Big Stone County, Minnesota: Heartland Swing county. In 2024, voted R+29%. Republican peak: R+64 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+29MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Heartland SwingAkashic typology
- Population
- 5,1272024 5-year
- Median household income
- $70,4002024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.1%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 2.7%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+56 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+64 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Pine County, MN · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Big Stone CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Big Stone 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 | +5.6% |
| 1896 | −16.3% |
| 1900 | −24.0% |
| 1904 | −54.3% |
| 1908 | −24.0% |
| 1912 | +25.8% |
| 1916 | +3.3% |
| 1920 | −63.6% |
| 1924 | −38.3% |
| 1928 | +13.0% |
| 1932 | +56.4% |
| 1936 | +38.3% |
| 1940 | +13.2% |
| 1944 | +13.6% |
| 1948 | +29.5% |
| 1952 | −3.5% |
| 1956 | +11.3% |
| 1960 | +14.1% |
| 1964 | +36.0% |
| 1968 | +12.0% |
| 1972 | +10.9% |
| 1976 | +31.2% |
| 1980 | −3.3% |
| 1984 | +4.5% |
| 1988 | +15.8% |
| 1992 | +16.3% |
| 1996 | +21.0% |
| 2000 | +2.0% |
| 2004 | +1.7% |
| 2008 | +6.4% |
| 2012 | −1.4% |
| 2016 | −24.9% |
| 2020 | −27.2% |
| 2024 | −29.5% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 964 | 1,796 | 2,824 | ||
| R | 1,053 | 1,863 | 2,974 | ||
| R | 921 | 1,608 | 2,755 | ||
| R | 1,345 | 1,385 | 2,789 | ||
| D | 1,552 | 1,362 | 2,990 | ||
| D | 1,536 | 1,483 | 3,067 | ||
| D | 1,430 | 1,370 | 2,980 | ||
| D | 1,619 | 990 | 3,001 | ||
| D | 1,610 | 1,052 | 3,420 | ||
| D | 2,026 | 1,469 | 3,526 | ||
| D | 1,994 | 1,821 | 3,847 | ||
| R | 1,814 | 1,950 | 4,091 | ||
| D | 2,581 | 1,332 | 4,007 | ||
| D | 2,185 | 1,748 | 4,017 | ||
| D | 2,119 | 1,645 | 3,946 | ||
| D | 2,831 | 1,331 | 4,172 | ||
| D | 2,437 | 1,834 | 4,282 | ||
| D | 2,180 | 1,737 | 3,925 | ||
| R | 2,107 | 2,260 | 4,392 | ||
| D | 2,466 | 1,321 | 3,886 | ||
| D | 2,120 | 1,608 | 3,752 | ||
| D | 2,517 | 1,925 | 4,482 | ||
| D | 2,648 | 1,116 | 3,999 | ||
| D | 3,200 | 868 | 4,136 | ||
| D | 2,133 | 1,641 | 3,799 | ||
| R | 260 | 1,524 | 3,303 | ||
| R | 451 | 2,415 | 3,090 | ||
| D | 869 | 810 | 1,805 | ||
| O | 677 | 244 | 1,676 | ||
| R | 565 | 965 | 1,670 | ||
| R | 318 | 1,234 | 1,688 | ||
| R | 644 | 1,081 | 1,824 | ||
| R | 742 | 1,048 | 1,881 | ||
| D | 576 | 498 | 1,382 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
46.9%
Irish
13.0%
English
5.3%
American
4.3%
Polish
2.8%
French
1.5%
Scottish
0.6%
Sample size too small to break out by ancestry reliably.
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: 47.0 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
$70,400
Big Stone County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Big Stone County$70,400
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Big Stone 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
12.9%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1819.0%
Working age (18–64)11.0%
Seniors (65+)12.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.2%
speak English only
Spanish1.7%
Other Indo-European1.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.4%
Other languages0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 19.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Big Stone sits along the South Dakota border with fewer than 6,000 residents spread across glacial lake plains. Republican presidential margins here have grown steadily over the past decade, reaching nearly 30 points in 2024.
The Democratic margin here peaked at fifty-six points in 1932. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-nine points.
A population of 5,127, a 94% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $70,400 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Pine County and Lac qui Parle 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.
Big Stone County, Minnesota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/27011/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More heartland swing counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Big Stone County, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Big Stone County, Minnesota voted Republican by 29.5 points (R+29), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 2,824 votes cast, 964 went Democratic and 1,796 went Republican.
What is Big Stone County, Minnesota's political typology?
Akashic places Big Stone County, Minnesota in the "Heartland Swing" typology — Industrial Midwest swing counties drifting steadily toward the Republican Party. 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 12 times, and other 1 times.
When did Big Stone County, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Big Stone County, Minnesota voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Big Stone County, Minnesota?
Big Stone County, Minnesota has a population of 5,127 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Big Stone County, Minnesota?
Median household income in Big Stone County, Minnesota is $70,400 — below the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Big Stone County, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Big Stone County, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 21 went Democratic and 12 went Republican. The county's typology — "Heartland Swing" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.