | 1,471 | 2,044 | 3,551 | ||
| R | 1,482 | 1,693 | 3,220 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
American
20.2%
English
9.5%
German
5.8%
Irish
5.1%
Italian
2.2%
Polish
1.8%
French
0.6%
African American
31.0%
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: 38.1 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
$64,943
Somerset County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Somerset County$64,943
Maryland$103,678
United States$80,734
Somerset 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
16.4%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.8%
Working age (18–64)17.0%
Seniors (65+)15.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.5%
speak English only
Other languages3.5%
Spanish2.6%
Other Indo-European0.2%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 77.4% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Somerset County, anchored by the watermen's economy of Crisfield and Princess Anne, delivers some of Maryland's widest Republican presidential margins despite sitting in a reliably Democratic state — a gap driven by its rural, working-class coastal demographics.
The Democratic margin here reached twenty-six points in 1912. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was seventeen points. The recent movement, modest against a deep Democratic baseline, mirrors a broader rightward drift across the Black Belt.
The economic context is part of the story: a median household income of $64,943 and a 16% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Richmond County and Salem 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.
Somerset County, Maryland. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/24039/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More in Maryland
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Frequently asked questions
How did Somerset County, Maryland vote in 2024?
In 2024, Somerset County, Maryland voted Republican by 17.3 points (R+17), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 10,137 votes cast, 4,054 went Democratic and 5,805 went Republican.
What is Somerset County, Maryland's political typology?
Akashic places Somerset County, Maryland in the "Black Belt" typology — Black-majority counties of the rural South — long the most Democratic ground in the region, now trending Republican at the margins. 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 9 times, Republican 22 times, and other 0 times.
When did Somerset County, Maryland last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Somerset County, Maryland voted Democratic was 2012.
How many people live in Somerset County, Maryland?
Somerset County, Maryland has a population of 24,822 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Somerset County, Maryland?
Median household income in Somerset County, Maryland is $64,943 — below the national median of $80,734. The Maryland state median is $103,678.
What is the political history of Somerset County, Maryland?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Somerset County, Maryland from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 9 went Democratic and 22 went Republican. The county's typology — "Black Belt" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.