Watonwan County, Minnesota: New American county. In 2024, voted R+28%. Republican peak: R+66 in 1920.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+28MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 11,2052024 5-year
- Median household income
- $71,6992024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 73.9%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.0%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 30.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+37 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+66 in 1920MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Crawford County, IN · similarity 0.99
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Watonwan CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Watonwan 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 | +36.6% |
| 1896 | −46.0% |
| 1900 | −47.7% |
| 1904 | −63.1% |
| 1908 | −43.6% |
| 1912 | +17.5% |
| 1916 | −23.0% |
| 1920 | −66.4% |
| 1924 | −47.1% |
| 1928 | −39.9% |
| 1932 | +18.1% |
| 1936 | +30.1% |
| 1940 | −11.1% |
| 1944 | −15.0% |
| 1948 | +8.0% |
| 1952 | −44.3% |
| 1956 | −35.4% |
| 1960 | −26.7% |
| 1964 | +12.3% |
| 1968 | −11.6% |
| 1972 | −27.7% |
| 1976 | −2.6% |
| 1980 | −18.0% |
| 1984 | −18.4% |
| 1988 | −5.1% |
| 1992 | +4.1% |
| 1996 | +10.1% |
| 2000 | −5.9% |
| 2004 | −8.2% |
| 2008 | +0.7% |
| 2012 | −0.4% |
| 2016 | −19.1% |
| 2020 | −21.5% |
| 2024 | −27.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 1,723 | 3,087 | 4,933 | ||
| R | 1,987 | 3,103 | 5,201 | ||
| R | 1,814 | 2,768 | 4,998 | ||
| R | 2,494 | 2,517 | 5,144 | ||
| D | 2,562 | 2,526 | 5,258 | ||
| R | 2,514 | 2,970 | 5,583 | ||
| R | 2,258 | 2,562 | 5,134 | ||
| D | 2,534 | 1,997 | 5,291 | ||
| D | 2,100 | 1,871 | 5,578 | ||
| R | 2,544 | 2,821 | 5,415 | ||
| R | 2,425 | 3,526 | 5,978 | ||
| R | 2,442 | 3,629 | 6,587 | ||
| R | 3,177 | 3,351 | 6,662 | ||
| R | 2,229 | 3,960 | 6,251 | ||
| R | 2,701 | 3,446 | 6,433 | ||
| D | 3,615 | 2,823 | 6,445 | ||
| R | 2,412 | 4,173 | 6,595 | ||
| R | 1,886 | 3,963 | 5,861 | ||
| R | 1,752 | 4,549 | 6,316 | ||
| D | 3,039 | 2,581 | 5,698 | ||
| R | 2,324 | 3,146 | 5,493 | ||
| R | 2,783 | 3,478 | 6,289 | ||
| D | 3,668 | 1,930 | 5,772 | ||
| D | 2,795 | 1,919 | 4,843 | ||
| R | 1,412 | 3,306 | 4,744 | ||
| R | 279 | 2,297 | 4,288 | ||
| R | 647 | 3,510 | 4,312 | ||
| R | 801 | 1,300 | 2,169 | ||
| O | 618 | 254 | 2,078 | ||
| R | 537 | 1,411 | 2,003 | ||
| R | 307 | 1,455 | 1,820 | ||
| R | 509 | 1,509 | 2,098 | ||
| R | 586 | 1,622 | 2,253 | ||
| D | 934 | 388 | 1,490 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
35.1%
Irish
5.5%
American
5.2%
English
4.1%
Italian
0.9%
French
0.9%
Polish
0.8%
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: 40.8 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
$71,699
Watonwan County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Watonwan County$71,699
Minnesota$89,062
United States$80,734
Watonwan 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
13.2%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1821.7%
Working age (18–64)9.9%
Seniors (65+)11.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
75.2%
speak English only
Spanish23.4%
Other Indo-European0.6%
Other languages0.6%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 26.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Watonwan's economy centers on hog and corn production, and its population of roughly 12,000 has trended sharply toward Republican presidential candidates since 2012, reaching a 27-point margin in 2024.
Watonwan County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of thirty-seven points in 1892. Between 2020 and 2024 it moved six points toward the Republican candidate — part of the sharpest rightward shift recorded among any group of places in the country.
Its demographics describe the shift: a 74% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $71,699, and a population of 11,205. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Crawford County and King and Queen 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.
Watonwan County, Minnesota. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/27165/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More new american counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Watonwan County, Minnesota vote in 2024?
In 2024, Watonwan County, Minnesota voted Republican by 27.7 points (R+28), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 4,933 votes cast, 1,723 went Democratic and 3,087 went Republican.
What is Watonwan County, Minnesota's political typology?
Akashic places Watonwan County, Minnesota in the "New American" typology — Communities where a large share of households speak a language other than English — multilingual, Democratic-leaning overall, yet the hardest-swinging bloc toward the Republican Party in 2024. 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 8 times, Republican 25 times, and other 1 times.
When did Watonwan County, Minnesota last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Watonwan County, Minnesota voted Democratic was 2008.
How many people live in Watonwan County, Minnesota?
Watonwan County, Minnesota has a population of 11,205 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Watonwan County, Minnesota?
Median household income in Watonwan County, Minnesota is $71,699 — below the national median of $80,734. The Minnesota state median is $89,062.
What is the political history of Watonwan County, Minnesota?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Watonwan County, Minnesota from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 25 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.