Phelps County, Missouri: Stable Rural Right county. In 2024, voted R+43%. Democratic peak: D+46 in 1932.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+43MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- Stable Rural RightAkashic typology
- Population
- 45,1942024 5-year
- Median household income
- $58,3962024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 86.4%2024 5-year
- Black
- 2.4%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 3.1%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+46 in 1932MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+43 in 2024MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Johnson County, IL · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Phelps CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Phelps 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 | +16.9% |
| 1896 | +27.1% |
| 1900 | +15.9% |
| 1904 | +0.4% |
| 1908 | +8.4% |
| 1912 | +27.8% |
| 1916 | +11.7% |
| 1920 | −5.2% |
| 1924 | +15.1% |
| 1928 | −1.2% |
| 1932 | +45.6% |
| 1936 | +26.7% |
| 1940 | +18.0% |
| 1944 | +14.4% |
| 1948 | +26.0% |
| 1952 | +1.6% |
| 1956 | −0.1% |
| 1960 | −10.6% |
| 1964 | +21.2% |
| 1968 | −11.6% |
| 1972 | −36.1% |
| 1976 | +0.9% |
| 1980 | −14.0% |
| 1984 | −28.0% |
| 1988 | −17.3% |
| 1992 | +4.9% |
| 1996 | −3.8% |
| 2000 | −19.7% |
| 2004 | −27.9% |
| 2008 | −22.2% |
| 2012 | −33.3% |
| 2016 | −42.4% |
| 2020 | −40.0% |
| 2024 | −42.7% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 5,379 | 13,658 | 19,385 | ||
| R | 5,637 | 13,480 | 19,601 | ||
| R | 4,766 | 12,709 | 18,713 | ||
| R | 5,798 | 11,895 | 18,286 | ||
| R | 7,394 | 11,706 | 19,438 | ||
| R | 6,666 | 11,874 | 18,700 | ||
| R | 6,262 | 9,444 | 16,146 | ||
| R | 6,405 | 6,990 | 15,297 | ||
| D | 6,852 | 6,040 | 16,739 | ||
| R | 5,867 | 8,329 | 14,253 | ||
| R | 5,074 | 9,012 | 14,086 | ||
| R | 5,470 | 7,366 | 13,566 | ||
| D | 6,261 | 6,153 | 12,512 | ||
| R | 3,567 | 7,598 | 11,165 | ||
| R | 4,211 | 5,577 | 11,783 | ||
| D | 5,776 | 3,755 | 9,531 | ||
| R | 4,576 | 5,663 | 10,239 | ||
| R | 4,761 | 4,773 | 9,534 | ||
| D | 4,846 | 4,694 | 9,554 | ||
| D | 5,202 | 3,053 | 8,277 | ||
| D | 4,256 | 3,180 | 7,449 | ||
| D | 4,780 | 3,319 | 8,114 | ||
| D | 4,658 | 2,690 | 7,381 | ||
| D | 4,858 | 1,794 | 6,720 | ||
| R | 2,896 | 2,967 | 5,874 | ||
| D | 2,918 | 2,085 | 5,500 | ||
| R | 2,422 | 2,692 | 5,152 | ||
| D | 1,887 | 1,487 | 3,423 | ||
| D | 1,565 | 782 | 2,816 | ||
| D | 1,804 | 1,520 | 3,378 | ||
| D | 1,384 | 1,371 | 2,889 | ||
| D | 1,603 | 1,153 | 2,837 | ||
| D | 1,816 | 1,038 | 2,868 | ||
| D | 1,287 | 883 | 2,386 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
17.8%
English
12.3%
Irish
11.2%
American
8.6%
Italian
3.5%
French
3.1%
Scottish
1.5%
African American
1.9%
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: 35.8 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
$58,396
Phelps County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Phelps County$58,396
Missouri$70,702
United States$80,734
Phelps 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
16.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1814.3%
Working age (18–64)18.3%
Seniors (65+)9.3%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
95.2%
speak English only
Asian & Pacific Islander2.7%
Other Indo-European1.0%
Spanish0.6%
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 60.8% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Phelps County anchors the Missouri Ozarks, where Missouri S&T's engineering campus in Rolla adds a modest college-town layer to an otherwise rural electorate that swung Republican by nearly 43 points in 2024.
The Republican margin here reached forty-three points in 2024. Between 2020 and 2024 the county moved three points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was forty-three points.
A population of 45,194, a 86% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $58,396 describe the county. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Johnson County and Douglas 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.
Phelps County, Missouri. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/29161/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Phelps County, Missouri vote in 2024?
In 2024, Phelps County, Missouri voted Republican by 42.7 points (R+43), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 19,385 votes cast, 5,379 went Democratic and 13,658 went Republican.
What is Phelps County, Missouri's political typology?
Akashic places Phelps 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 17 times, Republican 17 times, and other 0 times.
When did Phelps County, Missouri last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Phelps County, Missouri voted Democratic was 1992.
How many people live in Phelps County, Missouri?
Phelps County, Missouri has a population of 45,194 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Phelps County, Missouri?
Median household income in Phelps County, Missouri is $58,396 — below the national median of $80,734. The Missouri state median is $70,702.
What is the political history of Phelps County, Missouri?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Phelps County, Missouri from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 17 went Democratic and 17 went Republican. The county's typology — "Stable Rural Right" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.