Steele County, Minnesota: Industrial Catholic Metro county. In 2024, voted R+24%. Republican peak: R+55 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+24MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Industrial Catholic MetroAkashic typology
- Population
- 37,4392024 5-year
- Median household income
- $84,1962024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 85.8%2024 5-year
- Black
- 3.3%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 8.9%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+20 in 1912MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+55 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Chemung County, NY · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Steele CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Steele County, with each precinct boundary colored by Democratic-vs-Republican margin.
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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 | +3.4% |
| 1896 | −23.2% |
| 1900 | −20.5% |
| 1904 | −31.1% |
| 1908 | −18.5% |
| 1912 | +20.1% |
| 1916 | −7.1% |
| 1920 | −55.4% |
| 1924 | −46.3% |
| 1928 | −25.3% |
| 1932 | +12.2% |
| 1936 | +13.5% |
| 1940 | −20.1% |
| 1944 | −18.0% |
| 1948 | −1.7% |
| 1952 | −42.2% |
| 1956 | −32.2% |
| 1960 | −20.4% |
| 1964 | +10.4% |
| 1968 | −14.0% |
| 1972 | −30.9% |
| 1976 | −5.8% |
| 1980 | −19.0% |
| 1984 | −26.7% |
| 1988 | −18.3% |
| 1992 | −5.1% |
| 1996 | +9.1% |
| 2000 | −8.2% |
| 2004 | −12.8% |
| 2008 | −5.4% |
| 2012 | −6.3% |
| 2016 | −25.8% |
| 2020 | −22.4% |
| 2024 | −24.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 7,650 | 12,742 | 20,872 | ||
| R | 7,917 | 12,656 | 21,128 | ||
| R | 6,241 | 11,198 | 19,179 | ||
| R | 8,706 | 9,903 | 19,124 | ||
| R | 9,016 | 10,068 | 19,656 | ||
| R | 7,994 | 10,389 | 18,695 | ||
| R | 6,900 | 8,223 | 16,066 | ||
| D | 6,974 | 5,617 | 14,964 | ||
| R | 5,152 | 5,964 | 15,789 | ||
| R | 5,496 | 7,981 | 13,610 | ||
| R | 5,060 | 8,780 | 13,910 | ||
| R | 5,095 | 7,805 | 14,279 | ||
| R | 6,263 | 7,053 | 13,647 | ||
| R | 4,010 | 7,678 | 11,868 | ||
| R | 4,631 | 6,193 | 11,190 | ||
| D | 6,022 | 4,882 | 10,939 | ||
| R | 4,491 | 6,795 | 11,301 | ||
| R | 3,293 | 6,435 | 9,764 | ||
| R | 2,819 | 6,956 | 9,804 | ||
| R | 4,305 | 4,451 | 8,816 | ||
| R | 3,307 | 4,760 | 8,082 | ||
| R | 3,668 | 5,517 | 9,199 | ||
| D | 4,481 | 3,373 | 8,224 | ||
| D | 4,318 | 3,365 | 7,790 | ||
| R | 2,826 | 4,744 | 7,595 | ||
| R | 796 | 3,598 | 6,047 | ||
| R | 1,167 | 4,243 | 5,550 | ||
| R | 1,497 | 1,734 | 3,322 | ||
| D | 1,294 | 651 | 3,200 | ||
| R | 1,284 | 1,899 | 3,325 | ||
| R | 1,067 | 2,095 | 3,303 | ||
| R | 1,188 | 1,833 | 3,143 | ||
| R | 1,248 | 2,046 | 3,444 | ||
| D | 1,396 | 1,299 | 2,866 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
31.6%
Irish
8.6%
English
6.5%
American
3.6%
Polish
2.6%
Italian
2.3%
French
1.9%
African American
2.6%
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: 40.5 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
$84,196
Steele County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Steele County$84,196
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Steele County ranks in the top 25% 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
8.3%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 189.7%
Working age (18–64)8.0%
Seniors (65+)6.5%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
93.3%
speak English only
Spanish4.6%
Other languages1.3%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.6%
Other Indo-European0.2%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 38.9% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Steele County anchors Minnesota's southern tier, where a largely rural, white working-class electorate has produced Republican presidential margins exceeding 20 points in each of the last three cycles.
Its margins are typically close. The Democratic margin reached twenty points in 1912; the Republican margin reached fifty-five points in 1920. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved two points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was twenty-four points.
Its demographics sit near national norms: a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $84,196, and a 8% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Chemung County and Jefferson 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.
Steele County, Minnesota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/27147/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More industrial catholic metro counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Steele County, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Steele County, Minnesota voted Republican by 24.4 points (R+24), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 20,872 votes cast, 7,650 went Democratic and 12,742 went Republican.
What is Steele County, Minnesota's political typology?
Akashic places Steele County, Minnesota in the "Industrial Catholic Metro" typology — Mid-size industrial metros with Catholic ethnic roots — among the most competitive, swing-prone ground in the country. 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 6 times, Republican 28 times, and other 0 times.
When did Steele County, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Steele County, Minnesota voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Steele County, Minnesota?
Steele County, Minnesota has a population of 37,439 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Steele County, Minnesota?
Median household income in Steele County, Minnesota is $84,196 — above the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Steele County, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Steele County, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 6 went Democratic and 28 went Republican. The county's typology — "Industrial Catholic Metro" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.