Cole County, Missouri: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+34%. Republican peak: R+56 in 1972.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+34MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 77,0322024 5-year
- Median household income
- $74,8762024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 80.3%2024 5-year
- Black
- 9.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.6%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+23 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+56 in 1972MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Bay County, FL · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Cole CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Cole 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 | +2.5% |
| 1896 | +3.9% |
| 1900 | +3.6% |
| 1904 | +3.7% |
| 1908 | +1.9% |
| 1912 | +7.1% |
| 1916 | +3.0% |
| 1920 | −17.0% |
| 1924 | −9.9% |
| 1928 | −1.2% |
| 1932 | +23.3% |
| 1936 | +17.5% |
| 1940 | +3.5% |
| 1944 | −1.6% |
| 1948 | +6.6% |
| 1952 | −12.7% |
| 1956 | −11.6% |
| 1960 | −6.7% |
| 1964 | −10.7% |
| 1968 | −29.6% |
| 1972 | −55.7% |
| 1976 | −28.5% |
| 1980 | −27.1% |
| 1984 | −50.5% |
| 1988 | −36.5% |
| 1992 | −16.2% |
| 1996 | −18.0% |
| 2000 | −24.7% |
| 2004 | −35.4% |
| 2008 | −26.9% |
| 2012 | −33.6% |
| 2016 | −36.4% |
| 2020 | −33.8% |
| 2024 | −34.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 12,874 | 26,686 | 40,152 | ||
| R | 12,694 | 26,086 | 39,645 | ||
| R | 10,913 | 24,616 | 37,656 | ||
| R | 12,005 | 24,490 | 37,190 | ||
| R | 13,959 | 24,385 | 38,745 | ||
| R | 11,753 | 24,752 | 36,701 | ||
| R | 12,056 | 20,167 | 32,775 | ||
| R | 10,857 | 16,140 | 29,342 | ||
| R | 10,201 | 15,270 | 31,304 | ||
| R | 8,359 | 18,023 | 26,441 | ||
| R | 6,702 | 20,366 | 27,068 | ||
| R | 9,210 | 16,373 | 26,423 | ||
| R | 7,949 | 14,370 | 22,503 | ||
| R | 4,754 | 16,685 | 21,439 | ||
| R | 5,916 | 11,575 | 19,116 | ||
| R | 8,127 | 10,068 | 18,195 | ||
| R | 8,532 | 9,763 | 18,295 | ||
| R | 7,388 | 9,323 | 16,711 | ||
| R | 7,507 | 9,700 | 17,210 | ||
| D | 7,891 | 6,909 | 14,825 | ||
| R | 7,139 | 7,364 | 14,507 | ||
| D | 8,219 | 7,664 | 15,892 | ||
| D | 8,831 | 6,180 | 15,106 | ||
| D | 9,068 | 5,636 | 14,731 | ||
| R | 6,481 | 6,637 | 13,133 | ||
| R | 5,033 | 6,205 | 11,821 | ||
| R | 4,167 | 5,878 | 10,081 | ||
| D | 2,915 | 2,746 | 5,703 | ||
| D | 2,447 | 2,103 | 4,866 | ||
| D | 2,494 | 2,402 | 4,944 | ||
| D | 2,244 | 2,081 | 4,383 | ||
| D | 2,320 | 2,157 | 4,509 | ||
| D | 2,198 | 2,033 | 4,277 | ||
| D | 1,844 | 1,752 | 3,664 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
29.8%
English
11.0%
Irish
9.1%
American
8.8%
French
2.5%
Scottish
1.9%
Italian
1.6%
African American
7.8%
Multiple ancestry combinations reported; no single grouping above 1%.
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: 39.9 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
$74,876
Cole County ranks in the top 25% of US counties.
Cole County$74,876
Missouri$70,702
United States$80,734
Cole 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
9.0%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.7%
Working age (18–64)8.2%
Seniors (65+)9.2%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.0%
speak English only
Spanish1.7%
Asian & Pacific Islander1.0%
Other Indo-European0.8%
Other languages0.5%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 38.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Despite housing the state capitol and its government workforce, Cole County voted Republican by 34 points in 2024, reflecting how decisively small-city Missouri has shifted from its once-competitive roots.
The Republican margin here reached fifty-six points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved one point toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was thirty-four points.
A population of 77,032, a 80% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $74,876 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Bay County and Whitfield 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.
Cole County, Missouri. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/29051/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
More stable rural right counties
Frequently asked questions
How did Cole County, Missouri vote in 2024?
In 2024, Cole County, Missouri voted Republican by 34.4 points (R+34), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 40,152 votes cast, 12,874 went Democratic and 26,686 went Republican.
What is Cole County, Missouri's political typology?
Akashic places Cole County, Missouri in the "Stable Rural Right" typology — Mountain, Plains, and rural Republican counties already near their ceiling, with little further room to swing. 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 11 times, Republican 23 times, and other 0 times.
When did Cole County, Missouri last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Cole County, Missouri voted Democratic was 1948.
How many people live in Cole County, Missouri?
Cole County, Missouri has a population of 77,032 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Cole County, Missouri?
Median household income in Cole County, Missouri is $74,876 — below the national median of $80,734. The Missouri state median is $70,702.
What is the political history of Cole County, Missouri?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Cole County, Missouri from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 11 went Democratic and 23 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.