Hickory County, Missouri: Appalachian Realigners county. In 2024, voted R+61%. Republican peak: R+70 in 1928.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+61MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Appalachian RealignersAkashic typology
- Population
- 8,5852024 5-year
- Median household income
- $39,3902024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 94.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 1.8%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+17 in 1992MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+70 in 1928MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Lincoln County, MO · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Hickory CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Hickory 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 | −27.1% |
| 1896 | −6.6% |
| 1900 | −23.3% |
| 1904 | −38.2% |
| 1908 | −34.4% |
| 1912 | −19.6% |
| 1916 | −33.5% |
| 1920 | −58.9% |
| 1924 | −43.8% |
| 1928 | −69.5% |
| 1932 | −28.6% |
| 1936 | −43.7% |
| 1940 | −51.9% |
| 1944 | −58.9% |
| 1948 | −40.4% |
| 1952 | −53.3% |
| 1956 | −41.0% |
| 1960 | −50.8% |
| 1964 | −15.1% |
| 1968 | −42.5% |
| 1972 | −49.7% |
| 1976 | −0.2% |
| 1980 | −20.1% |
| 1984 | −28.7% |
| 1988 | −9.8% |
| 1992 | +16.5% |
| 1996 | +9.4% |
| 2000 | −5.0% |
| 2004 | −15.4% |
| 2008 | −13.3% |
| 2012 | −23.5% |
| 2016 | −53.1% |
| 2020 | −57.3% |
| 2024 | −61.1% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 978 | 4,108 | 5,120 | ||
| R | 1,056 | 3,966 | 5,080 | ||
| R | 1,016 | 3,542 | 4,761 | ||
| R | 1,733 | 2,835 | 4,680 | ||
| R | 2,171 | 2,850 | 5,115 | ||
| R | 2,043 | 2,791 | 4,866 | ||
| R | 1,961 | 2,172 | 4,238 | ||
| D | 1,858 | 1,491 | 3,912 | ||
| D | 1,929 | 1,259 | 4,058 | ||
| R | 1,677 | 2,043 | 3,727 | ||
| R | 1,212 | 2,190 | 3,402 | ||
| R | 1,248 | 1,893 | 3,213 | ||
| R | 1,398 | 1,403 | 2,822 | ||
| R | 622 | 1,851 | 2,473 | ||
| R | 537 | 1,484 | 2,230 | ||
| R | 854 | 1,157 | 2,011 | ||
| R | 615 | 1,885 | 2,500 | ||
| R | 695 | 1,661 | 2,356 | ||
| R | 622 | 2,054 | 2,686 | ||
| R | 733 | 1,728 | 2,462 | ||
| R | 560 | 2,171 | 2,734 | ||
| R | 787 | 2,496 | 3,291 | ||
| R | 910 | 2,329 | 3,247 | ||
| R | 878 | 1,586 | 2,479 | ||
| R | 399 | 2,233 | 2,637 | ||
| R | 722 | 1,895 | 2,680 | ||
| R | 532 | 2,131 | 2,713 | ||
| R | 552 | 1,144 | 1,767 | ||
| R | 421 | 735 | 1,604 | ||
| R | 561 | 1,182 | 1,804 | ||
| R | 531 | 1,245 | 1,868 | ||
| R | 777 | 1,270 | 2,115 | ||
| R | 1,045 | 1,194 | 2,247 | ||
| R | 423 | 927 | 1,860 | ||
| — | — | — | — | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
21.4%
English
16.7%
Irish
15.2%
American
10.7%
French
3.6%
Scottish
2.1%
Italian
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: 55.2 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
$39,390
Hickory County ranks in the bottom 5% of US counties.
Hickory County$39,390
Missouri$70,702
United States$80,734
Hickory County ranks in the bottom 5% 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
19.8%
Children face moderate poverty.
Children under 1817.9%
Working age (18–64)20.4%
Seniors (65+)19.0%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
96.4%
speak English only
Other Indo-European3.3%
Spanish0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 66.7% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Hickory County's R+61.1 margin in 2024 places it among the most Republican-leaning rural counties in the state, a pattern consistent with the broader depopulation and political realignment reshaping the Ozarks fringe over the past two decades.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin peaked at seventeen points in 1992 and narrowed across the late twentieth century. The 2000 election carried the county to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by five points. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved four points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was sixty-one points.
The economic context is severe: a median household income of $39,390 — among the lowest at this geographic scale — and a 20% poverty rate. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Lincoln County and Lawrence 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.
Hickory County, Missouri. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/29085/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Hickory County, Missouri vote in 2024?
In 2024, Hickory County, Missouri voted Republican by 61.1 points (R+61), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 5,120 votes cast, 978 went Democratic and 4,108 went Republican.
What is Hickory County, Missouri's political typology?
Akashic places Hickory County, Missouri in the "Appalachian Realigners" typology — Lower-income counties of Greater Appalachia — a long, deep arc from Democratic to Republican. 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 2 times, Republican 32 times, and other 0 times.
When did Hickory County, Missouri last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Hickory County, Missouri voted Democratic was 1996.
How many people live in Hickory County, Missouri?
Hickory County, Missouri has a population of 8,585 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Hickory County, Missouri?
Median household income in Hickory County, Missouri is $39,390 — below the national median of $80,734. The Missouri state median is $70,702.
What is the political history of Hickory County, Missouri?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Hickory County, Missouri from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 2 went Democratic and 32 went Republican. The county's typology — "Appalachian Realigners" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.