Dawson County, Nebraska: New American county. In 2024, voted R+49%. Republican peak: R+64 in 1984.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- R+49MIT Election Lab
- Political typology
- New AmericanAkashic typology
- Population
- 24,2022024 5-year
- Median household income
- $69,8802024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 59.2%2024 5-year
- Black
- 7.2%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 37.4%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+41 in 1892MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+64 in 1984MIT Election Lab
- Most similar
- Canyon County, ID · similarity 1.00
2024 results by precinct
2024 precinct map of Dawson CountyPrecinct-level 2024 presidential results for Dawson 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 | +40.8% |
| 1896 | +9.0% |
| 1900 | +4.3% |
| 1904 | −45.1% |
| 1908 | +5.0% |
| 1912 | +34.3% |
| 1916 | +15.4% |
| 1920 | −37.8% |
| 1924 | −25.0% |
| 1928 | −49.4% |
| 1932 | +22.0% |
| 1936 | +5.8% |
| 1940 | −32.0% |
| 1944 | −37.7% |
| 1948 | −23.5% |
| 1952 | −59.3% |
| 1956 | −52.3% |
| 1960 | −46.1% |
| 1964 | −9.4% |
| 1968 | −49.7% |
| 1972 | −62.7% |
| 1976 | −37.8% |
| 1980 | −60.7% |
| 1984 | −64.2% |
| 1988 | −43.1% |
| 1992 | −33.8% |
| 1996 | −32.4% |
| 2000 | −50.2% |
| 2004 | −55.6% |
| 2008 | −38.3% |
| 2012 | −41.5% |
| 2016 | −44.6% |
| 2020 | −43.8% |
| 2024 | −49.4% |
DemocraticRepublican
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 2,101 | 6,312 | 8,522 | ||
| R | 2,497 | 6,524 | 9,191 | ||
| R | 2,136 | 5,984 | 8,635 | ||
| R | 2,199 | 5,460 | 7,859 | ||
| R | 2,399 | 5,460 | 7,986 | ||
| R | 1,728 | 6,149 | 7,956 | ||
| R | 1,740 | 5,511 | 7,507 | ||
| R | 2,180 | 4,794 | 8,065 | ||
| R | 1,741 | 4,714 | 8,789 | ||
| R | 2,184 | 5,529 | 7,755 | ||
| R | 1,487 | 6,887 | 8,407 | ||
| R | 1,463 | 6,689 | 8,609 | ||
| R | 2,395 | 5,413 | 7,985 | ||
| R | 1,424 | 6,211 | 7,635 | ||
| R | 1,614 | 5,221 | 7,254 | ||
| R | 3,790 | 4,577 | 8,367 | ||
| R | 2,388 | 6,480 | 8,868 | ||
| R | 2,039 | 6,503 | 8,542 | ||
| R | 1,820 | 7,130 | 8,950 | ||
| R | 2,603 | 4,203 | 6,806 | ||
| R | 2,270 | 5,017 | 7,287 | ||
| R | 2,803 | 5,445 | 8,248 | ||
| D | 4,021 | 3,573 | 7,702 | ||
| D | 4,513 | 2,859 | 7,505 | ||
| R | 1,718 | 5,125 | 6,902 | ||
| R | 1,526 | 3,016 | 5,952 | ||
| R | 1,444 | 3,384 | 5,128 | ||
| D | 1,989 | 1,444 | 3,544 | ||
| D | 1,613 | 449 | 3,397 | ||
| D | 1,926 | 1,737 | 3,772 | ||
| R | 457 | 1,712 | 2,783 | ||
| D | 1,399 | 1,280 | 2,761 | ||
| D | 1,357 | 1,128 | 2,547 | ||
| D | 1,188 | 182 | 2,463 | ||
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Demographics
2024 ACS
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
German
25.0%
Irish
7.5%
English
6.8%
American
2.6%
Scottish
1.7%
French
1.5%
Polish
0.8%
African American
5.8%
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: 35.6 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
$69,880
Dawson County ranks near the middle of US counties.
Dawson County$69,880
Nebraska$76,475
United States$80,734
Dawson 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
10.8%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1812.6%
Working age (18–64)9.3%
Seniors (65+)17.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
2024 ACS
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
62.8%
speak English only
Spanish31.3%
Other languages4.8%
Asian & Pacific Islander0.8%
Other Indo-European0.3%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
2020 religion census
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 45.3% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Dawson County, anchored by Lexington along the Platte River, recorded an R+49.6 presidential margin in 2024. Its meatpacking economy draws a sizable Latino workforce, yet countywide results remain among the state's most Republican.
Dawson County has leaned Republican in recent presidential elections, reaching a Democratic margin of forty-one 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 59% non-Hispanic-white share, a median household income of $69,880, and a population of 24,202. The county's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Canyon County and Buffalo 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.
Dawson County, Nebraska. Akashic. https://akashic.app/county/31047/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
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Frequently asked questions
How did Dawson County, Nebraska vote in 2024?
In 2024, Dawson County, Nebraska voted Republican by 49.4 points (R+49), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 8,522 votes cast, 2,101 went Democratic and 6,312 went Republican.
What is Dawson County, Nebraska's political typology?
Akashic places Dawson County, Nebraska 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 26 times, and other 0 times.
When did Dawson County, Nebraska last vote Democratic?
The most recent presidential election in which Dawson County, Nebraska voted Democratic was 1936.
How many people live in Dawson County, Nebraska?
Dawson County, Nebraska has a population of 24,202 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Dawson County, Nebraska?
Median household income in Dawson County, Nebraska is $69,880 — below the national median of $80,734. The Nebraska state median is $76,475.
What is the political history of Dawson County, Nebraska?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Dawson County, Nebraska from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 8 went Democratic and 26 went Republican. The county's typology — "New American" — captures where that record, its demographics, and its recent swing place it among American communities.